Our PAL has made a comment down there that deserves some above-the-fold riffing. He writes that Locke knew nominalism would become more true as a description, but it could never become completely true. Part of the description of world where words are weapons and nothing but is of the incessant . . . . Continue Reading »
Canon lawyer Ed Peters takes apart L’Osservatore Romano ‘s recent tribute to Michael Jackson: For most of my life L’Osservatore Romano has been a sleepy Roman rag that arrived weeks after its publication date, printed in cheap ink that soiled the fingers of those who felt the need . . . . Continue Reading »
In light of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Utah Senator John Ensign’s recent scandals, Christopher O. Tollefsen takes a philosophical look at the problem of hypocrisy: La Rochefoucauld famously said that “hypocrisy is a tribute vice pays to virtue.” This is often . . . . Continue Reading »
This caught my eye, not because it’s an example of egregiousness, nor again because it’s so particularly fine, but because I have one. Mine belonged to my grandmother. Her house was full of things which I was allowed to handle in ritual fashion: the decomposing china-and-kid doll . . . . Continue Reading »
No contemporary novelist has been as consistent in his opposition to the more pernicious aspects of modernity than Dean Koontz. My review of his latest: http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=4977&cn=140 And, for Dr. Lawler’s information it is available at . . . . Continue Reading »
Stanford neuroscientist Lera Boroditsky has an interesting article on how the languages we speak shape the way we think . She notes that the consensus in her field is that “people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of grammar can profoundly affect how . . . . Continue Reading »
Further thoughts on liberalism, libertinism, and Lawlerism: an interview at The University Bookman . One thing I could have explicitly affirmed is that individuals are wholes, not holes — but that would have been a substantial (and stylistic) ripoff . . . . . Continue Reading »
First Things readers in the greater Chicagoland area may be interested in an upcoming conference on Global Bioethics sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity . It will be held July 16-18, 2009 on the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. Among . . . . Continue Reading »
Not much, if at all, argues Jim Manzi at The American Scene : The total net expected benefits of the best-imaginable program to combat global warming are about $3.4 trillion. This is about 0.17% of the expected present value of total global income. Compare the current Waxman-Markey bill to “an . . . . Continue Reading »
Patriotism is the political form of love. It comes from the Latin (and Greek) for father, signaling the deep bond of loyalty to clan, the primitive sense that we owe our existence to a place, a people. As Jody points out when recalling an old post of mine that drew appreciative attention to some . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
