The Hermeneutic of Suspicion In today’s show Chris introduces a term coined by the French intellectual, Paul Ricouer—the hermeneutic of suspicion. In the 19th century, theorists including Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud promoted the idea that rationality was nothing more than rationalization. Beneath the surface of any argument was something selfish and irrational. They believed that …
The Return of the Metanarrative?! Early postmodern promoters argued that the end of metanarratives like Christianity and the Enlightenment would lead to a peaceful plurality of group narratives, without the aim of any to dominate. This would lead to an end of oppressive worldviews with totalitarian aims. But mutations in postmodern thinking, those connected with …
The Irish Saints: Redeemed Paganism In an earlier episode, the Pugsters talked about Tolkien’s ideas of the value of pagan myth and the need to Christianize it. In this episode, Glenn picks up on that and applies it not to mythology but to culture, specifically, the religion of pre-Christian Ireland and what happened when it …
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Individualisms: Which Sort of Individual are You? In today’s show, Chris introduces an important study of individualism that was published back in 1985 by Robert Bellah and a team of sociologists, entitled: Habits of the Heart–Individualism and Commitment in American Life”. A best-seller at the time, the book is almost forgotten today, which is a …
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Christianity’s Favorite Beverage?! Celebratory fun highlights this Pugcast. As the gang records on St Patrick’s day, Tom thought it would be great to share in the celebrations by highlighting some fun-filled facts from Stephen Mansfield’s book In Search for God and Guinness. The book is far more than a story of the relation of Christianity …
Sanctifying Myth Working off the introduction to Bradley Birzer’s J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth, the Pugsters talk about Tolkien, Lewis, and Chesterton and their ideas about myth and faerie. Tolkien believed that just like pagan philosophers grasped truths that were most perfectly expressed in the Gospel, the stories of myth and faerie were bits of “splintered …
Esoteric and Exoteric Teachings Today the guys discuss the vexed topic of esoteric teaching and interpretation. Esoteric teaching is teaching intended to sort people into two groups–those who understand and those who do not. Why would anyone want to do that? Isn’t that elitist? Isn’t it undemocratic? Well, yes, it is those things–and Jesus undeniably …
Why Have So Many In the World Gone Seemingly Mad? In this show, Tom addresses a listeners question with reflections from past shows as well as recent insights. Tom looks at various realities, forces, and trends that have led culture to the present moment of sweeping madness. Chris and Glenn penetrate the topic with perspicacity …
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Barometers and Worldview Glenn introduces concepts from medieval epistemology (i.e. the branch of philosophy dealing with knowledge and truth) and how these got challenged in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, particularly through the recovery of the ideas of the ancient Greek skeptic Pyrrho. After a foray into Descartes, who tried to answer Pyrrho, we look …
Morgoth’s Ring! Little by little, the notes and reflections of J. R. R. Tolkien have been published posthumously by his son, Christopher. Among the many volumes is the Tenth Volume in The History of Middle-Earth, entitled Morgoth’s Ring. The book contains many of Tolkien’s reflections on the nature of evil, mortality, and the eschatology of …