#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.