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Bastille Day and the Eternal Revolution
Bastille Day is not a celebration of liberty, fraternity, and equality, but of man's inhumanity to man. Modern society is still suffering the consequences of embracing the French Revolution's absolute freedom. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Politics, about
French Revolution
Bastille Day
Herodotus and the Purposes of History
Herodotus named two main purposes to his work of history, and both of these purposes have everything to do with finding the true causes of human actions. Read Article
Written by Kenneth Scagel. Subject: History. Filed in Ancient History, about
Herodotus
Greek
Persian
Promulgation and the Analogical Scope of the Notion “Law”
The law is something “promulgated”—or so Aquinas states in his common definition of law. This seems quite acceptable in the case of human, positive law. However, how can one speak of a “promulgation” of the natural law, let alone the eternal law? This article is a discussion of the general themes involved in considering this problem. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Aquinas
Maritain
Natural Law
Eternal Law
Plato’s Laws: the Relationship between Theology and Law
For theology to be necessary to a city and the formation of its laws, then that necessity must arise out of the fact that theology says something true about the world, and that it is the aim of law to harmonize the city towards the truth of that reality. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Politics, about
Plato
Laws
Greek
Greek or Roman Sympathies in Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance Humanism is characterized by a return to the ideas of antiquity. But this generalization is misleading since it does not say whether the return is to Greek or Roman ideas. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Politics, about
Humanism
Castiglione
Erasmus
Thomas More
Types of Law — The Beginnings of an Analogical Expansion
The term “law” is most easily understood in terms of the positive law that we experience in our day-to-day life. In order to discuss “natural law” without being equivocal in our use of language, we need to consider how it can even be possible to transition from discussing the case of positive “law” to that of natural “law.” Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Aquinas
natural Law
An Introduction to a Reading of Horace’s Carmina Secunda Ex Quarti Libri
A short introduction to Horace’s Ode 4.2, which is dedicated to Augustus the deliverer of the Roman state. The introduction includes a discussion of the poem’s images, motifs, and themes. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Literature. Filed in Criticism, about
Horace
Poetry
Latin
Thomas Aquinas’ General Definition of Law
A consideration of Thomas Aquinas’ general definition of law. These reflections will serve as the basis for probing the implication of this definition, ultimately aiming to treat the natural law in its proper boundaries. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Aquinas
natural Law
Natural Law: Eternally Returning, Ever Controversial
Many well-meaning philosophical ethicists appeal to some notion of “natural law”, as though this notion accounts for the fundamental aspects of moral philosophy. However, the domain of discourse for “law” is an explicitly inscribed one. In this article, we will note Aquinas’ placement of the “conceptual space” for discussions of “law and the natural law.” Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Aquinas
natural Law
Fit for Roman Glory: the Life of Agricola
Agricola was a general in the Roman frontier in Britain who gained fame through his prudent and just character. We remember Agricola especially because he won renown at a time in the Roman empire when the emperors were particularly cruel and prone to jealousy. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Tacitus
Agricola
Not All Idealisms are Equal—The Case of George Berkeley
Although the term “idealism” is used in many senses to describe various trends in epistemology, each case is most illuminatingly understood in its historical context. To understand Berkeley's idealism, we must understand it as a reaction to Locke. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Berkely
Hume
Sickness Unto Death and the Continuance of Sin in Despair
Kierkegaard explains that given the ontological reality of Christianity, sin at its base is the denial of who we really are and our relationship to reality. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Kierkegaard
Sickness Unto Death
Christianity
By Virtue Prosper: Tocqueville’s Discussion of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Democracy
Tocquville outlines the various advantages and disadvantages of a democratic government in Democracy in America. An advantage is the ability for the people to participate in government, and a disadvantage is the possibility of the tyranny of the majority. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in American, about
Tocqueville
American
Democracy in America
Intelligibility in the World of Experience
The way we know the world determines to a large extent our ability to understand what a thing is, such as a tree or an animal. This in turn forms our understanding of the intelligibility in the world itself Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Ontology
Maritain
Cyril of Jerusalem and His Teaching on the Christian Sacraments
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem’s Lectures on the Christian Sacraments serve as an historical example for how the early Christian church performed the various sacraments, including Baptism, Unction, and the Eucharist. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Theology. Filed in Patristics, about
Cyril of Jerusalem
Christian Sacraments
Thomas Hobbes and Nominalist Logic
In his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes outlines the character of speech, and words which are the components of speech. His assumption that words only nominally represent particulars affects how he understands propositional logic. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan
Family and the Polis: the Role of Townships in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
An examination of the significance of early American townships in the development of democracy within the American polis. At the root of Tocqueville’s discussion is the principle of the sovereignty of the people, and how this sovereignty firmly takes place within the local townships of the colonies and spreads out into the state. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in American, about
Tocqueville
American
Democracy in America
Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Good
In his Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes rejects the Ultimate End and the Ultimate Good in favor of the natural end and the natural good of man. Man, because of his desires, must always aim to acquire power in order to maintain his estate. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Moral Philosophy, about
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan
Toward a New Political Science: Reflections on the Point of Departure in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
An examination of the "point of departure" for American democracy according to Alexis De Tocqueville. This departure is paramount to his overall examination of the American spirit, particularly the relationship between liberty and equality and the relationship of religion to the advancement of democracy's central tenants and principles. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in American, about
Tocqueville
American
Democracy in America
A Prolegomena to the Bacchae of Euripides
It is our task as critics to identify the facts of the Bacchae and to understand how those facts guide the play through an internal necessity towards its tragic conclusion. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Literature. Filed in Criticism, about
Euripides
Bacchae
Tragedy
Augustine and the Role of the Church within the Political Order
In his City of God Augustine raises the question of what the relationship is between the civil political order and the ecclesiastical order. How ought a church interact with the state? Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Theology. Filed in Political History, about
Augustine
politics
The Seven Liberal Arts are Speculative Sciences
The division of the sciences, especially of the liberal arts from the other sciences, is propaedeutic for knowing and understanding the world around us. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Liberal Arts
Aquinas
G. E. Moore on the Good
Moore gives three definitions of the Good through which he hopes to restart the science of Ethics. The Good, however, is not so easily defined. First Moore must differentiate between the Good in a moral sense and the Good in the ontological sense. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
G. E. More
analytic
Rise of the Cult of Saints Part II
Early Christian martyrs, especially the Desert Fathers, were revered in much the same way as pagan heros. They serve as examplars for struggling Christians to imitate. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Christianity, about
Christianity
hagiography
Hierarchy and Independence among the Sciences, Especially Philosophy and Theology
During the Middle Ages, the rediscovery of Aristotelianism brought about the question of what the relationship between each science was. Is there a natural hierarchy? Can any science be understood independently of the other sciences? Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Aquinas
Knowledge and the Desire for Power
The need to dominate nature is a corruption of the desire to know. It stems from the desire to see the effects of all our knowledge in action, whether harmful or beneficial. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Epistemology, about
technology
Monastic Life: Passing from the Practical to the Speculative
Although monasticism of the Medieval Ages encouraged the formation of schools and the preservation of learning, still their primary aim was the contemplative life. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: History. Filed in Monasticism, about
Benedict
Christianity
Petronius: Roman Virtue and Taste in the Empire
Petronius gives a comedic account of the fictional extravagant dinner hosted by Trimalchio, who has more money than taste or sense. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Petronius
Satyricon
Heidegger on the Primary Danger of Technology
A reflection on Martin Heidegger's essay The Question Concerning Technology and on the dangers he warned of that are present in contemporary society. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Religion, about
Heidegger
Postmodernism
Technology
Simplicius and Aquinas on Aristotle’s Categories
A comparison is made between the Thomistic and the Neo-Platonic notion of signs, and how such signs relate to our knowledge of the world. Read Article
Written by Matthew Minerd. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Simplicitus
Aquinas
Aristotle
Logic
Rise of the Cult of Saints
The Lives of the Saints describes the lives of the heroes of the Christian West. Therefore, they serve as a pedagogical example of how a man ought to live. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Christianity, about
Christianity
hagiography
Hume and the Deconstruction of Epistemology
Hume attempts to deconstruct epistemology through a criticism of the necessity of cause and effect. Instead, he spurs the investigation of nature through statistics and probability. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Hume
Empiricism
Porphyry and the Ontology of Genus and Species
A discussion of Porphyry's Isagoge and Aristotle's Categories. Porphyry discusses the priority among the predicables. Is this priority logical or ontological? Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Logic, about
Predicables
Porphyry
Aristotle
Res Gestae by Augustus: What Sort of Emperor Was He?
