Dr. Loren Eiseley, the former Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and History of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, once wrote: “…we must also observe that in one of those strange permutations of which history yields occasional rare examples, it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear, articulate fashion to the […]
Philosophers ask many questions about many things, including their own discipline. One of the important questions about the discipline of philosophy is this: Is philosophy a reliable means of knowledge? The question whether philosophy can amount to knowledge becomes particularly acute when it is considered in the contrast with the hard sciences. The history of […]
Non-scientists know Erwin Schrödinger best for his curious thought experiment of “Schrödinger’s cat”. But the Austrian quantum physicist ought also to be known for Physics In Our Time, wherein he outlines a basic philosophy of science. Those dedicated to the revival of the liberal arts have special reason to consider Schrödinger’s remarks, for this world-class […]
07
Jun
Jun
The Habsburg Way: Seven Rules for Turbulent Times by Eduard Habsburg, Archduke of Austria Sophia Institute Press, 2023, 176 pages, $19.95 I am of the opinion that if the Allies at the peace table at Versailles had not imagined that the sweeping away of long-established dynasties was a form of progress, and if they had […]
07
Jun
Jun
Click here to read the entire 2024 Meliora publication, including James Matthew Wilson’s poem “A Crystal Wine Glass.” Click here to purchase a print copy of Meliora.
07
Jun
Jun
A key precept of classical education involves understanding the development of Western literary genres through study of the acknowledged masterworks. Classical educators enthusiastically trace the lines from ancient literature through Dante and Shakespeare. Optimally, they continue to draw that line, examining Baroque style, moving through the era of timeless novels by Austen, Dickens, and the […]
07
Jun
Jun
In academic circles, the study of “pedagogy” has taken a fair beating. This is not a recent phenomenon. In 1929, the literary critic Irving Babbitt proclaimed that professors of pedagogy “are held in almost universal suspicion in academic circles, and are not infrequently looked upon by their colleagues as downright charlatans.” The subsequent years have […]
07
Jun
Jun
I would like to see fewer biographies of great individuals and more biographies of great families or villages. We tend to overrate the singular man of original genius, while ignoring the slow accumulation of culture built up layer upon layer, century upon century, that makes the individual man of genius possible in the first place. […]
07
Jun
Jun
Most people will know H. G. Wells as the author of pioneering works of science fiction, such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds. Yet one of his most popular and influential works was not a work of fiction but a history of the world. Wells’ The Outline of […]
06
Jun
Jun
Reading changed for me over the torrid summer of 1968. Which was just in time for the rest of the world to change too. A child braves the wider world in his own way, mercifully unaware of the storms that grownups natter about while tossing back highballs and filling rooms with loud opinions and cigarette […]
- 1
- 2