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Philosophy Professor Left Academia for Monastery to Rediscover True Intellectual Life

By Egleze Editorial Desk · Published July 13, 2026 · Big Think · A philosopher’s argument against the cult of achievement | Zena Hitz: Full Interview
Philosophy Professor Left Academia for Monastery to Rediscover True Intellectual Life
Big Think
Big Think
A philosopher’s argument against the cult of achievement | Zena Hitz: Full Interview

What was said

"I left. I joined to quit the profession entirely and lived in a monastery, a Catholic religious community for three years. When I was there, I really tried to encounter myself as a human being, not just a professor, not someone with a certain social status."

Zena Hitz, a philosopher who studied in elite graduate programs, experienced disillusionment with academic research and teaching in her 30s. She abandoned her profession to live in a Catholic monastery for three years, where she worked to understand herself beyond professional identity and discover what intellectual life means outside the confines of academic status hierarchies.

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Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.

Programme
Big Think
Episode
A philosopher’s argument against the cult of achievement | Zena Hitz: Full Interview
Clip time
0:45
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Big Think
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A philosopher’s argument against the cult of achievement | Zena Hitz: Full Interview

July 10, 2026 · 48m · 4 Egleze moments
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