Welcome to Living with Lady Philosophy
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Our Writing
It all began when we fell in love in college while studying philosophy, theology, and Great Books together. In our sixteen years of marriage since then, our love has continued to be centered around prayer, study, and a love of good books. In addition to being parents to four children, we both have vocations to write, teach, and engage in contemplative study. Living with Lady Philosophy is a place where we will share some of the fruits of our study, reading, and contemplation with all of you. We will write about the books we’re reading, the films we’ve been watching, and the philosophical and theological ideas we’re developing.
Our tastes in reading are wide—19th and 20th century British literature, mythology, American nature writing, Russian Sophiology, science writing on the latest in physics, phenomenology, classic children’s literature and illustrations, Japanese zuihitsu, scholastic philosophy, Carmelite spirituality, fairy tales, and so on and so forth. If you’re interested in reading about the content of all these kinds of writing and more, and in thinking with us about that content’s very practical impact on our lives, we invite you to join us, read our thoughts, and offer your responses to us! Along the way, we’ll review some classic and contemporary films, talk about liturgical living, discuss outdoor family adventures, and maybe from time to time comment about the state of the world and the Catholic Church from our idiosyncratically modern and traditional perspective. We love to synthesize together many points of view; one of our mottos is St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s words from her autobiography, “I choose all.” If it is true, good, or (especially) beautiful, if it uplifts the full dignity of persons, we want it in our life, regardless of where it comes from.
We’re excited to be undertaking this collaborative writing project! It’s something we’ve talked about doing for a long time. Our intention is to individually write at least two pieces a month each on the books we are reading, and to also write together reviews of films we watch. We hope you’ll join us on this journey together by subscribing to this Substack, and adding your comments (and reading recommendations) to the essays we post here.
Our Backgrounds
Susanna holds an M.A. in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville (where we met) and a B.A. in philosophy and theology (also from Steubenville). She is now Theological and Content Editor for Blessed is She, as well as a freelance contributor to the National Catholic Register. In addition to writing hundreds of articles and devotions over the years for these and other publications, she is author of two books: Seek His Kingdom, a guided meditative Bible study on the Gospel of St. Matthew; and Listen to Him, a guided meditative Bible study of the Gospel of St. Mark. She is also the co-author of Rise Up: Shining with Virtue, a widely read children’s devotional on the virtues.
Mark holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University at Buffalo, an M.A. in philosophy and a B.A. in philosophy and theology from Steubenville. He is now Professor of Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, where he has taught for the last 12 years. He is also academic advisor to The Hildebrand Project, a group dedicated to promoting personalist philosophy. In addition to writing over 60 academic articles and reviews, he is the author of 2 books: The Irreducibility of the Human Person: A Catholic Synthesis, a comprehensive philosophical portrait of the human person that brings together many different strands of the tradition (and says a lot about beauty too); and Catholicism and the Problem of God, a book that explores the many philosophical problems having to do with God that have arisen during the history of Catholic thought.
In many ways, this Substack is a successor to Susanna’s long-running blog, Living with Lady Philosophy. In a much lesser way, it’s a successor to Mark’s very briefly running blog, Reading in Exile. We’re also intending to continue other shared writing projects we’ve done in the past, like our past film reviews. Our shared intellectual work is inspired by the example of great Catholic couples like Jacques and Raïssa Maritain, Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand, and especially Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin.
What Does It Mean to “Live with Lady Philosophy”?
When we were engaged, we used to joke that Mark, as a philosopher, would always have a “mistress,” Lady Philosophy:
In The Consolation of Philosophy by St. Boethius (480-524 A.D.), Lady Philosophy, the personification of the love of Wisdom, appears to Boethius when he has been unjustly imprisoned, and leads him to the contemplation of the truth and to true virtue. While we are imprisoned by the Ostrogoths, in our marriage, Lady Philosophy has been our constant companion, hopefully leading us ever closer to Holy Wisdom, the divine Sophia. The great thing about living with Lady Philosophy is that she really does encourage us to know truth and to be virtuous. And she is really knowledgeable whenever we want to know if some random act is moral or need to figure out what category various beings belong in.
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