vice
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The Common Good and the Toleration of Evil
Pornography, prostitution, gambling, capital punishment, slavery: each seems somehow evil, and yet—at one time or another—each has been tolerated by governments. Do these tolerations violate the common good? Our Philosophical Happy Hour takes up the unhappy question. How do we live rightly as members of a society when that society is permeated by evils? There…
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Humility: Wellspring of Virtue, or Cowardice in Disguise?
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the nature of humility and its status in contemporary society. What is Humility? For reasons personal, professional, and perhaps preposterous, I’m attempting to learn French. However, I must confess: I am having a rough go of it. Though I’ve a bit of a knack for picking up languages, I nonetheless…
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Studiousness vs. Curiosity
I begin this inquiry into the contrast of studiousness vs. curiosity by quoting from a perspicacious essay of the literary theorist Allen Tate, penned in 1945, titled, “The New Provincialism”. Tate writes: The provincial attitude is limited in time but not in space. When the regional man, in his ignorance, often an intensive and creative…
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Questions of Tolerance
Today’s Philosophical Happy Hour concerns the issue of “tolerance”. As Geoffrey Meadows, who will be leading the discussion, writes: Tonight I thought we might discuss the definition, limit, and moral status of “tolerance,” since our discussion on kindness uncovered this underlying sensibility of our age. Perhaps a series of guided questions can get us started…