Christendom College philosophy professor Dr. John Cuddeback recently joined the Classic Learning Test’s (CLT) popular Anchored podcast to speak on the current epidemic of loneliness inflicting people across the globe. Cuddeback, who is known for his writings and lectures on family and household, spoke at length on the lack of true friendship promoted in the culture today while offering potent solutions to this problem.
Over the course of the conversation, Cuddeback, who has taught philosophy for over 30 years, touched on a variety of topics, ranging from friendship to relationships in the household. The philosophy of friendship has been of particular interest to Cuddeback, resulting in popular lectures, articles, and even a book as well. Cuddeback spoke on why friendship is so important during the podcast, especially in a culture that is emphasizing the virtual over in-person connections.
“At the end of the day, central in any human life is ‘with whom am I spending time?’” said Cuddeback. “More and more today, it is difficult to find a context in which to develop true friendships. There’s an epidemic of loneliness and an epidemic of a lack of deeper relationships. A lot of people who come to Christendom will absolutely give testimony that one of the most enduring ways that being here changed their life was the lasting friendships that they made. Fundamentally, friendship is developed in person.”
For Cuddeback, building true friendships — not just digital connections — early in life helps when people begin building families as well in the household setting. At Christendom, for example, students read the essential philosophical texts of Plato and Aristotle, in which they learn more about the philosophy of the good life and of ethics, which help form the habits that are the basis of relationships. Once people know how to have true friendships, it directly impacts them going forward.
“There is an important connection between the moral life and the spiritual life and the intellectual life,” explained Cuddeback. “All these things are ultimately integrated, and these are the truths that are exemplified and passed on in the home.”
Sitting around the fire, singing together, reading aloud together, sharing a meal together, going out into the natural world together — these are all ordinary things, but they are often neglected in today’s culture. These shared activities and others, for Cuddeback, are essential to combat the epidemic of loneliness and help bring a return back to true friendships and to true family life.
“If you want to live according to specific religious principles, you must work extra hard within a culture that seems to be directly undermining that,” concluded Cuddeback. “Whether that’s intentional or not, habits in the culture are working towards undermining good friendships, family life, intellectual life, and religious life. So now, more than ever, young people need to get a liberal education because they need to get the habits and principles whereby they can think through these extremely difficult and practical issues of home life, economic life, and political life, because they are not getting help from society at large. They need help from our tradition.”
Cuddeback is professor of Philosophy at Christendom, where he lectures widely on topics including virtue, fatherhood, friendship, and household, and his professional writings appear in various academic journals and books. His book True Friendship was recently republished by Ignatius Press. His blogging at Life-Craft.org, where he offers the online courses Man of the Household and Woman of the Household, is known for applying ancient wisdom to life today.
Listen to the rest of Cuddeback’s conversation on Anchored here.