Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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C.S. Lewis on “The Essential Evil” of Schools1
- Education
- February 11, 2016
Author C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) attended school in England between the ages of 9 and 15. During that time, Lewis was for the most part blessed with good teachers. Yet, in reflecting back on his experience, Lewis describes in his autobiography what he also came to see as “the essential evil of public-school life.” (“Public school”
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A Poignant Quote from Will Durant0
- Culture
- February 11, 2016
Strangely enough, the odd malaise and pessimism that occupies our times isn’t unique to this decade. It has been building for some time now as we of the West have moved further from our roots and the natural order of things. Check out this excerpt from Will Durant’s On the Meaning of Life from 1932: “This
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Why Aren’t Apprenticeships More Popular?0
- Culture
- February 10, 2016
Last night I found myself walking down a hallway at a local private college. As I passed what was presumably the philosophy department, I noticed a couple of posted articles declaring the value of a philosophy degree and decrying the recent rush toward apprenticeships. Apparently the philosophy department was doing some thinking and came to
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Why America Has So Many Laws0
- February 10, 2016
There are virtue-based societies, and there are rule-based societies. America has become the latter. In a virtue-based society, the people are a particular community that have a shared understanding of human life and a shared goal. The virtues are the behavioral habits that help achieve this goal—such as prudence, justice, courage, and temperance—and the community’s
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When It Comes to Community, Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better0
- Culture
- February 10, 2016
When it comes to the coolness factor in the religious world, leading or attending a “megachurch” would likely be towards the top of the list. But according to new research out of Duke University, megachurches might not want to be so quick to flaunt their success. Examining a variety of Protestant and Catholic denominations in
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What if it’s Bernie vs. Trump?0
- Culture
- February 10, 2016
In yesterday’s New Hampshire primary, the two big winners were Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Both candidates are considered populists, though both are also quite distinct from each other in style and substance. Obviously. The next two states on the way to the endorsements are Nevada and South Carolina. In Nevada, the latest public polling
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The best form of government?0
- History
- February 10, 2016
Political-philosophy types should all be familiar with Plato’s belief that the “philosopher king” would be the best ruler. The problem is you can never find him. Picking up on that theme, Thomas Aquinas delves into the best form of government in On Kingship (De Regno). For all of us living in America, we probably would
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Preschool Isn’t Giving Kids Enough Time to PLAY0
- Education
- February 10, 2016
Our kids are failing at preschool and preschool is failing our kids. At least, that’s the sense one gets from Yale educator Dr. Erika Christakis. In a recent interview with NPR, Christiakis explained that today’s preschools are seeing a lot of problems: “[M]any young children are doing poorly in our early education settings. We’ve got
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More Evidence That Kids Just Need to Move?0
- Education
- February 10, 2016
Researchers at American University have been studying the affects of Washington D.C.’s Healthy Schools Act, reports the Washington Post. Not surprisingly, they discovered that the schools offering the most physical education also had the highest scores in math. D.C.’s Healthy Schools Act was passed in 2010 to combat childhood obesity rates. As part of the
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