In this episode, I talk with Jennifer Frey from South Carolina. She is a convert who was persuaded by the writings of Augustine, Boethius, Aristotle, Plato, and St Thomas that Catholicism offers the path of and to the greatest happiness. I wanted to talk to her because I am convert who also came to Catholicism because I believed it offered the happiest life.
What convinced me first was not the writings of these people (although Boethius, Augustine, and Plato did support this strongly. In my case, it was the experience of beginning to live the life and meeting some (a few!) Catholics who were happy and related to me with dignity and grace. It is interesting that through this conversation I tend to focus on how the beautiful descriptions of the life of virtue that Jennifer describes will provide arguments with which we can engage people, while I tend to focus on how it transforms us - those who try to live this life - and then we engage others with the beauty and grace of our happy lives. In other words, see it as a means for reaching people like me, while Jennifer sees it a means to reach people like her. The truth is, that the life of virtue can communicate to anyone what he or she seeks in life, I think!
Jennifer Frey has a blog, thevirtueblog.com which discusses the living of the virtuous life, literature, and culture, and also is the platform for her podcast, Sacred and Profane Love.
She also has a website, jenniferannfrey.com which is a presentation of her academic writings and works as a philosopher and philosophy teacher at the University of South Carolina.
