The teaching and inculcating of virtue—rooted in and derived from the Judeo-Christian understanding of the Natural Law—should be the purpose of a liberal arts education. Virtue remains a difficult concept for the modern mind to grasp, as the American radicals of the 1960s and 1970s viewed it as elitist and oppressive, and the radical leaders [...]
Like most everyone I could not help but be moved by the musical Les Miserables. It seemed a powerful story of redemption, and I even found myself feeling sympathetic to the young revolutionaries as they sang their final stirring anthem from the barricades. I am afraid that is where my sympathy for the Jacobins ends. [...]
I am pleased to join you in your conference focusing on the development of judgment in our young people today. I have been giving some special thought lately to the question of how one might develop a capacity for sound judgment and a desire to build good character through the exercise of the imagination—that is [...]
We may be on the verge of a wider confrontation that will decide not only the survival of the family but fundamental questions about the scope and nature of the modern state. In April 2009, Dr. James Dobson stepped down as head of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family with a pessimistic message [...]
Madsen Pirie’s science-fiction novel Tree Boy begins like Robinson Crusoe, morphs into a murder mystery and ends as an action thriller; and if that sounds confused, well, it is anything but. It targets teenagers; a venerable form with distinct protocols, that appeals to grown-ups lifelong in books such as “Treasure Island.” Amid gripping action come [...]
Aeneas emerged from the flaming ruins of Troy with his father on his back, his son at his side, and his hope in the prophecy of Rome. Bearing his household gods across the sea, he founded a new nation that eventually dominated the known world. Although remembered as one of the greatest powers in human [...]
This month, fans around the world will flock to the cinema to watch the first of three installments of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit—the “prequel” to the award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy that was also released in three parts between 2001 and 2003 (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released in U.S. theaters Dec. [...]
Can you tell me, Socrates, whether virtue can be taught? [to continue] Or if not teachable, is it acquired by practice, or if neither, whether men possess it by nature or in some other way?” So begins Plato’s dialogue, Meno, opening as abruptly upon the reader as my remarks have upon you this afternoon. You [...]
“And if anyone loves righteousness, her labors are the virtues,” the author of the Jewish Book of Wisdom assures us. “For she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.” Though the word has more significance today than it did a decade ago in the western [...]
At the beginning of each academic year, we talk of a desire to learn. We think we have developed institutions that facilitate this learning. True, we question the cost of a university education. Many students end with significant debts; jobs are often scarce. Many do not actually learn much in college, especially about the important [...]
In Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss writes that “Prescription cannot be the sole authority for a constitution, and, therefore, recourse to rights anterior to the constitution, i.e., to natural rights, cannot be superfluous unless prescription itself is a sufficient guarantee of goodness.”[1] Such a characterization results in the accusation that those who hold to prescription [...]
Edmund Burke Taking it for granted that I do not write to the disciples of the Parisian philosophy, I may assume that the awful Author of our being is the Author of our place in the order of existence,—and that, having disposed and marshalled us by a divine tactic, not according to [...]
(Some thoughts on Brad Birzer’s recent post.) Brad, you make a number of important points in this letter. I would like to consider your letter in light of the following concerns. Can Rep. Walberg and other Republicans make the argument that since they only control the house in opposition to the Senate and the White [...]
Why the Fame? Given John Adams’s liabilities–his prickly personality, several career setbacks, and the inconvenient fact that his presidency was shoehorned between that of eminent Virginians–it is hardly surprising that his revival came so late–200 years after his retirement from public life. I’d argue that it is not justifiable to give all the credit to [...]