The story of Echo and Narcissus in the Metamorphoses begins when Narcissus’ mother visits a sage and inquires if her son will live to a “ripe old age.” She receives an ambiguous response: Narcissus will live to a ripe old age “if he knows himself—not” (3.449). The anapest meter of the line emphasizes two key terms of the prophecy: “knows” and “not.” The strong syllables … Continue reading History, an Antidote to Narcissim
I remember reading an essay by a fellow ex-seminarian critiquing our former institution and its late rector for alleged failures to provide adequate emotional support to young men, for its rigid notions of masculinity, and other such micro-aggression. Coming from a center-left place, his article only differed in details, but not in essence, from the right-wing critiques of seminaries as dens of sodomy yielding the … Continue reading Priesthood as Craft, Not Science
In 2019, Sohrab Ahmari and David French engaged in an infamous debate that culminated in a discussion of drag queen story hours. Both men agreed that exposing children to drag queens is immoral; however, while French argued that the First Amendment protects drag queen story hours, Ahmari argued that such activities are harmful to society and ought to be suppressed by the government. Whatever your … Continue reading Nineteenth Century French Catholics’ Challenge to Integralism
You can find plenty of common, scholarly reasons to study history in textbook introductions, education philosophy books, or in the classroom on the first day of a history class. However, these were not the reasons that prompted me to declare a history major my freshman year. What motivated me was an idealism which claimed that if we could just understand history and teach it correctly, … Continue reading A More Honest Relationship with Reality: Finding New Meaning in My Studies
One of the best-known works of John Rawls, a Harvard scholar known for his prolific political writings, especially in the field of criminal justice, is entitled: Justice as Fairness: Political, not Metaphysical. In this work, Rawls presents a famous analogy which he refers to as the “veil of ignorance.”He argues that, in juridical procedure—such as the trial of a criminal—one must deliberately put aside all … Continue reading Metaphysical, Not Political
Mythology has long allowed cultures to connect with and find meaning in their past, encouraged them to work in the present, and taught them to hope for their future. By grounding individuals in their environment and tying them to their community, myth served as the grounding for nearly all cultures and civilizations throughout the Ancient and pre-Modern world. Myth teaches morals, and a civilization without … Continue reading Mythical Samizdat
There they were, standing in neat rows as if in a dance aerobics class, rock-stepping and swinging their arms to music funneled out of the tiny speakers of a smartphone. The only problem was that this was definitely not a dance studio and these people were not in a dance aerobics class. Instead they, along with a diverse crowd of other visitors, were in the … Continue reading A Sense for the Sacred
Captain America, Luke Skywalker, and Harry Potter are ideal “heroes” for what Nietzsche would call a “democratic” soul. These caricatures of childhood imagination encourage a reversion to puerile notions of unearned self-importance among their devotees. The protagonists of these stories come from common backgrounds but are, within the first quarter of the film, serendipitously granted magical powers and a world-changing mission. To their audience, these … Continue reading Comic Heroes of the Demos
“We’ll Meet Again,” Vera Lynn Let’s say goodbye with a smile, dear Just for a while, dear We must part Don’t let this parting upset you I’ll not forget you, sweetheart We’ll meet again Don’t know where Don’t know when But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day Keep smiling through Just like you always do ‘Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far … Continue reading Coming Home and Other Memories: The Heart (or Art) of the Story
Hillsdale Forum 