Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

The Popular Science of Eugenics

Popular Science , which started as a text-only newsletter in 1872, has made its entire 137-year archive available for free browsing . It’s an invaluable resource, especially for those of us interested in retrofuturism (depictions of the future produced in the past). From the 1920 to the . . . . Continue Reading »

Corpus Juris Vol. VII

Well, it’s good to be back. I apologize for my lack of blogging this past month, but the law really is a jealous mistress. With that said, there’s a lot of jurisprudential ground to cover, so let’s get to it. First and foremost, and contrary to the rumors on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Autoantonymy

Justin E. H. Smith on words that can mean either one thing or its opposite: Antonyms, of course, are pairs of words that have meanings opposite to each other. Autoantonyms, in turn, are single words that themselves can mean either one thing or its opposite. This can happen either by convergence . . . . Continue Reading »

Swiss Reject Lawyers for Animals

As I have noted on more than one occasion, animal rights activists want animals to be granted “standing” to bring lawsuits.  This radical change would serve two convergent purposes: It would allow liberationists to bring case after case against animal industries—since they . . . . Continue Reading »

Islam in the west

In recent years, especially since 9/11, we have become used to hearing of the rise of Islam in the west and its possibly inevitable growth to majority status in some European countries. This is the story told by Mark Steyn in America Alone and by Bat Ye’or in Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis. . . . . Continue Reading »

On Justifying Belief

Is Belief in an Unknowable God Justified? is the question raised by James Hanley. It’s a good question. In fact, it is a really good one. And as a bit of icing on the cake, his post is well-constructed, easy to read, concise and precise. It’s nice to have it all in one place.Behind his . . . . Continue Reading »

Fake Chastity and Made-up Religion

That’s Countess Sophya’s (Mrs. Tolstoy’s) objection to the “Tolstoyan” movement that had grown up around her husband with his encouragement. In THE LAST STATION, we see that Sophya understands her husband’s great novels better than his ideological disciples. We . . . . Continue Reading »

Scrutonize This

There’s nothing more embarrassing than someone from an older generation commenting on the present one. Think of the aging hippie professor, clad in jeans and t-shirt, trying to prove his bona fides by showing he is hip to his students’ latest taste in music. It never fails but to . . . . Continue Reading »

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts