Jonathan Swift famously denied that man was a rational animal and insisted that he was only capax rationis, capable of exercising reason but rarely taking the trouble to do so. What else an explain the repeated outbreaks of folly and delusion that have marked our history?
Surveys of Western Civ usually convey the impression that Greek literature was dominated by Athenians and their Ionian Greek cousins.
Twice every year like clockwork, Americans turn briefly away from the iWatches and video screens to which they have committed their souls in order to take up that most pressing question of postmodern times: Is Daylight Savings Time a good thing?
I have been asked, many times, to explain my objections to John Locke and his theory of natural rights and the social contract. One way to address that question is the discussion of Sir Robert Filmer Patriarcha I undertook some years ago.
The first thing our rulers do, when they want us to approve some act of folly or aggression, is to change names.
The best reason to follow Facebook is the insight it gives you into the American mind, especially the bizarre mind of self-described conservatives.
I am not a pacifist, but in my lifetime the US has not engaged in a war I could approve of.
A conservative on FB has made the plausible argument that Putin is not entitled to the Tsar’s patrimony, to which I responded:
Bossi begins his memoirs with a depressing visit back to Cassano Magnago: the highway cuts right through what had been parkland, cement houses have sprouted up like tumors, and everywhere is the sound of traffic, the smell of asphalt.
On FB I am forever seeing disputes breaking out over various theological points, disputes between Catholics and Protestants of course, but also between Tridentine and Vatican II Catholics and between various schools of Protestant thought (Lutheran, Calvinist, Pre-millennialist).
