D. C. Schindler

D. C. Schindler is Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology at The John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., having previously taught for 12 years at Villanova University as one of the founding members of the Humanities Department. Prof. Schindler has focused his research and writing on the nature of the transcendentals — beauty, goodness, and truth — and their correlates in the human soul, namely, love, freedom, and reason. 

Prof. Schindler is a translator from French and German, one of the editors of the North American edition of Communio: International Catholic Review, and a board member of the Review of Metaphysics, New Polity, and the College of St. Joseph the Worker.  He is also the author of many books, including Love and the Postmodern Predicament (Cascade, 2018), Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty (Notre Dame, 2019), and most recently God and the City: An Essay in Political Metaphysics (St. Augustine’s Press, 2023). In addition to his books, he has published more than 70 articles and book chapters, and his work has been translated into six languages. He is currently Vice President/President-Elect of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. Prof. Schindler lives with his wife, the political philosopher Jeanne Heffernan Schindler, and their three children, in Hyattsville, MD. The Schindlers have been deeply involved in the local homeschooling community, and Jeanne has recently brought together a group of families committed to work together to help keep smart phones out of the hands of their children. The group has adopted the name “the Postman Pledge,” after Neil Postman, an early critic of social media and its effects especially on young people.

Dr. Schindler studied the Great Books as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, received a Master’s degree in theology at the John Paul II Institute, and then completed his education with a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy at The Catholic University of America. After teaching for twelve years at Villanova University, first as a teaching fellow in philosophy and then as a founding member of the Humanities Department, Dr. Schindler returned to Washington, DC to teach philosophy courses at the Institute. 

Click here to see a list of books by D. C. Schindler

Links to posts and programs featuring D. C. Schindler:

  • What is beyond our choosing? — D. C. Schindler on our nihilistic quest for freedom
  • True transcendence, true immanence — D. C. Schindler on how believers can be practical atheists
  • The Symbol of Authority — In the second of two lectures given by D. C. Schindler, he explores the nature of authority with reference to the transcendental dance of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. (60 minutes)
  • The nature of freedom reconsidered — In anticipation of this Fall’s Areopagus Lecture entitled “‘For Freedom Set Free’: Retrieving Genuine Religious Liberty,” we present selections from interviews with three MARS HILL AUDIO guests who have raised questions about the modern understanding of freedom. (27 minutes)
  • The gift of meaningful work — In this lecture, D. C. Schindler argues that genuine work is inherently meaningful and facilitates an encounter with reality and therefore, ultimately, with God. (36 minutes)
  • The Authority of the Symbol — In this lecture presented at the CiRCE Institute national conference, D. C. Schindler presents a metaphysical description of what symbols are. (54 Minutes)
  • Social media is hate speech — D. C. Schindler argues that much modern speech effectively expresses contempt for that which language (and reason) have been given to us: Truth. (33 minutes)
  • Recovering the meaning of reason — James Peters discusses how Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Pascal, and many others understood the nature and purpose of reason quite differently from the common modern understanding. Also, D. C. Schindler explains how consciousness and reason necessarily involve reaching outside of ourselves. (24 minutes)
  • Political community and the good — D. C. Schindler on why political life is inevitably “a particular interpretation of the highest human good”
  • Perceiving the common good during a pandemic — D. C. Schindler reflects on the shape of our way of life in wake of a killer virus, seeing signs both encouraging and sinister. (35 minutes)
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 160 — FEATURED GUESTS: Jessica Hooten Wilson, Kyle Hughes, Gil Bailie, D. C. Schindler, Paul Tyson, and Holly Ordway
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 154 — FEATURED GUESTS: Felicia Wu Song, Michael Ward, Norman Wirzba, Carl Trueman, D. C. Schindler, and Kerry McCarthy
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 147 — FEATURED GUESTS: R. Jared Staudt, Jason Peters, D. C. Schindler, Craig Gay, Mary Hirschfeld, and Patrick Samway
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 142 — FEATURED GUESTS: Stanley Hauerwas, Perry L. Glanzer, Nathan F. Alleman, Jeffrey Bishop, Alan Jacobs, D. C. Schindler, and Marianne Wright
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 132 — FEATURED GUESTS: David I. Smith, Susan Felch, D. C. Schindler, Malcolm Guite, and J. A. C. Redford
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 120 — FEATURED GUESTS: Douglas Rushkoff, Phillip Thompson, Jonathan Wilson, James Bratt, D. C. Schindler, and Paul Elie
  • Keeping “the good” in the common good — D. C. Schindler on the metaphysical character of real community
  • Is liberalism compatible with religious freedom? — D. C. Schindler relies on two Thomistic axioms to illustrate why liberalism — which claims to offer a minimalist conception of the common good — is ultimately incompatible with a Catholic understanding of religious freedom. (34 minutes)
  • In the image of our devices? — In light of the history of the meaning of intellectus, D. C. Schindler questions the use of the word “intelligence” to describe systems employing large language models. (18 minutes)
  • In defense of unity — Peter J. Leithart on the relationship between ecclesial unity and religious liberty
  • From a-rational faith to meaningless world — D. C. Schindler on how faith detached from reason guarantees relativism
  • Freedom, real and counterfeit — D. C. Schindler contrasts the classical and Christian understanding of freedom with the modern understanding of freedom, and explains how true freedom is a condition of harmony with reality. (59 minutes)
  • Freedom, ancient and modern — In a brief excerpt from David Bentley Hart’s book Atheist Delusions, and a longer excerpt from an Areopagus Lecture by D. C. Schindler, the modern view of freedom is contrasted with the understanding of freedom present in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Roman thought. (27 minutes)
  • D. C. Schindler: “For Freedom Set Free” — D. C. Schindler argues that the Christian notion of religious liberty is a synthesis of the Jewish, Roman, and Greek traditions. (61 minutes)
  • D. C. Schindler on Robert Spaemann — On this Friday Feature, Ken Myers talks with philosopher D. C. Schindler about philosopher Robert Spaemann’s work in general and his defense of anthropomorphism in particular. (14 minutes)