The Elon University associate professor of philosophy examined the life and legacy of abolitionist John Brown, drawing connections to ancient philosophy, racial justice and the meaning of sacrifice.
What makes a life worth living amd what makes a cause worth dying for?
Those questions were at the center of Elon University Associate Professor of Philosophy Ryan Johnson’s Distinguished Scholar Lecture in LaRose Digital Theatre on Oct. 7, which explored the life and legacy of abolitionist John Brown through the lens of ancient philosophy, racial justice and sacrifice.
Johnson, the recipient of Elon’s Distinguished Scholar Award, examined the connections between Brown, a 19th-century abolitionist executed for his efforts to end slavery, and the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who was sentenced to death for his philosophical teachings.
“Many colleagues read the four dialogues of Socrates’ final days as an extended argument for the good life, centered on the question … what is life worth living for?” Johnson said. “When placed in conversation with John Brown, the question turns upside down, becoming, what is worth dying for?”
The Distinguished Scholar Award is Elon’s top research award presented annually to recognize a faculty member whose scholarship has earned distinction both within the university and in the broader academic community. Johnson is the 27th recipient of the award.
Introducing Johnson, Anne Cahill, professor of philosophy, Distinguished University Professor and director of the National and International Fellowships Office, highlighted his remarkable scholarly productivity since joining Elon in 2015.
During that time, Johnson has published four books, five edited collections, one edited journal issue, 15 book chapters and 14 journal articles. This is the equivalent of 5.4 peer-reviewed chapters per year, over three times the amount of scholarship expected at an R1 institution.
“Ryan is an unusually original and authentic philosophical thinker,” Cahill said. “Working from a set of seemingly disparate interests, ancient philosophy, continental philosophy, Black thought, and music, he has a talent for putting not only individual thinkers, but entire fields into conversation with each other.”
A philosophical journey
Johnson began his lecture by reflecting on his academic journey and the experiences that reshaped his approach to philosophy.
While pursuing his doctorate at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Johnson developed an interest in European philosophers.
“I became enamored by the delicious difficulty of canonical thinkers like Spinoza, Kant, Kierkegaard and especially 20th-century French readings of ancient Epicureans and Stoics, as well as the German monster himself, Hegel,” Johnson said.
A pivotal encounter with philosopher George Yancy, however, introduced him to new perspectives on Black philosophical thought. It inspired Johnson to examine the intersections of European philosophy and Black intellectual traditions, culminating in his collaboration with philosopher Biko Mandela Gray on the book “Phenomenology of Black Spirit.”
The book explores a central question: “What if the protagonist of Hegel’s foundational texts were Black?”
Johnson described the project as an intellectual collaboration rooted in friendship and conversations about race, identity and philosophy.
Examining the meaning of sacrifice
Johnson’s latest research brings those philosophical interests together in a forthcoming book project examining John Brown, who led an unsuccessful 1859 raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an effort to challenge slavery.
Titled “A John Brown Suite,” the project is organized around the four movements of John Coltrane’s jazz composition “A Love Supreme,” incorporating music, history and philosophy to examine Brown’s life.
Johnson devoted much of his lecture to the project’s final section, comparing Brown’s final days with those of Socrates.
Central to his analysis was the concept of thanatoethics, which explores the ethical significance of death and sacrifice.
Johnson argued that Brown understood the value society placed on his life as a white man and deliberately used that privilege to challenge slavery.
“To say he knew how to die, and to die multiply, is to say that he knew how to sacrifice himself for Black life and liberation,” Johnson said.
He pointed to Brown’s refusal to escape imprisonment before his execution, recalling the abolitionist’s declaration: “I am worth more now to die than to live.”
For Johnson, Brown’s actions raise profound questions about the responsibilities individuals have to confront injustice, even at great personal cost.
Questions without easy answers
Johnson concluded by examining Brown’s final written words before his execution on Dec. 2, 1859, encouraging the audience to consider their meaning rather than search for definitive interpretations.
“Don’t seek your answer. Hold the answer. Turn with the words. Just ruminate for a while,” Johnson said.
That invitation to embrace uncertainty reflected a central theme of Johnson’s scholarship: Philosophy is not simply about finding answers but about asking questions that challenge established ways of thinking.
“John Brown is not an answer. He’s a question,” Johnson said. “The sharp, unrelenting embodiment of a question, pointed like a pike pressing on the back of the American conscience.”