Many sense that the West needs to reconsider its philosophical foundations. Reflexive appeals to old pieties no longer persuade. But those who look to modern philosophy for answers run into a problem best articulated by Leo Strauss: “Only a great thinker could help us in our intellectual plight. . . . . Continue Reading »
Joshua Mitchell has made a strong case that religion has returned to public life. In American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time, he argues that growing numbers of Americans are harried and oppressed by unaddressed guilt and shame. The recession of Christianity as . . . . Continue Reading »
I am among the foremost skeptics of science’s pretensions. But I count myself among the first to express amazement and thanks for revelations that scientific work has provided—not so much discovering “new” worlds as uncovering hidden worlds. Consider the amazing event of January 14, . . . . Continue Reading »
The queering of mainstream American culture has no more dramatic exemplar than the drag queen. RuPaul’s Drag Race, which began in 2009 as a competition reality show on the little-watched LGBT-oriented channel Logo, is today a global media and entertainment empire of four spin-off and . . . . Continue Reading »
If you ever find yourself wondering how widespread a given philosopher’s influence has been, here is a simple test: Make a label out of his or her last name, and use it to identify yourself at a cocktail party (“I’m a Quinean”). Has your interlocutor even heard the term before? Of American . . . . Continue Reading »
Last year marked the thirtieth anniversary of Dana Gioia’s Can Poetry Matter?, a follow-up to his famous 1991 article in The Atlantic. The article and book caused quite a stir. Gioia observed that poetry was no longer a part of intellectual life in America. It was not published in . . . . Continue Reading »
She Said, a film that follows two New York Times reporters as they hunt Harvey Weinstein, debuted in October to rave reviews. Variety described it as “tense, fraught, and absorbing.” The Washington Post deemed it “engrossing, even galvanizing.” The New York . . . . Continue Reading »
I begin with my conclusion: If you are reading this review, then you should probably own this book. This is especially true if you know or care about any children or teenagers. Every parent is aware of the innumerable guides that explain how to raise children, to feed and clothe them, to . . . . Continue Reading »
Vincent Phillip Muñoz (Phillip to his friends, among whom I count myself) is a rising star at Notre Dame, which is becoming a powerhouse of serious constitutional scholarship. This book is the culmination of a decade of Muñoz’s scholarship on the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Those . . . . Continue Reading »
My childhood religious education was, you might say, haphazard. I met many of the most famous Bible verses for the first time not in church, or through a family member, but in Handel’s Messiah, which I listened to so many times as a youth that I memorized much of the libretto. But somewhat . . . . Continue Reading »
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