David Dault
@daultradio.bsky.social
Emmy-nominated writer-producer for hire / Host of Things Not Seen and Francis Effect podcasts / Professor at Loyola Chicago / ceo sandburgmedia.com
Pinned
David Dault
@daultradio.bsky.social
· Nov 11
it’s possible I’ve been added to a starter pack. Hello new followers! I am a philosopher with additional training in theology and religious studies.
I teach Christian spirituality at a Jesuit university. I comment frequently on Catholicism, politics, law, ethics, and science.
I teach Christian spirituality at a Jesuit university. I comment frequently on Catholicism, politics, law, ethics, and science.
For the past few years I’ve been talking about this idea of “epistemological modesty.” A colleague asked me to explain what it means, and so this is a first attempt. I welcome your feedback to help me think about it.Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/epistemic-humility-and-epistemological
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/epistemic-humility-and-epistemological
Epistemic Humility and Epistemological Modesty
We have an ethical obligation to limit our knowledge
daviddault.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
For the past few years I’ve been talking about this idea of “epistemological modesty.” A colleague asked me to explain what it means, and so this is a first attempt. I welcome your feedback to help me think about it.Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/epistemic-humility-and-epistemological
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/epistemic-humility-and-epistemological
In my latest essay, I look at the way our idea of the “economy” has been transformed from its early meaning as a method of care for families and communities into liturgies of idolatrous efficiency.
I welcome your thoughts. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/an-economy-of-cruelty
I welcome your thoughts. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/an-economy-of-cruelty
An economy of cruelty
Remember what Jesus said about a house divided against itself?
daviddault.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:43 PM
In my latest essay, I look at the way our idea of the “economy” has been transformed from its early meaning as a method of care for families and communities into liturgies of idolatrous efficiency.
I welcome your thoughts. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/an-economy-of-cruelty
I welcome your thoughts. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/an-economy-of-cruelty
Have you watched this homily that Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman FSPA preached as instruction to the Bishops? You should. It’s well worth your time.
https://youtu.be/uOV0nQkjuoA?si=nSa6Eozydu7phmk1
https://youtu.be/uOV0nQkjuoA?si=nSa6Eozydu7phmk1
Sr. Thea's Address to U.S. Bishops
YouTube video by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
youtu.be
November 2, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Have you watched this homily that Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman FSPA preached as instruction to the Bishops? You should. It’s well worth your time.
https://youtu.be/uOV0nQkjuoA?si=nSa6Eozydu7phmk1
https://youtu.be/uOV0nQkjuoA?si=nSa6Eozydu7phmk1
I co-host a podcast with my friend Rick Lee James, where we discuss Superman & spirituality. I invite you to listen to our recent episode. If you enjoy it, please share. Thank you!
https://open.substack.com/pub/supermanpodcast/p/truth-justice-and-the-way-episode-c98?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://open.substack.com/pub/supermanpodcast/p/truth-justice-and-the-way-episode-c98?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Truth, Justice, and the Way - Episode 4: Forgiveness
Truth, Justice, and the Way: Superman and Spirituality Podcast
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I co-host a podcast with my friend Rick Lee James, where we discuss Superman & spirituality. I invite you to listen to our recent episode. If you enjoy it, please share. Thank you!
https://open.substack.com/pub/supermanpodcast/p/truth-justice-and-the-way-episode-c98?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://open.substack.com/pub/supermanpodcast/p/truth-justice-and-the-way-episode-c98?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
This essay fought me at every step of the journey. I would really welcome your responses to help me see how it could be improved. Thank you as always for engaging with my work.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/nonviolence-is-not-a-tactic
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/nonviolence-is-not-a-tactic
Nonviolence is (not) a tactic
A reflection on grammar and world building
daviddault.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
This essay fought me at every step of the journey. I would really welcome your responses to help me see how it could be improved. Thank you as always for engaging with my work.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/nonviolence-is-not-a-tactic
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/nonviolence-is-not-a-tactic
Objects do not obligate us to talk about them in certain ways.
October 29, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Objects do not obligate us to talk about them in certain ways.
"The being whose analysis our task is, is always we ourselves. The being of this being is always mine. In the being of this being it is related to its being. As the being of this being, it is entrusted to its own being. It is being about which this being is concerned."
