Christianity & Politics - Hertog Foundation

In this brief survey, we will consider the thoughts of a number of canonical authors who wrestle with Biblical religion. Augustine offers us the City of God and the City of Man; Hobbes tries to combine the two cities; Tocqueville asks that we separate religion from democratic politics in order to save both; Nietzsche encourages us to let go of Biblical religion in order that man himself may be saved.

We will read these works with a view to moving in three directions at once: inward, with a view to the meaning of the ideas themselves; outward, to other ideas in the canon that offer different paths; and outward, again, to the world around us, in the hope that what we are reading illuminates that world.

Image: Detail from Hans Memling, The Passion of the Christ, ca. 1471

Joshua Mitchell lectures on Tocqueville

Faculty

Joshua Mitchell

Joshua Mitchell is professor of political theory at Georgetown University. His research interest lies in the relationship between political thought and theology in the West.

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Augustine

Readings:

Selections from Augustine, City of God

Discussion Questions:

What, for Augustine, is at issue in the fall of Rome?
How is man to make sense of the problem of evil?
Can there be “man” without God?
In light of the problem of sin, what is the place of politics?

Hobbes

Readings:

Hobbes, handout
Selections from Hobbes, Leviathan

Discussion Questions:

Why does Hobbes begin Leviathan with a chapter on “sense”?
Why is he so opposed to Aristotle?
Why does man need an “arbiter”?
Why does each nation need a Moses?

Tocqueville

Readings:

Aristocratic Age versus Democratic Age
Selections from Tocqueville, Democracy in America
- Author’s Introduction (pp. 3–15)
- I, Part 1, Ch. 2 (pp. 27–36, ending at “in the New England states.”)
- 1, Part 1, Ch. 5 (“On the Township System in America,” pp. 57–58 and “On the Political Effects . . .”, pp. 82–84, ending at “malcontents to obedience”)
- I, Part 2, Ch. 6 (pp. 225–35)
- I, Part 2, Ch. 9 (pp. 278–88, ending at “the strength it still preserves”)

Discussion Questions:

What is the “story” of liberalism that Tocqueville tells?
Why is Tocqueville a “mediational” theorist?
What is Tocqueville’s understanding of the psyche?
Why does Tocqueville give so much attention to the Puritans?

Tocqueville, Cont'd

Readings:

Aristocratic Age versus Democratic Age
Selections from Tocqueville, Democracy in America
- II, Part 1, Chs. 1–2 (pp. 403–10)
- II, Part 1, Ch. 5 (pp. 417–19, ending at “abandoned to itself”)
- II, Part 1, Chs. 7–8 (pp. 425–28)
- II, Part 1, Ch. 20 (pp. 469–72)
- II, Part 2, Ch. 5 (pp. 489–92)
- II, Part 2, Ch. 8 (pp. 500–03)
- II, Part 3, Ch. 12 (pp. 573–76)
- II, Part 3, Ch. 21 (pp. 606–17)
- II, Part 4, Ch. 6 (pp. 661–65)

Discussion Questions:

What is the “American philosophical method,” and why is it so important?
How may religion maintain its hold in the democratic age?
What is self-interest rightly understood?
Why is the “end of history” quietude?

Nietzsche

Readings:

Nietzsche, First Essay, The Genealogy of Morals (trans. Walter Kaufmann)

Discussion Questions:

What is the problem with thinking of man in terms of “interests”?
At what historical moment does the degeneration of man set in?
What is religion, for Nietzsche?
What is the crisis of Europe, on Nietzsche’s reading?

Alumni Spotlight

Amanda Wynter

Amanda Wynter has written for The Atlantic, and worked as an Atlantic Media Research Fellow at National Journal. She came to Political Studies from Georgetown University, where she majored in Government, with a minor in Political Philosophy.

“Hertog gives people the opportunity to think about politics for an extended period of time with other people who are also interested in doing the same thing. The mindset Hertog puts you in is specifically defined by developing a reverence for old texts while also looking at contemporary issues. The juxtaposition of those two activities is critical, and I don’t think students can get that in everyday college classes where you’re either focused on reading Plato in Ancient Greek or reading The Washington Post.”

Amanda Wynter

Current Position:

Product Manager, Google
Past:

FiscalNote, National Journal, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs
Education:

Georgetown University

HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT THE HERTOG FOUNDATION? WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO APPLY?

A friend of mine at Georgetown from political theory circles was an alum of Political Studies, and he suggested that the Program was something I would really benefit from and enjoy. At the time, I had recently transferred schools within Georgetown from security studies to political philosophy, and Hertog looked like a chance to delve deeper into the examination of big political ideas. That aspect of the Program was definitely attractive to me, and it proved to be really valuable.

TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR CAREER PATH.

Eventually I want to go to graduate school, and ultimately I see myself teaching at the university level. Political Studies was my first glimpse of what a life in academia would look like. Spending time around graduate students and other university students interested in entering the academy was certainly informative and influential.

Right now, I’m working for a research team that looks at government affairs from a business perspective. Since I was a government major in school, working in government affairs now lines up well. But it was my time at Hertog that really put me on the first path towards looking at politics writ large.

WHAT STICKS OUT IN YOUR MEMORY ABOUT YOUR EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH POLITICAL STUDIES?

During Political Studies, I spent one of the weeks in the bioethics course. I found that really wrestling with questions of ethics and morality and the way that plays into policy was extremely valuable. I had never been exposed to such drastically different perspectives.

We had people there with views across the entire political spectrum, which I think is one of Hertog’s biggest accomplishments. Getting people who think completely different things into the same room and opening a dialogue is hard, but it was a hallmark of Political Studies. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people with whom to flesh out those ideas.

OVERALL, WHAT IS YOUR IMPRESSION OF POLITICAL STUDIES?

First and foremost, Hertog gives people the opportunity to think about politics for an extended period of time with other people who are also interested in doing the same thing. Though you have a similar experience in universities, the mindset Hertog puts you in is specifically defined by developing a reverence for old texts while also looking at contemporary issues.

The juxtaposition of those two activities is critical, and I don’t think students can get that in everyday college classes where you’re either focused on reading Plato in Ancient Greek or reading The Washington Post. Being able to do both at the same time, and furthermore, being expected to do both at the same time, is very important.

DO YOU THINK HERTOG PROGRAMS ARE BENEFICIAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM?

Hertog is great for people interested in journalism. The crux of journalism is writing about ideas, and Hertog gets you thinking about big ideas. Political Studies also gives you exposure to important organizations and the different parts of DC, which is definitely beneficial.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?

Hopefully by that time I’ll have finished a Ph.D. and won’t be struggling through lonely nights with Rousseau and ramen. The actual teaching part I would be willing to wait for—first, I want to either travel and explore cultures and political issues through different lenses, or work in a specific sector like education or technology.

Hands-on experience will give me better sense of how to look at certain topics, and thus enable me to teach others how to look at them. Whatever happens, I want to be reading good things, and talking to good people about them.