The modern script for women seems to contemplate exclusively two options: either the feminist and childless virago, or the homemaker and mother of as many children as possible. While neither path may be “wrong”, and while we won’t tell anyone how to live their lives! - a real problem may lie in the way both conservatives and progressives understand women more broadly. As important as motherhood may be, does women’s generative nature “define” them? Are children a woman’s “job”? If so, for how long? Even more radically, to what extent are men and women “different”?

Biology provides some answers without a doubt. It is only with the help of lady philosophy, however, that both men and women can appreciate what to do with their differences and how to understand their common human nature. In this episode, we discuss these issues with Dr. Angela Knobel, professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. Dr. Knobel’s forthcoming book deals precisely with these questions, and with the unexplored territory of Aristotle and Aquinas' ethical naturalism applied to motherhood. Links & Resources Dr. Angela Knobel: https://udallas.edu/academics/programs/philosophy/faculty/knobel-angela.php Dr. Knobel’s Book, Aquinas and the Infused Moral Virtues (2021): https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268201104/aquinas-and-the-infused-moral-virtues/ The University of Dallas: https://udallas.edu/ Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture: https://www.austin-institute.org The Austin Institute: https://www.austin-institute.org/

As we approach the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the question of what defines an American remains at large. Is it tied to our shared civic history, or is there something more? Why should students still read the classics, from Socrates to Nathaniel Hawthorne, and how are ancient ideas still relevant in a postmodern society? And, why found a new University when thousands already exist, much less in a city that already has a world-class University?

Dr. Jacob Wolf joins Dr. Orlandi to discuss why we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, the American Cultural Canon, the educational void filled by the University of Austin, and the specifically “American” brand of Individualism.

Happy Birthday, America!

Links & Resources:

Dr. Jacob Wolf: https://uaustin.org/people/jacob-wolf/

The University of Austin: https://uaustin.org/

Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture: https://www.austin-institute.org