Before his death, Emperor Augustus wrote Res Gestae, an autobiographical note about his life and works which gives insight into his mind and self-perception. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Augustus
Plato and the Equality of the Sexes, Part II
Is gender equality possible in the Ideal City in Plato's Republic? Also, is gender equality best for the city? Is it best for the individual? Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Politics, about
Plato
Greek
The Republic
The Reunion of Odysseus and Penelope in the Odyssey
In Book 19 Penelope questions Odysseus, who is disguised as a beggar. What is the importance of this scene? Perhaps Penelope tests Odysseus as much as he does her. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Literature. Filed in Epic Poetry, about
Homer
Greek
Odyssey
Gilson on the Possibility of a Christian Philosophy, part II
Comments on the fideist objections to a Christian philosophy, that revelation is a sufficient source of truth apart from philosophy. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Religion, about
Etienne Gilson
Christian Philosophy
Fideism
Plato and the Equality of the Sexes
In the Republic, Socrates gives an argument for the inclusion of women in the training of warriors for the Ideal City. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Politics, about
Plato
Greek
The Republic
The Dignity of Renaissance Humanism
During the Renaissance, Humanism became a battle cry against Scholasticism. However, the two schools of thought have much in common. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Renaissance, about
Humanism
Sins in the Life of Tiberius According to Suetonius
Tiberius was chosen heir to the Roman Empire by Augustus. Yet, it seems, he had little desire to rule. Instead, he prefered isolation and debauchary. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Seutonius
Tiberius
The Idea of a University: Knowledge As Its Own End
In his fifth discourse of The Idea of a University, Newman explores what a university is, its use, and its proper end. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Liberal Arts, about
Pedagogy
Newman
Aquinas and the Distinction between Essence and Existence
Thomas Aquinas examines pure forms in an attempt to distinguish the metaphysical principles of beings. He extrapolates that being and essence are distinct. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Metaphysics, about
Aquinas
Being
Plato on One Universe in the Timaeus
In the Timaeus, Plato addresses the principle on which our world was established, and its relationship to the Forms and to Beauty. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Natural Philosophy, about
Plato
Cosmology
Greek
St. Francis and Renunciation Literature of the Middle Ages
Saint Francis founded a religious order that sought to engage the world through love and humility, an alternative to the isolation of the monastics. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Medieval, about
Italian
The Life and Rule of Cola di Rienzo
Cola di Rienzo was a Italian leader who attempted, but failed, to unite Italy in the 14th century. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Medieval, about
Italian
Gilson on the Possibility of a Christian Philosophy, Part I
A reflection on the opening chapters of “The Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy” by Etienne Gilson, in which Gilson examines the possibility of a Christian Philosophy. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Religion, about
Etienne Gilson
Christian Philosophy
Rationalism
Aristotle and the Mimesis of the Praxis
Aristotle grounds art, and in particularly poetry, as an imitative art through which we come to know better the world around us. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Literature. Filed in Criticism, about
Aristotle
Art
Greek
Descartes’ New Philosophical Abstraction
During his examination of geometrical figures, Descartes develops a new means of abstracting which goes beyond what others before him have done. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Natural Philosophy, about
Abstraction
Descartes
Eusebius’ Account of Constantine Part II
Eusebius presents the conversion of Constantine as one of divine providence. But perhaps the conversion was a political conversion of convenience? Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Eusebius
Constantine
Minos as an Introduction to Plato’s Laws
The Minos deals with law and its source, and how they are related. The dialog acts, therefore, as a prequel to Plato's Laws, which explores good law. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Politics, about
Plato
Minos
Laws
Greek
Kant on Truth in the Critique of Pure Reason
Kant gives a revised definition of truth that contains his own vocabulary and explores the possibility of general criterion of truth. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Truth
Kant
Portcullises of the Interior Life of the Warrior Monk
The Carthusian Monks saw themselves as warriors every bit as effective as medieval knights and soldiers, fighting not a physical war, but a spiritual one. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Medieval, about
Monasticism
Heidegger on Man and Being
Martin Heidegger attempts to formulate a metaphysics within his existentialist system, using as his basis the relationship between time and being. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Metaphysics, about
Heidegger
Ontology
Existentialism
Castiglione and the Book of the Courtier
The Book of the Courtier investigates the philosophic purpose of government, and attempts to answer the question of what makes a government good or bad. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: History. Filed in Politics, about
Castiglione
Italian
Leonardo Bruni and Traditional Italian Republicanism
Leonaro Bruni understood a republic to be guided by virtue, for virtue is absolutely necessary for good ruling and good citizenship. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Politics, about
Leonardi Bruni
Italian
Duns Scotus on Transcendentals
John Duns Scotus examines the two means of dividing being, into finite and infinite and into the ten genera, to discover what a transcendental is. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Metaphysics, about
Duns Scotus
Transcendentals
Historicity in the Secret History of Procopius
Procopius' Secret History of the rule of Justinian is filled with wild embellishments which may undermine the authority of his other more serious works. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Procopius
Italian
A Correct Symposium According to Plato’s Laws
In Plato’s Laws an argument is made for the pedagogical need for symposia, the drinking parties in Greece. In the Symposium, we see how one plays out. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Ethics, about
Plato
Pedagogy
Greek
Plotinus on the Union of Intelligibles and Intellect
A reflection on Plotinus' treatment of the union of Intellect and the intelligibles and a comparison of his treatment with the epistemological. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Plotinus
Enneads
Interpreting Literature: the Function of Criticism
The function of literary critcism is to determine what is of value within a work of literature, and how a work of literature reflects reality. Read Article
Written by B. R. Mullikin. Subject: Literature. Filed in Criticism, about
Art
Eusebius’ Account of Constantine’s Conversion
The conversion of Constantine permanently altered the Roman attitude towards Christianity. No longer clandenstine, Christianity began to flourish in the West. Read Article
Written by John Heitzenrater. Subject: History. Filed in Roman, about
Eusebius
Constantine
Aristotle’ Physics and How to Begin Philosophy
Aristotle explains in his Physics that good philosophy begins with the observation of physical objects, and ends with relating those objects to thought. Read Article
Written by Brandon Bridger. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Epistemology, about
Aristotle
Physics
Pedagogy
Reflections on Plato’s Apology Part I
A brief reflection on Socrates’ statement in Plato's Apology that the unexamined life is not worth living. Read Article
Written by Thomas Chaney. Subject: Philosophy. Filed in Eschatology, about
Plato
Greek