philosophy

October 23, 2024

You Are Not in Control: The Death of Boethius 1,500 Years On

In a prison dank and dark, somewhere outside the town of Pavia in northern Italy, a middle-aged man whiles away his final days, writing. His execution looms, and he knows it. Continue Reading...

August 06, 2024

Four Economic Lessons from Plato’s Republic

When we consider the origin of the fundamental principles of economics, most of us think of Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations. Smith arguably pioneered economics as its own discipline with this groundbreaking articulation of the workings of the free market. Continue Reading...

January 05, 2024

Thinking and Drinking with Plato

My favorite back-to-school reading this year has been Alex Priou’s Musings on Plato’s Symposium. I hurry to add that I’ve long been out of school, but I did pick up the habit of reading there, and what’s more American than lifelong learning? Continue Reading...

November 22, 2023

Lovers of Truth: C.S. Lewis and Elizabeth Anscombe

It was a night that would live in infamy. The great debater and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis was defeated by a woman—and a young Roman Catholic upstart philosopher at that. Except that’s not quite what happened. Continue Reading...

September 29, 2023

Are We Free to Think About Free Will?

Does God exist, or are we the mere by-products of evolution, simple accidents of the Big Bang? Do we have free will, or is everything predetermined, robbing us of true moral agency? Continue Reading...

September 14, 2023

Why Philosophy? Reflections on Fides et Ratio.

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth.” Continue Reading...

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...

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