- Martin Heidegger
- Martin Heidegger
October 24, 2025 at 12:43 PM
"The being whose analysis our task is, is always we ourselves. The being of this being is always mine. In the being of this being it is related to its being. As the being of this being, it is entrusted to its own being. It is being about which this being is concerned."
- Martin Heidegger
- Martin Heidegger
Hello. I am a philosopher (or, as Richard Rorty would have it, a literary critic), with training in Christian theology, Judaic studies, and the history of interpretation. The kids are busy with homework and I have a bit of a free evening. Ask me anything.
October 24, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Hello. I am a philosopher (or, as Richard Rorty would have it, a literary critic), with training in Christian theology, Judaic studies, and the history of interpretation. The kids are busy with homework and I have a bit of a free evening. Ask me anything.
The essays I post are scaffolding that helps me structure the larger projects I hope to publish in more “formal” venues like books and journals.
That’s why I value your engagement so much: You are helping me think. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/on-strategies-principles-and-tactics
That’s why I value your engagement so much: You are helping me think. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/on-strategies-principles-and-tactics
On strategies, principles, and tactics
If you know your history, then you will know where you're coming from
daviddault.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:48 PM
The essays I post are scaffolding that helps me structure the larger projects I hope to publish in more “formal” venues like books and journals.
That’s why I value your engagement so much: You are helping me think. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/on-strategies-principles-and-tactics
That’s why I value your engagement so much: You are helping me think. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/on-strategies-principles-and-tactics
Reposted by David Dault
“I wish I better understood what it is inside me that allows me to extend my empathy so easily to a smart device or a piece of fruit but leaves me reluctant to do so when I encounter a homeless person on the street.”
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
The personhood of machines and clementines
Alan Turing’s imitation game helps me ponder consciousness, empathy, and parasocial relationships.
www.christiancentury.org
October 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
“I wish I better understood what it is inside me that allows me to extend my empathy so easily to a smart device or a piece of fruit but leaves me reluctant to do so when I encounter a homeless person on the street.”
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
Reposted by David Dault
Hey look, Israel broke the cease-fire, twice, in two different ways, within 24 hours - again.
NEW: Israel informed the UN it will permit only 300 aid trucks into Gaza daily, not the 600 mandated by the ceasefire it just signed.
October 14, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Hey look, Israel broke the cease-fire, twice, in two different ways, within 24 hours - again.
Reposted by David Dault
One of the less understood beauties of a transition to a renewable economy is: you cannot invade a country and steal its sunshine and its wind, and you will not need to. The uneven distribution of fossil fuel, esp. oil, has corroded geopolitics for more than a century....
Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado appeared on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast.
She touted the oil reserves in Venezuela (the largest in the world) and vowed to privatize the oil industry to enable American corporations to exploit and profit from the country’s resources if she gains power.
She touted the oil reserves in Venezuela (the largest in the world) and vowed to privatize the oil industry to enable American corporations to exploit and profit from the country’s resources if she gains power.
October 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
One of the less understood beauties of a transition to a renewable economy is: you cannot invade a country and steal its sunshine and its wind, and you will not need to. The uneven distribution of fossil fuel, esp. oil, has corroded geopolitics for more than a century....
Speak truth to violence
A subtle shift in language changes our horizons
daviddault.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Niklas Luhmann said “writing is thinking,” and in this post I invite you to think with me about how we talk about violence, and why that matters.
I welcome your responses, and if this moves you in some way, please do share it. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/speak-truth-to-violence
I welcome your responses, and if this moves you in some way, please do share it. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/speak-truth-to-violence
Speak truth to violence
A subtle shift in language changes our horizons
daviddault.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Niklas Luhmann said “writing is thinking,” and in this post I invite you to think with me about how we talk about violence, and why that matters.
I welcome your responses, and if this moves you in some way, please do share it. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/speak-truth-to-violence
I welcome your responses, and if this moves you in some way, please do share it. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/speak-truth-to-violence
Thesis: Kant’s “Live your life as though every act were to become a universal law” and Nietzsche’s “eternal reoccurrance of the same” are structurally the same idea, expressed in different styles.
October 12, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Thesis: Kant’s “Live your life as though every act were to become a universal law” and Nietzsche’s “eternal reoccurrance of the same” are structurally the same idea, expressed in different styles.
