Combat and Classics is a series of podcasts and online seminars that explores the nature of man in conflict and cooperation through socratic dialogue and the great books. For more info visit 
Dr. Joseph Wood (Institute for World Politics and Cana Academy) joins Brian and Jeff to discuss Pierre Manent’s “The Metamorphoses of the City,” Chapter 2: The Poetic Birth of the City. We discuss the relationships between war and politics, especially as it relates to The Iliad. Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics #25: Aristotle’s Politics, Part 3
What is slavery? What does slavery have to do with the household or the state? Brian, Lise, and Jeff dig deeper into the Politics in part 3 of their discussion of this series. Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org. Continue Reading …
Epistemic Tribalism, Epistemic Chaos, and Epistemic Exhaustion
The 2016 US presidential election and the Trump presidency have helped make visible that a variety of epistemically perilous features are far too common in the thought and behavior of Americans. David Roberts, in a 2017 blog post for Vox, aptly labeled one such feature tribal epistemology. Roberts describes a world dominated by tribal epistemology as one in which Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics #21: Aristotle’s Politics Bk. I
Jeff, Lise, and Brian roll up their sleeves and dig in to Aristotle’s Politics. How are this and other “Great Books” relevant to how we live our lives? What is good political rule? What does it mean to be “just” within a political system? What problems can politics solve? What problems can it not solve? The team tackles those questions and much more in this episode. Get Continue Reading …
Political Defense Mechanisms
The very idea of political conflict with "the establishment" is central to progressive politics. By contrast, there seems to be a kind of tension at the heart of the conservative self-understanding. On the one hand, conservatives take themselves to be “quietist” guardians of tradition, where “tradition” is conceived as an accumulation of time-honored skills, habits, and Continue Reading …
Episode 156: Philosophy and Politics Free-Form Discussion (Part Two)
Continuing our liberal bubble-bursting exercise, the core foursome address more directly the question of how philosophy is supposed to shape one's political views and actions. Is there a non-partisan way of describing "the public good" that we can use as a touchstone to communicate with and maybe convince political opponents? What's a philosophically responsible way to use Continue Reading …
Episode 156: Philosophy and Politics Free-Form Discussion (Part One)
How does studying philosophy help you to make sense of the political landscape? Wes, Mark, Dylan, and Seth play pundit and express their angst over this new era. We reflect on political rhetoric, elitism, and much more. There is no text for this episode, though we've got Aristotle, Burke, and Tocqueville firmly in mind, and Wes brings up this article from the Guardian, Continue Reading …
Ep. 156: Philosophy and Politics Free-Form Discussion (Citizen Edition)
How does studying philosophy help you to make sense of the political landscape? Wes, Mark, Dylan, and Seth play pundit and express their angst over this new era. We reflect on political rhetoric, elitism, and much more. There is no text for this episode, though we've got Aristotle, Burke, and Tocqueville firmly in mind, and Wes brings up this article from the Guardian, Continue Reading …