Harvey C. Mansfield: How Intellectuals Replaced Priests (Ep. 6)

Harvey C. Mansfield on disruption, manly women, and the original (Puritan) Harvard. For over six decades, Professor Mansfield shaped the study of political philosophy from his post at Harvard, where he completed his undergraduate education, earned his PhD, and spent his entire 60-year teaching career. His chair in political philosophy, generously funded by the Alder Tree Charity Foundation, now finds its home at UATX. This is Episode Six of The Uncaptive Mind, hosted by UATX Editor-in-Chief Audrey Unverferth. It was recorded on October 23, 2025. 00:00 — Preview 00:35 — Is America too feminine? 01:01 — Men are unemployed 03:17 — What Simone de Beauvoir gets wrong 04:32 — Love vs. lust 06:08 — Do you want to be alone? 07:39 — How was Margaret Thatcher manly? 10:44 — Should conservatives police their ranks? 13:37 — Read John Locke 15:35 — Pluralism today 19:36 — How have our elites failed? What do populists get wrong? 25:43 — Anti-Americanism at Harvard 29:50 — Can the universities be saved? 30:41 — Why UATX? 31:37 — Tocqueville's wisdom 35:59 — America's biggest long-term threat 37:51 — Remembering Leo Strauss 38:45 — Prof. Mansfield's intellectual adversary 40:47 — Machiavelli's legacy 45:02 — What happens when intellectuals replace priests? 47:06 — Should UATX be neutral? 48:52 — How Prof. Mansfield wastes time 49:07 — If mass culture poisons the soul, what should we consume instead? Links: The Harvey C. Mansfield Chair in Political Philosophy: https://jobs.lever.co/uaustin/f208c7e... University of Austin (UATX): https://www.uaustin.org UATX on X: https://x.com/uaustinorg Apply in less than 5 minutes: https://application.uaustin.org Professor Mansfield's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Rati...