The study of history in public schools should be conducted with an eye to “fostering good citizenship.” But it should do more than that. It should foster good human beings—human beings with broad minds and contemplative souls who appreciate the power of ideas. “If history be, in truth, the self consciousness of humanity, the ‘self [...]
The original “Star Wars” trilogy explored the crises of identity, love, and redemption in the midst of a technologically tyrannical world. The prequel trilogy, by contrast, is primarily concerned with themes of decadence, corporate domination, political corruption, and the insidious influence that these forces have on love. Star Wars is one of most successful film [...]
Joseph Pearce, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, is interviewed by Paul Senz. Paul Senz: What prompted you and Ignatius Press to produce the series of Ignatius Critical Editions? Joseph Pearce: As someone who has taught undergraduate students for many years, I am well aware of the hijacking of the study of literature by [...]
Obianuju Ekeocha’s “Target Africa” exposes the imposition of destructive, elite American values on Africans by our government, our educational institutions, and our foundations. These “neo-colonialists” treat Africans as children by handing down to them decisions about how to live—decisions that have failed spectacularly in the Western world itself. Target Africa: Ideological Neo-Colonialism In The Twenty-First [...]
With all the vexations of Covid-19, economic forces are undermining suburban life. The suburbs, tricked out as they were for incessant motoring, present a more tragic picture as we leave mass motoring behind: slums, salvage, ruins. But the good news is there is another way, and it’s a better way: the traditional town. In these [...]
American democracy has proven to be a success in its representation of interests but a failure in cultivating citizenship; it has protected some civil liberties while allowing others to erode away. One lesson we can draw from its history of successes and failures is this: For a republic to succeed, institutions are not enough; civic [...]
In “The Social Group in French Thought,” Robert Nisbet explains that social philosophers such as Bodin, Hobbes, and Rousseau undermined and sabotaged private law and intermediary institutions. Their thought culminated in the French Revolution and in its radical and nationalist legislation. Robert Nisbet’s dissertation began by lamenting that the history of freedom has been written [...]
Shame is a product of a society that prioritizes the soul over the body and is a defense mechanism against all that is low, vulgar, and sinful. The loss of shame in today’s world comes from a profound change in values. We used to have a sense of shame that influenced our behavior. Reflecting upon [...]
The kinship between the Nashville Agrarians and Whittaker Chambers is seen in three main ways: the farming life itself, the concept of private property, and the religious dimension of human existence. Beyond the similarities and differences between them, Chambers emerges as a singular figure who, more so than the Nashville group, provides a model for [...]
Turning away from the news and attending with imagination to the “Oresteia” takes faith, both in God and in the wisdom of our forebears. This will be a worthier endeavor, both for the present moment and for the time to come, than trying to tear down the very structures that give us the promise of [...]
I propose to address the question, how does one survive—and I mean survive as something—in a world that may not? How does one remain sane in a world that is insane; how does one live without fear in a world in which the only certainty is that nothing is certain? As the new year arrives, [...]
True culture is a liberation from the ephemeral, a journey toward permanence and value. A cultured life, therefore, consists in more than just piling up facts; it must include reflecting on the meaning of man’s works—especially those works which have stood the test time—and how they fit into the larger scheme of reality. Attempts to [...]
Suppose an anthropologist were asked, apart from the sound and fury of current politics, what were the signs of a dying culture, or a culture committing suicide? What might he respond, as following from human nature and from the terms of the question itself? What might he notice in our own? Such a culture would [...]
The neighbourhood can give one a greater sense of a geographic and social whole. It can serve as a bridge between the home and the larger society. The limited control we have over who our neighbours are reflects the normal conditions of a large society. How well do you know your neighbours? How much does [...]