Deeply rooted in the humane traditions of Western civilization, science fiction, poetry, and mythology allow us to explore that most fascinating of subjects: the human person. Rather famously, J.R.R. Tolkien once asked Lewis, rhetorically, “What class of men would you expect to be most preoccupied with, and most hostile to, the idea of escape?” The [...]
Russell Kirk’s "Roots of American Order" rightly deserves its place as a conservative masterpiece. It is an ethical and moral history of Western civilization as it nurtured, shaped, and delimited American political culture. Written to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Russell Kirk’s magisterial The Roots of American Order [...]
For many in the American colonies, it was an open question: Should you favor independence, are you also willing to surrender your lives, your honor, and your sacred fortunes? One of my greatest duties at Hillsdale College is teaching an upper-level course entitled Founding of the American Republic. My colleague, David Raney, and I share [...]
Russell Kirk wrote of the Constitution often, singing its praises as coming directly from the experience of a people. It was not written for any other, as it came into existence in a specific time and a specific place. To Kirk, the Constitution was a practical document, not an ideological or abstract one. Throughout his [...]
Why exactly did Thomas Jefferson and Congress change John Locke’s famous declaration in favor of life, liberty, and property, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Some, wrongly, have believed this to be a Jeffersonian attack on the notion of property. But, as Forrest and Ellen McDonald assure us in their own profound writings [...]
With the Ukraine crisis, Americans have a moment to reflect on our obligations to the rest of the world. Just how far are we willing to go to protest Russia’s invasion? Are we content with extremely tight economic sanctions, or are we willing to flex the muscles a bit more? “War. What is it good [...]
In a Platonic sense, the Inklings might very well have brought about an "anamnesis," a remembering of what had been lost, but they might also very well have been simply preservers of timeless wisdom for many ages to come, so far into the future that they seem unimaginable. A number of things can be stated [...]
Would it be possible, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis wondered in the 1930s, to write fiction that might combine: a love of history; a desire to debate the defenders of the modern world and point out the many foibles of modern living; and a way to promote one’s philosophical and religious beliefs without being overly [...]
I’m fascinated by time—its past, its present, its future, its moments, its transcendences. Time, as we’ve all experienced, moves quickly at points, and agonizingly slow at other points. There is something quite mystical about the nature of time and something truly mystical in the relationship of time to eternity. A few months ago, the history [...]
For Irving Babbitt, a saving remnant of those who possess a humane understanding of the West and its great men and great ideas existed—one that could counter the nationalists and internationalists and those promoting either leviathan or the superman. In the 1910s, one of America’s greatest humanists, Irving Babbitt (1865-1933), surprisingly decided to dive into [...]
The War of 1812 remains one of America’s least understood wars. Beginning with its rather banal title, most histories dismiss it as simply the growing pains of the early republic. Yet, this is unfair not only to the men and women who waged the war, but it’s also dangerous if one wants to understand the [...]
A few weeks ago, as I was looking up my undergraduate advisor’s address, I was stunned to find that he’d passed away in September. Professor Walter T.K. Nugent was 86. He was a great teacher, a great scholar, and a great man. He equally inspired and intimidated me, and I’m deeply proud to count him [...]
In a season of disharmony, discord, distrust, and disorder, it is often painful to stop, to pause, and to give oneself distance enough to consider what must be recognized as good, and true, and beautiful, even in what seems a cesspool of existence. To give thanks, though, is not only necessary, it is salubrious! In [...]
The Mayflower Compact is the first real assertion of the right to self-governance in the modern Western world and one of the most important in any time. On the first day of our spring semester, at the little liberal arts college at which I teach, I have for the last fourteen years had the joy [...]