What is the moral imagination? Why is it important? In this episode, I discuss the concept of the moral imagination and 15 ways to develop it. I discuss the origin of the term in Edmund Burke's critique of the French Revolution and his worry that the reductionist Enlightenment view of reason would lead to what C.S. Lewis called "the abolition of man." It would diminish our fundamental human experiences--love, joy, hope, friendship, justice, compassion, mercy, grief, and forgiveness--and undermine the dignity of the person. I discuss a number of thinkers, including Gertrude Himmelfarb on tradition, Russell Kirk, Joseph Pieper, Mary Douglas on condensed symbols, Joseph Ratzinger on reason and beauty, Iain Mc Gilchrist on neuroscience, Peter Berger on plausibility structures, and more.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/michael-matheson-miller-1 for show notes and resources.

In this episode, I speak with the Carrie Gress about her book "Theology of Home". We discuss themes of the value of homemaking, the hearth, family, motherhood, and some of her critiques of dominant feminism. Carrie is a philosopher, an entrepreneur, a prolific writer, and the mother of five children that she homeschools. She is the online editor of the woman's magazine "Theology of Home". She has appeared on Fox, BBC, and EWTN. She has lived and worked professionally in Washington, DC and Rome, Italy, and her work has been translated into nine languages. Carrie is the author of a number of books, has a PhD in philosophy from the Catholic university of America, and wrote her doctoral dissertation on human rights in the thought of Jacques Martain and Alistair MacIntyre. In addition to her writing and intellectual work, Carrie and her husband started an online store featuring lifestyle products for the home.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/carrie-gress for show notes and resources.

In this episode, I speak with Chris Arnade about his book "Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America". We discuss themes from his book including poverty, addiction, racism, and the value of home and place, the role of faith, and the role of McDonalds as a respite and community center.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/chris-arnade for show notes and resources.

In this episode, I speak with Obianuju Ekeocha about the problem of ideological colonialism in Africa in the 21st Century. We discuss how Western governments, international aid agencies, and NGOs impose western, secularist ideas about life, family, and marriage on Africa. Obianuju argues that what we are seeing is a type of cultural annexation of Africa by Western elites that is a new type of colonialism. She argues that just like with 20th century colonialism Western elites collude with African leaders and go against the will of the population. Obianuju (Uju for short) Ekeocha is the author of "Target Africa", the writer and producer of the documentary film, "Strings Attached", and the founder and president of Culture of Life Africa, an initiative dedicated to the promotion and defense of the African values of the sanctity of life, beauty of marriage, blessings of motherhood and the dignity of family life. Culture of Life Africa answers the assaults on these values with African women's voices.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/obianujo-ekeocha for show notes and resources.

Does neuroscience prove there is no free will? Is consciousness reducible to a neural network? Are we determined by our brains? In this episode, I speak again with neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Egnor. We discuss Sam Harris arguments against free will, and examine not only the philosophical problems with Harris' argument, but Dr. Egnor also argues that Harris incorrectly interprets the work of Benjamin Libet on will and the readiness potential, and that Libet himself did not reject free will. We also discuss the complex question of consciousness and the materialist claims that consciousness can be reduced to a physical, neural process.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/michael-egnor-2 for show notes and resources.

In this episode, I speak with Professor Gary Saul Morson about the thought of Vladamir Lenin and how Lenin's ideas and way of seeing the world influences us today. We discuss his New Criterion essay, "Leninthink" and some of the key aspects of Lenin's thought, including Who-Whom: adherence to all politics and life as a win-lose, zero-sum game, the rejection of truth, Party-ness and ideological commitment over all, affirmation of violence, and philosophical materialism. We discuss moral relativism and the adherence to lying that many Western intellectuals failed to understand. Morson gives examples from Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon, Richard Wright's American Hunger, and G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories. If "Leninthink" sounds a bit like the situation we are in today, it is because Lenin's ideas are alive and well.

Visit https://www.themoralimagination.com for resources and show notes

In this episode, I speak with Professor Carlo Lancellotti about the late Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce and the Crisis of Modernity. Del Noce died in 1989, but his writings are very relevant and help explains much of our contemporary situation.

In this wide ranging conversation, we talk about totalitarianism, the religious nature of revolution, consumerism, the hybrid of Marxist anthropology with bourgeois pursuit of happiness; hippies and yuppies, the absolutization of politics, and the danger of forbidding questions.

Show Notes: https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/carlo-lancelotti

Does your brain think? Does your frontal lobe decide? Or do you think and you decide? What is the relationship between the brain and and the mind; between the brain and the person? Neuroscience has entered our everyday speech and increasingly shapes the way we think about ourselves and the world--including some serious conceptual errors. In this episode, I speak with Dr. Michael Egnor, a neurosurgeon and professor of pediatric neurosurgery about some of the philosophical foundations and faulty assumptions of contemporary neuroscience. We discuss his critiques of materialism, positivism, and scientism that underlie much of neuroscience. We also discuss the work of Bennet and Hacker and the pervasive error in neuroscience of the mereological fallacy--the error of identifying the part with the whole--identifying the brain with the person. Bennet and Hacker argue that much contemporary neuroscience is founded upon a "mutant Cartesianism" that has replaced the dualism of Decartes with a new dualism where the brain takes the place of the mind. We also discuss Dr. Egnor’s work on split-brain patients, perception, and the Aristotelian-Thomistic idea of hylomorphism. This is my first interview with Dr. Egnor. In the second interview, we discuss the problem of free will, the work of Benjamin Libet, Sam Harris, and what neuroscience actually tells us about free choices.

Show Notes: https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/michael-egnor

In this episode, I speak with technologist, musician, and author, Jaron Lanier about technology, behavior modification, artificial intelligence and virtual reality and consciousness. We discuss the internet economics, his critique of free services, and how to re-think the internet, data collection, privacy, and paying people for their data. We also discuss the human rights and the nature of personhood. Jaron Lanier is the author of several books on technology and was one of the founders of virtual reality and coined the term. He also wrote a book on the philosophy of the person, "You are not a Gadget: A Manifesto". He has a long and distinguished career in tech. He began computer programming in the 1970s, worked for Atari in the 1980s, and later founded a virtual reality company. He has been a founder or principal of a number tech firms which have been acquired by Google, Adobe, and Pfizer. Jaron currently works at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Research.

Show Notes: https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/jaron-lanier

In this episode, I speak with Brad Birzer about the American Sociologist Robert Nisbet and his critique of the Modern Nation State. Nisbet was a strong proponent of decentralization and a multiplicity of associations. We discuss some of his ideas, including developmentalism, the quest for community, and authority. We also discuss Nisbet's influences—Alexis de Tocqueville, Edmund Burke, Proudhon, and the Counter-Revolutionaries—and his critique of Jean Jacques Rousseau, who he called the "demon of the modern mind". Brad is currently working on a book on Robert Nisbet that will be published by Notre Dame Press.

Dr. Birzer is professor of history, and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College. He is the co-founder of The Imaginative Conservative, and has written books on J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Dawson, Russell Kirk, and the rock star Neil Peart.

Show Notes: https://www.themoralimagination.com/episodes/bradley-birzer