Burnout Society – Dr. R.J. Snell

The Thomistic Institute

Dr. R. J. Snell analyzes our “burnout society” as an achievement-obsessed culture that drives people to anxiety, depression, and exhaustion by demanding endless self-optimization while starving them of leisure, contemplation, and a meaningful narrative for their lives.


This lecture was given on December 8th, 2025, at University of Pennsylvania.


For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.


About the Speakers:


R. J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ. He has been a visiting instructor at Princeton University, where he is also executive director of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life. He's written books and articles on Natural Law, Education, Bernard Lonergan, Boredom, Subjectivity, and Sexual Ethics for a variety of publications.


Keywords: Achievement Society, Attention Economy, Burnout and Depression, Byung-Chul Han, Disenchantment and Meaning, Existential Poverty, Leisure and Contemplation, Sabbath Rest, Student Anxiety, Thin Soul

More description

Dr. R. J. Snell analyzes our “burnout society” as an achievement-obsessed culture that drives people to anxiety, depression, and exhaustion by demanding endless self-optimization while starving them of leisure, contemplation, and a meaningful narrative for their lives.


This lecture was given on December 8th, 2025, at University of Pennsylvania.


For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.


About the Speakers:


R. J. Snell is Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ. He has been a visiting instructor at Princeton University, where he is also executive director of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life. He's written books and articles on Natural Law, Education, Bernard Lonergan, Boredom, Subjectivity, and Sexual Ethics for a variety of publications.


Keywords: Achievement Society, Attention Economy, Burnout and Depression, Byung-Chul Han, Disenchantment and Meaning, Existential Poverty, Leisure and Contemplation, Sabbath Rest, Student Anxiety, Thin Soul

2026-03-13 50 min
Listen elsewhere

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

No transcript is available for this episode yet.
Sign in to generate a transcript for review.
Sign in

Chapters

No chapters available.