Both Will and Helen, right here on this blog, have instructively discussed the difficulties associated with the often promiscuous assignment and declaration of rights in political discourse today. If we look at the American founding narrowly from the perspective of its Lockean influence, . . . . Continue Reading »
Given what she just wrote , I’m hoping Helen can hit this one out of the park. Over at LadyBlog, Bonnie Lindblom quotes a professor at Northwestern University saying the following: "Conservatives worry about societal collapse, liberals worry about a world without deep feelings and . . . . Continue Reading »
Jumping up and down eagerly, I’d like to point you to Ivan Kenneally’s article on neuroscience and the soul . Ivan blogged about it previously here . I may be horribly misreading the article, but it seems to me that the problem lies more in reductionist accounts of human experience . . . . Continue Reading »
The picture above, if it were taken in Ecuador, would be the image of a rights-bearing entity, with constitutional rights co-equal with those of “people” and “persons.” Yes, as expected, the people of Ecuador have passed their new constitution, which as I wrote in an earlier . . . . Continue Reading »
In the latest issue of Perspectives on Political Science , I organized a symposium on Peter Lawler’s most recent book (since last I checked) Homeless and at Home in America . Besides the brief introduction and an article that I contributed, there are also brilliant pieces by . . . . Continue Reading »
Helen is fond of telling me that I "haven’t gone far enough." Turnabout is fair play. The trouble with rights language isn’t that it clings, fluke-like, to an existing moral framework . If rights were simply an inefficient middle-man, I wouldn’t mind keeping them around. . . . . Continue Reading »
The ever-prolific Dan Mahoney revisits the revolutionary upheavals of 1968 , particularly as they manifested themselves in France, and masterfully explores their underlying philosophical significance and continuing social and political ramifications today. The commemorations of these . . . . Continue Reading »
Robert T. Miller’s observations in Friday’s Daily Article about the need for intervention in times of market panic remind us of an important truth. The fact that markets are usually the most effective and efficient mechanisms for creating incentives for wealth creation, as well as for . . . . Continue Reading »
Happy Pulpit Freedom Sunday! I’ll be celebrating by going to Mass and then getting waffles, but if I were Protestant and living outside of New York I might be celebrating it by listening to a sermon about the ‘08 elections. The Alliance Defense Fund is sponsoring today’s event, in . . . . Continue Reading »
Standing up for human exceptionalism means fighting slavery and other forms of naked human exploitation. In this regard, Peter Hitchens, the UK writer, has a very disturbing piece out about how the Chinese are exploiting the poorest in Africa in what can charitably be called a new colonialism, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
