Kant likes Plato the academic. He doesn’t like Plato the letter-writer, teacher, and sender of messages. The latter is, through no fault of his own, too much the Schwarmer for Kant’s tastes.The dividing line between the good and bad Plato - or, more accurately, between Plato and Kant - . . . . Continue Reading »
When the glory of Yahweh appears to Ezekiel by the Chebar river, it appears as a teeming cloud of cherubim surrounding a throne on which a molten figure is seated (Ezekiel 1:22-28).The glory is a model of the cosmos; or, better, the cosmos is modeled on the glory. The clue is in the description of . . . . Continue Reading »
Derrida parodies Kant’s “On a Newly Arisen Superior Tone in Philosophy” with his late essay, “On a Newly Arisen Apocalyptic Tone in Philosophy’ (published, with Kant’s essay, in Raising the Tone of Philosophy.Kant’s essay criticizes the mystagogues who . . . . Continue Reading »
Kant claims that philosophy got off to a bad start when the word itself stopped being used in a strict sense to name a wissenschaflichen Lebensweisheit and is transferred to speculation and mysticism.As Derrida summarizes the point (Raising the Tone of Philosophy), “no harm would have . . . . Continue Reading »
From the beginning of the Bible, sanctuaries and buildings and other enclosed places are conceived of as feminine. Eve is “built” (banah) from the rib of Adam; the first “architecture” in the world is the woman. Throughout the Torah, we find analogies between sanctuary . . . . Continue Reading »
“Let him give his cheek to the smiter, let him be filled with reproach” (Lamentations 3:30).In context, Jeremiah is speaking of afflicted Israel, which he himself embodies as the prophet. “I have hope in Him,” Jeremiah writes (v. 24) and then turns to a meditation on the . . . . Continue Reading »
Lamentations 3:43-44 are set in parallel:A. You covered yourself with anger and pursued usB. You have slain and not sparedA’. You have covered yourself with a cloudB’. So that no prayer can pass through.Both A sections speak of Yahweh hiding Himself behind a veil - first of anger and . . . . Continue Reading »
College costs keep rising, but Kathleen Parker argues that the more serious problem is that students are no longer getting “much bang for their buck.” Parker sites a study from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni that criticizes colleges for “an increasing lack of . . . . Continue Reading »
Back in 1934, Walter Dill Scott, president of Northwestern, already anticipated distance education:“The university of twenty-five years from now will be a different looking place, says President Scott of Northwestern. Instead of concentrating faculty and students around a campus, . . . . Continue Reading »
In his 1888 treatise on Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (7-9), Gerhard Uhlhorn contrasts pagan liberality with Christian charity. He acknowledges that pagan liberality was considerable, but that did not make it identical to the Christian virtue.“Liberality is the heathen virtue . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
