philosophy

March 23, 2023

The Return of Stoicism in an Age of Chaos

Despite its popularity, or perhaps because of it, Stoicism is a difficult thing to define. Is it a philosophy, a nuanced outlook, a mindset, a healthy lifestyle, or a conservative fad? Continue Reading...

June 15, 2022

Norm Macdonald is gone and there’s nothing funny about that

Norm Macdonald was the funniest comedian in his time among those who stayed out of political controversies. His specialty was pointing out how uncomfortable we are facing the reality of our human limits, moral and intellectual, as opposed to the fantasies we embrace eagerly in our flight from mortality. Continue Reading...

June 10, 2020

Acton Line podcast: An introduction to François Fénelon, the forgotten philosopher

In 18th century France, the most-read book after the Bible was a work on political philosophy written by the Roman Catholic archbishop François Fénelon. Unfortunately, Fénelon’s writings on economics, politics, and theology have largely been forgotten, as only a fraction of his work has been translated into English. Continue Reading...

October 31, 2019

Thomistic Institute Aquinas 101

The Thomistic Institute has a new video series introducing the work of St. Thomas Aquinas called Aquinas 101. The videos are well done, concise, and clear, and if you are looking for an introduction to St. Continue Reading...

September 30, 2019

Giuseppe Franco to Deliver the 2019 Calihan Lecture: ‘Religion, Society, and the Market’

Mark your calendar! As announced earlier this year, Professor Giuseppe Franco is the recipient of the 2019 Novak Award. In the upcoming 19th annual Calihan Lecture, Franco will examine the social philosophy and economic ethics of Wilhelm Röpke, 19th century economist said to be one of the spiritual fathers of the social market economy. Continue Reading...

July 12, 2019

Rene Girard on the responsible use of language

Those of us who deal with ideas can often throw words around without being sufficiently careful about their meaning or attentive to their impact. We can be tempted to use terms to make a splash or win an argument at the expense of complexity. Continue Reading...

June 28, 2019

New Issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality (Vol. 22, No. 1)

The newest issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality has been published both in print and online here. Scholarly contributions range from a study of joy and labor in Ecclesiastes, virtue and vice in the American founding, whistleblowing, and the economics and ethics of education, including a Controversy debating the merits and demerits of the tenure system. Continue Reading...

May 24, 2019

How to think like a Christian

Here is a podcast interview I did recently with my friend Matt Leonard, host of The Art of Catholic and Next Level Catholic Academy. Matt and I talked about some of the foundational ideas of Christian thinking in contrast with the dominant secular way of seeing the world. Continue Reading...

January 03, 2019

Alejandro Chafuen in Forbes: John Locke, Reason, Christianity and Christmas

John Locke is well-known as a philosopher. Perhaps less well-known, though, are the religious convictions that underlie many of his ideas. Alejandro Chafuen, Acton’s Managing Director, International, recently published an article in Forbes describing the influence of Locke’s Christianity on his views of the human person. Continue Reading...

October 22, 2018

Who is John Rawls and why should you care?

This is a guest post for the Acton PowerBlog By Kevin Brown Imagine asking a diverse group of rich, poor, attractive, unattractive, intelligent, unintelligent, white, non-white, educated, and non-educated — what makes a society just. Continue Reading...

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