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Leo Strauss and the Closed Society

In the spring of 1941, as Hitler was laying plans for his invasion of the Soviet Union, Leo Strauss gave a lecture at the New School for Social Research as part of a seminar on “Experiences of the Second World War.” The lecture, which was not published until five decades later, marked one of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Sacramental Realism

To outsiders, the proposal of communion for the divorced and remarried seems a modest adjustment. But it has provoked adamant resistance among the faithful because it throws in doubt the basic logic of the gospel. From her beginnings, the Church has known that the baptized, while born again in . . . . Continue Reading »

Let’s Lead, Not Be Led

Paul Ryan will not seek another term in Congress. No doubt the personal reasons he gave for bowing out are important. But it’s likely he’s also frustrated that the market-oriented and freedom-focused conservatism he took for granted has lost traction. He’s not alone. The ideas and priorities . . . . Continue Reading »

Letter to an Aspiring Intellectual

You’ve asked me how to become an intellectual. You’re young, it seems (only young people ask questions of that kind), and you think you might have an intellectual vocation, but you can’t see what to do about it. What should you do in order to become the kind of person an intellectual is? What . . . . Continue Reading »

Freedom and Intellectual Life

What is the point of studying the humanities? The question reflects the current climate among humanist educators: anxiety shading into despair. As enrollments decline, programs are cut, and tenure diminishes, mainstream educational institutions are becoming uncomfortable places for teachers who want . . . . Continue Reading »

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