Outstanding analysis from my friend Steven Millies on the new encyclical from Pope Leo XIV
https://millies.substack.com/p/first-impressions-of-dilexi-te
https://millies.substack.com/p/first-impressions-of-dilexi-te
First Impressions of Dilexi Te
Pope Leo XIV Has Given Us His First Teaching. The Honeymoon Is Over.
millies.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Outstanding analysis from my friend Steven Millies on the new encyclical from Pope Leo XIV
https://millies.substack.com/p/first-impressions-of-dilexi-te
https://millies.substack.com/p/first-impressions-of-dilexi-te
This is a post about getting old. This is a post about technology. This is a post about hubris. This is a post about democracy.
It’s a weird piece. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please share, and I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/the-dirty-mouse-problem
It’s a weird piece. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please share, and I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/the-dirty-mouse-problem
The dirty mouse problem
Why do things have to be perfect to function?
daviddault.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:08 PM
This is a post about getting old. This is a post about technology. This is a post about hubris. This is a post about democracy.
It’s a weird piece. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please share, and I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/the-dirty-mouse-problem
It’s a weird piece. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please share, and I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/the-dirty-mouse-problem
I am so grateful to the Christian Century that they value my ideas and the odd way in which I write them. I hope you enjoy this and share it with your friends. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.
“When I think about AI, I find myself drawn more and more to this existential question: Why is it so easy for me to imagine that there is someone on the other end of the wire?”
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
– @daultradio.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/par...
The parasocial power of AI
For some reason, it is sometimes easier for us to see personhood in a chatbot than in a fellow...
www.christiancentury.org
October 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I am so grateful to the Christian Century that they value my ideas and the odd way in which I write them. I hope you enjoy this and share it with your friends. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.
Reposted by David Dault
🌟New Release! 🌟 Everything Is a Story: Reclaiming the Power of Stories to Heal and Shape Our Lives by @kaitlincurtice.bsky.social is now available!
If you are ready to explore the stories all around you (and within you), pick up your copy today! 🌱 bakerbookhouse.com/products/978...
If you are ready to explore the stories all around you (and within you), pick up your copy today! 🌱 bakerbookhouse.com/products/978...
October 7, 2025 at 1:59 PM
🌟New Release! 🌟 Everything Is a Story: Reclaiming the Power of Stories to Heal and Shape Our Lives by @kaitlincurtice.bsky.social is now available!
If you are ready to explore the stories all around you (and within you), pick up your copy today! 🌱 bakerbookhouse.com/products/978...
If you are ready to explore the stories all around you (and within you), pick up your copy today! 🌱 bakerbookhouse.com/products/978...
In my latest essay, I reflect on the current “know-nothing” status of American leadership. It’s horrible, yes, but we should laugh at it anyway.
I hope you enjoy these scattered thoughts, and if you do, please share. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-without-authority
I hope you enjoy these scattered thoughts, and if you do, please share. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-without-authority
Authoritarianism without authority
Hannah Arendt offers us subtle but important shifts in our vocabulary
daviddault.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:23 PM
In my latest essay, I reflect on the current “know-nothing” status of American leadership. It’s horrible, yes, but we should laugh at it anyway.
I hope you enjoy these scattered thoughts, and if you do, please share. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-without-authority
I hope you enjoy these scattered thoughts, and if you do, please share. Thank you!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/authoritarianism-without-authority
Wise and powerful analysis from my friend Steven P. Millies
https://millies.substack.com/p/millions-of-abortions-have-continued
https://millies.substack.com/p/millions-of-abortions-have-continued
"Millions of Abortions Have Continued"
Abortion Cancel Culture Wins Again. What Was Gained?
millies.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Wise and powerful analysis from my friend Steven P. Millies
https://millies.substack.com/p/millions-of-abortions-have-continued
https://millies.substack.com/p/millions-of-abortions-have-continued
I know autism didn’t start with Tylenol because I’ve read Kant.
September 26, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I know autism didn’t start with Tylenol because I’ve read Kant.
I was drinking coffee this morning, thinking about how our world becomes a world.
If you enjoy this, please share it. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/you-are-traffic
If you enjoy this, please share it. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/you-are-traffic
You are traffic.
Drinking coffee, thinking about how the world becomes a world.
daviddault.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I was drinking coffee this morning, thinking about how our world becomes a world.
If you enjoy this, please share it. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/you-are-traffic
If you enjoy this, please share it. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/you-are-traffic
fascism is a loser ideology
September 22, 2025 at 11:35 PM
fascism is a loser ideology