Why We Need or Don't Need Utopias – Dr. Jan Bentz

About this episode

Dr. Jan Bentz discusses the dangers of utopias and their implications on society and politics.

Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace with man-made salvation, and turning politics into a counterfeit religion. This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick. To make a gift this June, visit  https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod . About the Speakers: Dr. Jan C. Bentz was born and raised in Germany and graduated high school in St Louis, Missouri, where he attended as a foreign exchange student. Dr Bentz holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Masters in Sacred Art, Architecture, and Liturgy and a Masters in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His dissertation was published in German on Gustav Siewerth (1903-1963) and his work on Thomas Aquinas and G.W.F. Hegel. His fields of expertise include Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Thomism, and Philosophy of Art. Dr Bentz lectures at Blackfriars’ Studium on History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Philosophy of History. He taught Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) for The Catholic University of…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Jan Bentz

Topics covered

• utopias
• human fallenness
• Christian hope
• politics
• philosophy
• society

Keywords

• utopia
• Christianity
• philosophy
• politics
• human nature
• salvation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thomistic Institute

Books & works: Gustav Siewerth

Places: Germany, St Louis, Missouri, Limerick

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