Martha C. Nussbaum is a universalist feminist, which makes her something of an anomaly in the academy today. As she has pointed out in several recent books, such as Sex and Social Justice (1999) and Women and Human Development: A Capabilities Approach (2000), feminism, while completely taken for . . . . Continue Reading »
While describing the Rawlsian-liberal idea of “the unencumbered self” and “the procedural republic” in Democracy’s Discontents (1994), political theorist Michael Sandel highlighted two individuals who represent the pro and con of those terms. They are Stephen A. Douglas, appearing for the . . . . Continue Reading »
I commend Jerry L. Walls for his examination of the issue of purgatory from his own Wesleyan tradition (“ Purgatory for Everyone,” April). His effort reveals an interesting similarity between the Wesleyan tradition and the tradition of Roman Catholicism on the issue of purgatory. The Lutheran . . . . Continue Reading »
To feel the full historical weight of Russian attitudes toward the Roman Catholic Church one should see the 1938 film Aleksandr Nevski —the Stalinist take on medieval Russia’s triumph over the Teutonic Knights. The film demonizes Roman Catholicism as inherently alien and hostile to Russia, . . . . Continue Reading »
As Mustapha Mond put it in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, whether human nature is fixed or fundamentally changeable makes “all the difference in the world.” Those who believe that human nature is unchanging generally also believe that human beings receive their distinctive form from either . . . . Continue Reading »
From the perspective of Israel and its (few remaining) friends, the Six Day War was—and remains—both just and necessary. Nothing in Michael Oren’s book calls this basic judgment into question. Yet thirty-five years after this seemingly decisive victory, Israeli citizens cannot ride a . . . . Continue Reading »
Drowned Lover Dearest enemy, so often unkind, my life was in your hands, until that wave of the sea deprived you of an earthly grave, depriving me, as well, of peace of mind. The selfish drowning waters keep us apart, enjoying your lovely beauty within the vast cold sea, but as long as my broken . . . . Continue Reading »
In the spring of 1994, a group of Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants issued a much-discussed statement, “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium” (FT, May 1994). That statement, commonly referred to as “ECT,” noted a growing “convergence . . . . Continue Reading »
There immediately follows a piece of vintage Newmanian satire. He imagines the division of mind that is bound to arise in Protestants who have become personally acquainted with individual Catholics but who have not yet given up their anti-Catholic stereotypes. The Birmingham people will say, . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
