The Moral Imagination

Fr. Augustine Wetta, a Benedictine monk and author, shares profound insights on humility and self-esteem grounded in St. Benedict’s teachings. He contrasts modern self-assertion with true self-worth, emphasizing self-denial and service to others. The discussion touches on the challenges of modern identity, the necessity of silence for spiritual growth, and the transformative power of reverence in worship. With humor, he recounts personal stories, including a memorable encounter with a rosebush, illustrating the lighter side of spiritual aspirations.

In this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast I speak with Catherine Pakaluk about her book Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth DearthOver the last 200 years, we have seen a decline in birth rates in the United States and abroad, especially in Western countries. Most European countries are no longer at replacement rates and face serious population decline. Reuters reported that Japan’s population will decline by a staggering 30% in the next fifty years. In the United States, in the year 1800, the typical woman would have about 7 or 8 children. By 1900 that number was cut in half to 4. By 2000 the number cut in half again to about 2 children, which is just about replacement rate. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the the record-low birthrate in the US, and how increasing numbers of people plan to have no children. In the midst of declining marriages, childlessness, and low birthrates, Pakaluk studied the increasing minority of women in the Western world who have chosen to have five or more children — the top 5% of childbearing.Her book is a mix of ethnography, sociology, and economics, and includes a critique of the dominant model of social and economic research. One thing that stands out with many of the women she interviews is how at some point a shift took place in their attitude — from seeing children as a choice, like a consumer good among other choices, to a different attitude of receptivity and openness to having another child, and then another. She talks about the many forces that promote small families — the cost of children, overpopulation propaganda, education, feminism, environmentalism, consumerism and more. But Pakaluk emphasizes that encouraging women to have more children cannot be addressed simply by implementing pro-family policies like some countries have tried to do. Good policy is not insignificant — for example in most US states parents who want to send their children to religious schools have to pay twice for school through tax and tuition. But she argues that the real problems go much deeper. They are religious, spiritual, and metaphysical: a vision of life that sees being as good, children as a blessing, and family as essential for a good life. Pakaluk compares having a large family to running a marathon—except longer, harder, and more fulfilling. Government family policy would be like giving everyone a pair of good running shoes for the marathon. That could help, but it won’t get most people to run. There must be a deeper motivation, and this almost always comes from religious belief and the virtues of faith, hope, the goodness of being, and the value of generosity and sacrifice that come from it. Themes and Topics we discuss include: * Demographics and Population Decline * Family policies * Feminism * Education * Career vs Family and Children * Conflicting Desires* Difficulties and Advantages of a Large Family * The Role of Religious Schools* Community * Plausibility Structures* Consumerism * Individualism* Social Pressure * Religious Freedom * Fortitude, Patience * Boys and Girls Sports * Novak Djokovic and Kobe Bryant * Voting Patterns * Climate* Creation and the Goodness of Being * and more Biography Catherine Ruth Pakaluk (Ph.D, 2010) joined the faculty at the Busch School in the summer of 2016, and is the founder of the Social Research academic area, where she is an Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. Dr. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”Pakaluk did her doctoral work at Harvard University under Caroline Hoxby, David Cutler, and 2016 Nobel-laureate Oliver Hart. Her dissertation, “Essays in Applied Microeconomics”, examined the relationship between religious ‘fit' and educational outcomes, the role of parental effort in observed peer effects and school quality, and theoretical aspects of the contraceptive revolution as regards twentieth century demographic trends.   Beyond her formal training in economics, Dr. Pakaluk studied Catholic social thought under the mentorship of F. Russell Hittinger, and various aspects of Thomistic thought with Steven A. Long. She is a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Maryland with her husband Michael Pakaluk and eight children.Resources Hannah's ChildrenFlight from Woman Neil Postman: Technopoly Joseph Ratzinger: Homilies on Genesis On the Jewish - Christian Idea of the Goodness of Being Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe

Photo Credit: Tyler Follon - Wingman VisualsIn this episode of the Moral Imagination Podcast, I speak with Professor William Easterly of New York University about his work in development economics, and the problems of technocracy and social engineering of the poor. Easterly worked at the World Bank from 1985-2001 and began to be troubled by a number of things, including how aid is given without much concern about how it is distributed and managed thus subsidizing bad governance and harming the poor. We discuss Peter Bauer’s critique of how foreign aid politicizes development and delayed the development of business in Africa, and Bauer’s paradox of aid: * The countries that need aid — aid will not be effective* The countries where aid will be effective — do not need aid But the key problem with the dominant model of development is not simply a lack of efficiency, but the failure to respect the rights and agency of poor people. Easterly explains that development projects often result in people being deprived of their property, political rights, and participation and consent in the very projects that are supposed to help them. He discussed the tendency to to trivialize problems in the developing world, and the lack of feedback and market tests in development policy. We discuss how the developing world can often become a a lab for experiments for technocrats and social engineers. We also talk about Hayek’s Knowledge Problem, a response to Marianna Mazucatto idea of moonshots, and what I call “embedded'“ economics. We discuss a number of issues including * “The Debate that Never Happened” - Gunnar Myrdal vs. Friedrich Hayek on development economics* Social Engineering * Technocracy and the Hubris of the Technocrat * Spontaneous Order* Edmund Burke and Friedrich Hayek * Soviet 5-year central planning as model for economic development * Limited Horizons of Humanitarianism— a secular, hollowed out version of Christian love the focuses on material at the expense of personal agency. * Lack of Accountability * Material vs. Non-material Needs * Materialist visions of the human person * People have a right to consent to their own progress * Harry Potter novels vs. Mosquito Nets * Marianna Mazucatto’s ideas of Moonshots * vs. accidental discovery* vs opportunity costs * vs failed social engineering projects * and the complexity of economics and markets embedded in deep historical, cultural, norms, institutions, and religious foundations. * How to think about foreign aid and public goods like healthcare, infrastructure, education* Aid for emergencies vs. aid as answer to chronic poverty* Institutions of Justice including clear title to land, access to justice in the courts, ability to participate in the formal economy, and free exchange. * The impact of globalization on manufacturing in the US* Trade-offs and economic volatility * The moral rules that are needed for progress to beneficial * Consent, Self-Determination, Moral Equality * Attempts to develop Native Americans, US intervention in Philippines etc. * Material progress is never enough to justify interventionBiography William Easterly is Professor of Economics at New York University and Co-director of the NYU Development Research Institute, which won the 2009 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge in Development Cooperation Award. He is the author of three books: The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor (March 2014), The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006), which won the FA Hayek Award from the Manhattan Institute, and The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (2001).He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed academic articles, and has written columns and reviews for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Review of Books, and Washington Post. He has served as Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics and as Director of the blog Aid Watch. He is a Research Associate of NBER, and senior fellow at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD). Foreign Policy Magazine named him among the Top 100 Global Public Intellectuals in 2008 and 2009, and Thomson Reuters listed him as one of Highly Cited Researchers of 2014. He is also the 11th most famous native of Bowling Green, Ohio.ResourcesEssay: Friedrich Hayek: “The Use of Knowledge in Society”Related: Podcast with Obianuju Ekeocha on Ideological Colonialism and Resisting the Cultural Annexation of Africa Uganda Farmer Story in New York TimesPoverty, Inc. Film Recommended ReadingTyranny of Experts William Easterly The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little GoodBuy on Amazon, William Easterly The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics, Easterly, William R.Target Africa: Ideological Neocolonialism in the Twenty-First Centuryby Obianuju Ekeocha Seeing Like a State, James C. Scott Peter Bauer, Equality, The Third World, and Economic DelusionAngus Deaton The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe

Discusses the decline of Christianity and the rise of 'Nones' in the US. Covers topics like breakdown of the family, sexual revolution, feminism, and technology's impact on belief. Explores different philosophies of the person shaping unbelief, including transhumanism and transgenderism.

Ambassador Eduard Habsburg discusses the Habsburg Dynasty, Blessed Charles of Austria, family traditions, subsidiarity vs. EU, decentralization, tech influence, liturgy significance, and the importance of family and tradition in a liquid modernity era.

In this episode, Seth Kaplan discusses his book on fragile neighborhoods in the US, emphasizing the broken relationships contributing to social and material poverty. He explores the impact of poverty on lifespan and the decline of trust, social and political problems in recent generations. The podcast also delves into the consequences of family breakdown, the problem of individualism in democratic life, the decline of mutual aid societies, and the importance of intact families in reducing poverty rates.

