A review of the new book, Between War and Peace, a collection of essays edited by Matthew Moten, resonated with a great book I am now completing–The Shield of Achilles, by Philip Bobbitt.  This is a sweeping, 800+ page history of war and peace over five centuries, highlighting the impact of war, its preparation, and […]

Neither Beast nor God: The Dignity of the Human Person, by Gilbert Meilaender.   Some of the most contentious social issues of our time, many of which regularly invade our politics, have as their centerpiece the notion of and appeals to human dignity.  What does this dignity mean?  Well, it means different things to different […]

The Business Roundtable appears to have been finally awakened to the realities of the Obama agenda.  Recent comments from its leadership criticized the administration for decisions that “create an increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation”.  It’s about time.  Where have they been?  Everything dear to a climate of growth and opportunity has been […]

The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.  The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.—Daniel Patrick Moynihan. I have used this quote before, but it has never been more appropriate than in the context of the […]

“What of the ‘why’ of the world?  Of course the question has no scientific answer.  It is the question beyond science, the question left over when all of science has been written down.  It is a philosophical question.”—Roger Scruton, An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Philosophy. Recently I have been exploring the phenomenon of “scientism”, a […]

Of all the misguided initiatives to revive “industrial policy” currently underway, none is more foolhardy and risky than the massive intrusion into the financial markets under the guise of the rollback of the financial deregulation that has been officially designated the leading culprit in the meltdown of the past two years.  It will lead to […]

I have become increasingly interested in the development of American political philosophy beginning in the period immediately after the Civil War, particularly the evolution of American thought leading to the progressive movement in the early 20th century through the New Deal.  In other words, what happened to the principles of the original founding in the […]

Quite a lot of my recent reading time has been devoted to the history of the Medieval period, or the Middle Ages, particularly in terms of the impact of the Judeo-Christian and Muslim traditions and their respective influence on the development of Western civilization.  Much of what I read and learned involved correcting many misconceptions about […]

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen moved us one step closer to reality recently with his statement that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb, thus confirming a similar report by the United Nations nuclear weapons agency.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was quick to add that “there is some time”, […]

No One Sees God, by Michael Novak Novak is one of the more insightful theologian/philosophers and in this release he is at his most provocative.  He draws from his lifelong study of philosophy and his personal struggles with religious faith and belief in exploring the age old debate between faith and reason.  He does so […]