Peter Lawler

1. In my continuing outreach to the Porchers, let me highlight an argument against “Great Books” education that I read and heard lately in various places by the eminent Dr. Pat Deneen. (I’m too lazy to link and Patrick is free to correct.) 2. First off, it’s relativistic. . . . . Continue Reading »

1. Well, I’ve been stuck grading a huge number of papers by the overachieving Berry College students yesterday and today. We in the sticks don’t have graders, and our students actually seem to both have fun with and take very seriously their assignments. 2. So I’m just taking a . . . . Continue Reading »

. . . in loving this new issue (really, every issue) of PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICAL SCIENCE—America’s leading political and philosophical journal. There’s a symposium on WHAT IS POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY? (the book by Strauss, of course). It includes contributions by Rafe Major, Nasser . . . . Continue Reading »

So I’ve been deluged by (two) requests to post the Mad Men stuff from my Furman talk: From our view, people not so long ago lived somewhere between contemptible self-indulgence and inexplicable insanity. That’s the message, for example, of the excellent—if highly politically . . . . Continue Reading »

So here’s some of what I said at Furman about dolphins and such. . . . . Continue Reading »

1. So the final event of THE BUILDING BETTER THAN THEY KNEW TOUR at Furman was really enjoyable. You’ll not be surprised to know that I finished my big talk by explaining that there’s no solution to our so-called crisis in health care (with its deeply demographic dimension) that . . . . Continue Reading »

The conference at Assumption on “Reintegrating Man” with the help of French Catholic thought was one of the best ever, particularly because I got to have the first and last words. Thanks to Glen Arbery and Dan Mahoney for a fine time. More later on the many things I learned there. One . . . . Continue Reading »

The next stop on the BUILDING BETTER THAN THEY KNEW TOUR is Assumption College in Worcester, MASS. I’ll be giving a conference keynote talk Friday night at 7:30 in the auditorium of La Maison. The next day will feature presentations by some genuinely legendary figures—such as Dan . . . . Continue Reading »

1. Thanks to Ivan the K, John Murley and the other people at RIT for a great time. The large audience was very attentive, and the questions were both smart and respectful. One student did try to explain our anxious experience of existing for a moment between two abysses—which I brought up as . . . . Continue Reading »

1. The thought Locke=Nature and Darwin=History described above is almost completely backwards. Locke=Freedom From Nature (and implicitly history) and Darwin=Nature is much closer to the truth. That’s why Darwinian Larry can use Darwin, with some initial plausibility, to oppose History (by . . . . Continue Reading »