In this episode I speak with Fr. Cajetan Cuddy O.P. about Thomistic Psychology: A Philosophic Analysis of the Nature of Man, by Fr. Robert Edward Brennan, O.P., edited and with an introduction by Fr. Cuddy.   Aristotle wrote that “to attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world.” We often read psychology because we want to understand ourselves and our behavior- and the behavior of others.  While we don’t normally think of St. Thomas Aquinas as a psychologist, as a serious philosopher, theologian, and student of the human person, St. Thomas gives us deep insight into human psychology — the study of the psyche or soul — our intellect, memory, will, emotions, and our embodied, embedded existence. Fr. Brennan’s book on Thomistic Psychology provides a good accessible introduction to Aquinas’ reflections on psychology.  As. Fr. Cuddy notes, some of the science in Thomistic Psychology is a bit out of date, but the key principles and ideas are still applicable and provide an important contribution, especially in a time when so many struggle with anxiety, depression, sadness and other mental health challenges.  These have many causes to be sure, but the impact of modern theories of materialism, spiritualism and other reductionist visions of the person makes people even more confused about who they are and how to live well. One of the ideas central to the work of St. Thomas and Fr. Brennan is the idea of truth — conforming the mind to reality — and how taking truth seriously combined with a solid, non-reductionist philosophy of the person can have practical, positive impact on our mental and psychological health. Thomistic Psychology presents an integrated vision of the person that helps us the better to understand ourselves and others, and provides clear models and practical advice on addressing our problems, how to fight bad habits and build good ones, how to address our emotions, disappointments, and successes, and a roadmap on how to live well. St. Thomas’ philosophy and pyschology are also very important because he takes our embodiement seriously.  We are not souls in a body or driving around in our body like we drive around in a car. Nor are we simply material beings determined by our neurobiology or genetics. Rather we are embodied persons our physical, moral, spiritual, emotional, and psychological life are intertwined.  What we do and happens to us physically impacts our emotional and mental life and vice versa.  St. Thomas’ suggested remedy for sadness is a perfect of example of his taking our physical and spiritual nature seriously. We discuss a broad range of topics including: What is a person Divine Persons, Angelic Persons, Embodied persons What it means for human to have a nature. What is a soul? What is a body? Why the body matters Free will The proper use of the powers of man The remedy for saddnes St. Thomas on the Senses — sight, touch, hearing etc. Memory Imagination St. Thomas idea of self-creation Human formation The person as passive and active agent The role of happiness Evil as a privation Why we need to be careful about the music we listen to, the movies we watch, what we think about  Spiritual and/or Religious The beginning of love according to John Paul II Faith, Hope, Charity How the Christian life is not to become an angel — but a human being fully integrated. Liturgy Fasting Pray with our Bodies Find show notes and links to books we discuss at www.themoralimagination.com Biography: Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P., is a priest of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph. He serves as the general editor of the Thomist Tradition Series, and he is co-author of Thomas and the Thomists: The Achievement of St. Thomas Aquinas and His Interpreters. Fr. Cuddy has a B.A. from Franciscan University, a M.Div./S.T.B., The Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, a S.T.L., The Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and his doctorate, a S.T.D. from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.  He writes and lectures extensively on the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Thomist Tradition. Some of his selected publications can be found here. Fr. Cuddy also lectures for the Thomistic Institute.  For an excellent introduction to the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas I recommend the Thomistic Institutenstitute.org/ and their series Aquinas 101 The late Fr. Robert Edward Brennan, O.P. was a Dominican Friar, professor, and the author of numerous books and articles including Thomistic Psychology and The History of Psychology: A Thomistic Reading, both published recently by Cluny Media.   Cluny Media Thomist Tradition Series Cluny Media   thomisticinstitute.org Thomistic Institute The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square.   aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org Aquinas 101 Aquinas 101 is a video course project of the Thomistic Institute, located in Washington, DC. The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe

In this episode I speak with Professor Vigen Gurioan about the revised and expanded edition of his book Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Imagination. We discuss the power of stories, how they help can us develop self-knowledge, and how fairy tales and classic stories are essential for education and moral formation for children — and for adults. Fairy tales and classic stories can impress upon us profound philosophical and often theological insights about life and death, the good and beautiful, the value of courage and nobility, and importance of self-sacrifice for love. Stories, themes, and thinkers we we discuss include Hans Christian Anderson The Little Mermaid Beauty and the Beast Grimm’s Fairy Tales George McDonald Pinocchio, honor, honesty, and the responsibility of children to their parents The Ugly Duckling, courage, and the desire for beauty The Wind and the Willows, Charlotte’s Web, and friendship of equality and friendship of mentors Good Wishes and Bad Wishes Joseph Pieper and Dietrich von Hildebrand on joy as a the superabundant fruit of love and self-gift Charles Dickens C.S. Lewis Edmund Burke Aristotle on Friendship and more Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe

