Today we have another Q&A for the folks. We’ve been touching on philosophy over the last few weeks and one of my podcasts, the Natural Order Podcast, is classified as a “philosophy” show, even though we do mix in quite a bit of current events.
Either way, a reader writes in:
Do you think philosophy still has a place in shaping public debate, or is it now mostly a personal pursuit?
My response:
Did philosophy once have a place in shaping public debate?
Absolutely. Will it again? That’s less certain.
There was a time in America when nearly every adult had some grounding in religious and moral education from childhood on. Not all that formation was perfect, but at least it provided a framework for discussing right and wrong.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed dramatically. The “news” has become a shallow echo of what it was even in the 1980s, when Peter Jennings would fire up a lung dart during the commercial break before telling us what mattered in the world. Now, the media is more fragmented and less substantive than ever.
Parents used to send their kids to Sunday school or parish school, but that’s rare now. Instead, superhero movies—stripped of the moral complexity that characterized their earliest comics—have become the new source of “values” for young people.
If students get any moral or ethical education in government schools, it’s usually in civics or history classes. Even then, the discussions are often more about social issues than about fundamental questions of right and wrong.
The old debates—about liberty, justice, or the meaning of citizenship—have been replaced by the latest ideological trends. More important are the “pronouns” or which letters of the alphabet you “identify” with.
As the influence of Western civilization wanes, so too does the influence of its formative philosophies. The wisdom (and warnings) of the Greeks and Romans, the foundational ideas of Christianity, and the great debates of medieval and modern thinkers are largely ignored.
Instead, we see a patchwork of philosophies—pantheism, atheism, agnosticism—often championed by those who put all their faith in human reason.
Ironically, this confidence in "reason" sometimes borders on the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which is a cognitive bias where people overestimate their own wisdom. Since the Enlightenment, this cohort has doubled down on reason, without being reasonable.
The result? Two world wars and a century scarred by the ultimate atheistic philosophy: Communism.
We’re also told that all religions are equal—that judgment is always wrong—and that nothing is truly sacred. This isn’t just misguided, it’s dangerous.
The West once stood for certain truths. Now, it chases the fleeting and the fashionable, favoring the immediate over the eternal.
Again we ask: Does philosophy still have a place in the public square?
It should. But getting it back there won’t be easy.
Politics and policy are not philosophy. Debates over tariffs, taxes, or foreign policy are not the same as debates over what it means to live a good life or to build a just society.
Philosophical principles may inform our politics, but today, those deeper discussions are almost entirely absent.
I remember someone once saw my bookshelf and laughed at my copy of Plato. That reaction says it all: even the classics are no longer taken seriously.
There’s no place at the table for Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, or any of the other giants of Western thought—unless we make space for them. That starts with talking about their ideas and why they matter.
Stan Lee was a storyteller, not a philosopher. I loved Spider-Man as a kid, but I always knew Saturday morning cartoons were for fun, and Sunday mornings were for something serious.
We need to reclaim that distinction.
Philosophy deserves a seat at the table … If we’re willing to invite it back.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…for now.
As always,
Brian
P.S. – We have had some sharp cats in our Inner Sphere program over the last year who will engage in these topics. Not only engage but have substantive ideas to add to the discourse.
If you want to know more about what we’re doing over there, book a FREE “Warp-Speed Consult” with us to see if you’re a fit.
Or respond to this email if you have any questions.
