Ep. 374: Discussing Liberalism (Lincoln, et al) with Walter Sterling (Part One)

You're listening to the Partially Examined Life philosophy podcast by some guys who are at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Our question for episode three seventy four is something like, what's the crisis of little democracy and what's to be done about it? For our episode, we read Lincoln's Lyceum speech on the perpetuation of our political institutions, Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now, the first section of that book, first introduction of the first chapter of Patrick Deneen's Why Liberalism Failed, and Francis Fukuyama's Liberalism and His Discontents, the essay version that preceded the release of his book. This is Dylan Casey considering whether property rights really are required in a liberal democracy from Madison, Wisconsin. This is Seth Paskin escaping into romanticism in Lisbon, Portugal. I I don't like the sound of that. This is Wes Allwine believing in my own perfectibility in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And this is, Walter Sterling, president of St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Well, thank you for joining us, Walter. I probably should have said that at the beginning that we had a esteemed guest with us in our episode today. And, you know, this is sort of a topical area for us. And you and I had talked about connecting and having you on the podcast. And the topic that we both resonated with was this sort of question that's about the state of both our institutions surrounding liberal democracy, but also liberal democracy itself and the various challenges to it. And, you know, it's part of the public conversation with respect to whether our form of some explicit form of government is is satisfactory. Some of the questioning of the roles of higher education or of science, that sort of thing. And I've been wanting to do a episode where we sort of engage this topic a little more broadly. And when you and I talked about it, you resonated with that as well. And we came up with a reading list that would at least get us in that direction. And I think it'd be worthwhile to have you just say, say a little bit about what you're doing and your role and what some initial thoughts here. Sure. And thank you for, having me join you today and having this opportunity to talk about these themes that, that I care about and think about a lot. I am the president of St. John's College, an institution I know you all are well aware of, and we're a liberal arts college with a distinctive model that's tied to an integrated curriculum, great books education, Socratic seminar discussion, and so on. But broadly speaking, I I find myself thinking all the time about the mission and meaning and character of liberal education and the liberal arts and that ideal of education and the kind of communities that form around it in the context of the world we're in today. And while …