Peter J. Leithart

Aristotle says his philosophical opponents “destroy necessity.” So long as they are looking at the creation, his opponents are right: Nature is wholly contingent, entirely unnecessary, like art. Aristotle searches for, and thinks he finds, necessity in creation. His philosophy is a . . . . Continue Reading »

In the Metaphysics , Aristotle says that the metaphysical and epistemological errors of previous philosophers can be traced to their focus on the sensible world: “because they saw that that all this world of nature is in movement and that about that which changes no true statement can be . . . . Continue Reading »

My musings on the political import of Advent at the First Things site this morning: http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »

We will never know what happened between Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the maid in his hotel room. What, if anything, did Herman Cain say or do to the women who accused him of sexual harassment? What are Putin and Hu and Ahmadinejad planning? Until this week, how many knew the U.S. has drone bases in the Seychelles? … Continue Reading »

Schmemann says that the distinctive mark of the converted Roman Empire, and of the Byzantine order, was the “state’s” acknowledgement that the end of the church was the end of all things, also then the end of the state. The state no longer existed to promote its own ends, but to . . . . Continue Reading »

Aroma and memory are linked liturgically and spiritually as well as literally. The sacrifices were offered as “memorials” before Yahweh, as was incense. He was called to remember and act. The fragrance of the lover arouses the bride to remember him, and the reputation and name of our . . . . Continue Reading »

What excites erotic desire? Our pornographic culture highlights the sheerly sensual - the visible form of the face and body, the aroma of a perfume, the allure of sexy clothing. Eros is aroused when the lovers are stripped of all external definitions, including finally their clothes and their . . . . Continue Reading »

In the Best-of-2011 edition of the TLS , Mary Beard casts her vote for The Archimedes Palimpsest , which she describes as follows: “This publishes a thirteenth-century prayer book, made up - as has long been recognized - out of earlier manuscripts. An international project has deployed all . . . . Continue Reading »

A recent issue of the New Yorker had an intriguing profile of Paypal founder Peter Thiel. Thiel’s current obsession is education” “Thiel believes that education is the next bubble in the U.S. economy. He has compared university administrators to subprime-mortgage brokers, and . . . . Continue Reading »

You can understand why the medievals, with their earthy practicality, responded to Aristotle, who offers arguments like this one against the irrationalism of monism: If everything is and is not simultaeously, yh not walk over a cliff? “Why do we observe him guarding against this, evidently . . . . Continue Reading »