Socrates in the City James Orr and Mary Harrington: Why Aristotle Would Disagree With Modern Politics
May 1, 2026
James Orr, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge and political advisor, traces his path from scholastic metaphysics to public life. He explores scholasticism and Aristotle’s political visions. The conversation contrasts essence vs modern constructivism and connects Aristotelian thought to debates about nation, family, and contemporary policy.
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Personal Journey From Academia To Brexit Activism
- James Orr recounts feeling like a heterodox outsider at elite institutions and becoming an early Brexiteer after reading Maastricht implications in 1992.
- He noticed a split between college common rooms and staff opinion, with porters supporting Nigel Farage long before academics did.
Polis Versus Cosmopolis Is Today's Key Divide
- The current political energy divides cosmopolitan internationalism from a revived politics of the polis focused on family, community, and nation.
- Orr maps Aristotle's oikos-comune-polis concentric circles to modern family-community-country politics.
Politics Should Follow Human Nature
- Reality is discovered, not constructed, so political projects should align with human nature rather than attempt radical social redesigns.
- James Orr ties Aristotelian teleology to contemporary politics, arguing our paired, communal nature grounds national preference and resistance to cosmopolitanism.