Political Philosophy

Why is it so hard to control our own technology so that it helps humanity instead of making things worse? This is the biggest question of our time, and the one we can't afford to get wrong. In light of the Heidegger series and the Maurin Academy course on the Ethics of AI, this video gives some thoughts on what gets in the way of our ability to think ethically about our own technologies. … M...

Agonistic politics is true democratic politics, as opposed to the propaganda and mass manipulation of contemporary politics. It is important to remember the basis of true democratic politics. … More Agonistic Politics v Propaganda & Mass Manipulation, ft. Leo Strauss (Heidegger 3)

Getting ready to discuss the second half of Martin Heidegger's essay "The Question Concerning Technology" with the Great Books/Political Philosophy reading group at the Maurin Academy. This video completes the discussion of terminology in Heidegger's essay. … More Heidegger and AI: The Question Concerning Technology Now

Getting ready to read Martin Heidegger's essay "The Question Concerning Technology" with the Great Books/Political Philosophy reading group at the Maurin Academy. … More “Enframing,” “Standing Reserve” and Other Terms in Heidegger’s The Question Concerning Technology (2)

Getting ready to read Martin Heidegger's essay "The Question Concerning Technology" with the Great Books/Political Philosophy reading group at the Maurin Academy. … More Martin Heidegger’s Character (The Question Concerning Technology, 1)

The Maurin Academy hosted Dr. Hugo Drochon for a talk on "Elites and Democracy." The lecture originally took place on 8/15/2026. Drochon's argument touches on a handful of thinkers, including the original "elite theorists" Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, and Robert Michels, as well as theorists of democracy such as Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Raymond Aron. … More Exploring Elites and...

I interviewed Caleb Owens recently. His class starts this Wednesday, on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus's Sermon on the Mount was perhaps the most important biblical inspiration for Dorothy Day, Leo Tolstoy, and others who developed Christian pacifism and direct action/mutual aid. … More Join Our Four-Part Series on the Sermon on the Mount, Starting Aug. 12

Political Philosophy discusses upcoming classes, lectures and how to support the Maurin Academy and join the discussion. … More Explore the Maurin Academy YouTube Channel & More

This is a segment from the third session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. … More Why We Lost Our Sense of Sacrifice (Creation, Food & Agriculture, Public Clip 3)

This is a segment from the second session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. You can join the Maurin Academy's Patreon and get access to this class and all our content recorded, or live and recorded. Get access through Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More How Technical Rationality Breaks Our Bond With Nature (Creatio...

This is a segment from the first session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. … More How Urbanization Caused a (Land) Fertility Crisis Affecting Us All (CFA Public Segment 1)

https://leostrausscenter.uchicago.edu/audio-transcripts/courses-audio-transcripts/ Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms! F...

In her public podcast, which you can also find on pretty much all podcast platforms, Laurie has been reading and discussing Leo Strauss's book Persecution and the Art of Writing, and this is the last video on the chapter in the book by the same name. Next time, she'll discuss Strauss's next chapter, on Maimonides' esoteric writing. … More Historicism’s Deadly Effect on Thinking (Persec...

Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Persecution and Horse Logic (Persecution and the Art of Writing, 3)

You can find out more about this class, coming Feb. 4, 2026, here: https://pmaurin.org/antimodern-progress-contradiction-or-christian-alternative/ … More Antimodern Progress: The Ideas of Jacques Maritain (Upcoming Class)

Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Why Exoteric Writing? (Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing, 2)

This is the introductory lecture for a series on Persecution and the Art of Writing by Leo Strauss. … More Introduction to Persecution and the Art of Writing by Leo Strauss (New Series)

Dr John Fliter, author of U.S. vs. Darby Lumber Co.: The Triumph of Fair Labor Standards (University Press of Kansas, 2025), is our guest today. The interview covers the history of the struggle for fair labor standards in the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the state of labor today. … More Fair Labor Standards in the United States: A Conversation With Constitutional Law Expert John&#16...

This is my talk from a recent visit to Milwaukee to view Maurin documents at Marquette University. It was part of a Catholic Worker roundtable with Lincoln Rice. It represents my initial thoughts on how Maurin's life, in some ways, is a microcosm of modern dislocation, not any extensive research on Maurin, which is ongoing. … More Dislocation as a Symptom of Modernity: The Case of Peter Maur...

Stephen Paff, host of Democracy Demythologized and author of the Ethnodata blog joined Laurie for a conversation about AI. This is a short segment of a longer conversation and discussion with patrons of the Maurin Academy. … More What AI Means (And Doesn’t Mean) for Our World, with Stephen Paff (Excerpt)

Pastor Caleb Campbell, Desert Springs Bible Church, has published a new book, Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor, with Blackstone Publishing. It is available in paperback, Kindle and Audible editions. https://www.amazon.com/Disarming-Leviathan-Christian-Nationalist-Neighbor/dp/B0DB2NV6F7 … More Pastor Caleb Campbell: Disarming Leviathan

We finish up the discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There with "Chauncey Gardiner" being launched into the stratosphere of American power while being an acknowledged complete unknown on both sides of the Cold War. What does this satirical novel have to say about our lack of common sense? … More The Usefulness of Common Sense in the Age of Digital Deception (Being There 6)

On the Maurin Academy's Political Philosophy podcast, Laurie is covering Jerzy Kosinski's Being There, a satirical novel about an image and wealth-obsessed American society bent on the mass narcissism of literally loving a politician. This is part 5 in the series. … More The Vulnerabilities of Democracy in the Age of Image

We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel, Being There, at the point where "Chauncey Gardiner," mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman, meets the President of the United States and the American press--and a desperate heiress. … More Romantic Democracy: The Blind Following the Blind. (Kosinski’s Being There, 4)

We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel, Being There, at the point where "Chauncey Gardiner" meets EE by accident and gets mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman. … More An Empty Signifier Makes an Ideal Lover (Being There, Part 3)