#197: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking

What does it mean to live a “life of the mind?”Why is it important that we make time to ponder and contemplate the heftier ideas of what it means to be a human?And if we have the desire to lead a contemplative life, how exactly do we go about doing it?Well, my guest today has spent his life pondering and thinking about these questions. His name is Father James Schall. He’s a Jesuit priest and philosopher and the Professor of Political Philosophy at Georgetown University. Father Schall has written on a wide variety of topics, but today on the show we focus on his book The Life of the Mind: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking in which he elucidates on ways of approaching thinking so that it delights and edifies us. Today on the the show, Fr. Schall and I discuss what it means to take part in the Great Conversation, why the life the mind has some drudgery to it, and brass-tacks things we can all do to live a more thoughtful and contemplative life.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.