Seeking Friendship in the Virtual Age – Prof. John Cuddeback

The Thomistic Institute

Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Thomism, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Catholicism, Philosophy, Christianity

4.8 • 873 Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Prof. John Cuddeback reflects on why many students feel relationally unsatisfied in a hyper-connected world and shows how reclaiming embodied presence, intentional discernment of a few trustworthy friends, and technology-limited, silence-friendly communal spaces can restore the depth, vulnerability, and shared pursuit of the good that real friendship requires.

This lecture was given on September 23rd, 2025, at Virginia Military Institute.

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About the Speakers:

John A. Cuddeback, PhD, is professor of Philosophy at Christendom College, where he has taught for thirty years. He lectures widely on topics including friendship, fatherhood, virtue, homesteading, and household. His professional writings appear in various academic journals and books, and his book True Friendship was republished by Ignatius Press. His podcasts, blogging, and courses at LifeCraft are renowned for applying a timeless wisdom to life today.

Keywords: Bodily Presence, Discernment, Friendship, Interior Life, Intentional Friendship, Maturity, Prioritizing a Few Friends, Silence, Virtual Age Relationships, Vulnerability

Transcript

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0:00.0	College students are struggling to find Christ in a culture that rejects God.
0:04.5	They need the Christmas message of hope and truth now more than ever.
0:08.2	Thanks to a generous matching gift, every dollar you give to the Thomistic Institute before December 31st will be doubled,
0:14.9	so your gift will touch twice as many souls.
0:18.1	You can give the greatest of all gifts by sending the light of Christ to students
0:22.5	aching for truth. Please use the link below or go to to mystic institute.org slash donate to give
0:28.7	today.
0:32.5	Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast. Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church,
0:39.7	and the wider public square.
0:41.7	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute
0:46.2	chapters around the world.
0:48.1	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at to mystic institute.org.
0:53.9	Eristyle says about studying ethics, there's only one reason to study ethics.
0:58.0	You don't study ethics just for the sake of understanding stuff better.
1:03.0	The reason that you study ethics is if you intend to change your life.
1:08.0	If you don't intend to change your life, there's absolutely no reason to
1:12.2	understand these things, to pursue these things. What we're going to be talking about,
1:16.5	friendship is one of the key central areas of ethics. So I just want to share with you. My only
1:23.8	interest in friendship is because I'm absolutely convinced that by an astounding divine design,
1:31.6	it is at the absolute center of human happiness.
1:37.9	For Aristotle, for Christians.
1:42.2	Someone who is living in true friendship is someone who is living the good life.
	...

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