philosophy
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Jefferson, Natural Rights, and the Sources of the Declaration of Independence
Presenting the fifth in our Colloquium series for the year 2024, Dr. John Pinheiro (PhD in History, Director of Research at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty), challenges the common narrative that reduces Thomas Jefferson’s thought in writing the Declaration to the philosophy of John Locke. Dr. Pinheiro was previously professor…
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Felicitates de Quodlibet, I.3
A Philosophical Happy Hour on… whatever! Revisiting our Felictates de Quodlibet series, in which we talk about whatever we want, so long as it is interesting, and for as long as we are interested. In the Scholastic university, renowned thinkers would regularly engage in open debate on questions posed by other scholars or students at…
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On the Significance of Fictitious Entities
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the moral, psychological, and cultural significance of fictitious entities in human life. Cultural Role of Fictitious Entities Fictitious entities, myths, and media entertainment saturates much of our cultural ethos and society today. Many references we use and employ, metaphors we construct, the subterranean moralizing messaging we find is more often…
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On Comedy
To complement our recent Happy Hour discussion of tragedy, let’s consider the concept of comedy. The Nature and Praxis of Comedy As permits our time and—above all—my supply of shamefully light beer, we shall discuss at our next Happy Hour the nature of comedy and the comedic.[1] To facilitate our chat, I propose we undertake…
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Do You Trust Me?
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the reasons for and nature of trust, distrust, and the consequences of breaking it. Image: Christopher Plummer as Iago and James Earl Jones as Othello (Requiescant in Pace). Trust today seems a quality lacking and, yet for which there is great desire. We do not trust our politicians and often…
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On Tragedy
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the nature and purpose of tragedy in both poetic and real experience. Twenty-three years ago, on nearly this day, many of us bore witness to an undoubtedly tragic event—a relative few with our own eyes, most through the television. I do not need to elaborate: only to say that I…
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Felicitates de Quodlibet, I.2
A Philosophical Happy Hour on… whatever! Continuing our Felictates de Quodlibet series, in which we talk about whatever we want, so long as it is interesting. In the Scholastic university, renowned thinkers would regularly engage in open debate on questions posed by other scholars or students at the institution. Most often, these questions would concern…