In this episode I speak with heart surgeon, Dr. Philip Ovadia MD, about metabolic health, diet, science, cholesterol, insulin resistance, the US government food pyramid, Ancel Keys and the cholesterol - saturated fat -heart disease hypothesis. We discuss medical education, health insurance, scientism, and some of the obstacles doctors and scientists face with “group think.” Dr Ovadia tells his story of how lost 100 pounds changed everything he learned about fat and food. He explains that while half of the patients who have heart attacks or heart surgery have normal levels of cholesterol, over 90% have insulin resistance. He argues that metabolic health is not only important for heart health, but for mental health, and plays a key role in preventing cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We discuss a number of themes including Gary Taubes: The Case Sugar and Why We Get Fat Problems of Crony Capitalism and Subsidies How the Government Food Pyramid makes you fat Metabolic Health and Covid The Campbell Effect and how bad science has dominated medicine Weston Price Insulin Resistance Diabetes Saturated Fat Pharmacuetical Industry and Medication Seed Oils Health Insurance and the need for new models The connection between metabolic health and mental health This episode and podcast is for informational purposes and does not provide medical advice. Biography Dr. Philip Ovadia MD is a board certified cardiac surgeon and founder of Ovadia Heart Health. He grew up in New York and graduated from the accelerated Pre-Med/Med progra at the Pennsylvannia State University and Jefferson Medical College. This was followed by residency in General Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey and a fellowship in Cardio-thoracic Surgery at Tufts-New England Medical School. Learn more about Dr. Ovadia at www.ovadiahearthealth.com Resources See books below Campbell’s Law Dave Feldman on Cholesterol Podcast with Jay Richards on Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet Podcast with Diana Rodgers on Food, Meat and Health Podcast with James Madden on Embodied, Embedded Persons Podcast with Joel Salatin on Food and Farming Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe

In this episode I speak with Titus Techera about Dune, Bladerunner, science fiction, dystopian film, technocratic view of humanity, and the formative power of science fiction on the imagination. We discuss contemporary technological society, social breakdown, loneliness, men and women and decline in marriage, technology and trans-humanism/ transgenderism, and the predictive power of dystopian film. We talk about what it means to be human and the relationship between digital technology and humanity. Titus argues that much of sport, military, modern manliness and excellence has been reduced to science and creatures of technology. He argues that one of the “catalysts for science fiction stories is disappointment with the world. The dead hand of the past is too powerful. People are always a problem; tradition gets in the way of radical innovation. Science fiction is aware of the problem of our decadence, but technical daring can solve it.” And yet in the science fiction societies like Bladerunner there is a wealthy technical class amidst brutality, societal decline where everyone has lost their humanity. He writes As with all science fiction set in the near future, Blade Runner is an attempt to make us look at ourselves as though we were strangers to ourselves, allowing for the possibility that serious changes can come suddenly and overcome our beliefs or preferences. Could we end up like Deckard, Harrison Ford’s character, a bounty hunter, or “blade runner?” We need not embrace this kind of despair, but only need understand its appeal. The social landscape of Blade Runner seems plausible enough. The film presents American cities overrun by crime and poverty while technological corporations become immensely wealthy… A suitably dramatic expression of something we see around us quite often; indeed, perhaps exaggeration is necessary, since we have an excusable, but unfortunate tendency to ignore the misery of American cities. Themes we discuss include Science and scientism, Atheism and religion, Nihilism and utopianism, Social engineering of people, Medicine Covid pandemic and vaccine mandates Tension between scientific progress in digital technology and scientific and technological stagnation in other areas. Jordan Peterson Contemporary interest in stoicism Utiltarianism and hedonism Sports and Science Spiderman   Biography Titus Techera is the executive director of the American Cinema Foundation, host of the ACF podcasts, a film critic for Law & Liberty and the Acton Institute, contributor to Modern Age, columnist for Return and European Conservative, and editor-in-chief of PostModern Conservative. Techera studied liberal arts at Bard College Berlin and political science at the University of Bucharest and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. Resources Titus Techera essay: The Tale of Two Dunes Titus Techera essay on Bladerunner Follow Titus on Twitter Listen to the ACF Film Podcast Titus Techera Substack   Titus Techera on Novak Djokovic, Excellence, and Covid Rules Caveats: These science fiction books and films because they deal with dystopian futures and social decadence have material that is not suitable for children. Get full access to The Moral Imagination - Michael Matheson Miller at www.themoralimagination.com/subscribe