Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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- Blog 3 Columns
Why Do So Many People Lack Compassion?1
- Literature
- September 26, 2016
Milan Kundera, in his beautiful novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, said that compassion was preeminent of all human sentiments. In languages derived from Latin, the word “compassion” is formed by combining the prefix “com” (with) and the noun “passio” (suffering). Other languages use words with a slightly different meaning—“feeling” instead of suffering. This, Kundera
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Was Plato Liberal or Totalitarian?0
- Philosophy
- September 26, 2016
No one reading Plato’s work Republic is likely to come away seeing it as a manifesto for libertarianism. However, it’s common to hear people claim that it is a blueprint for totalitarian collectivism, as, for example, FEE past president Richard Ebeling wrote in his September 23, 2016 column. Plato isn’t even engaged in utopian political
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Thomas Jefferson’s 3 Tips for the Presidential Debate0
- Culture
- September 26, 2016
If early reports are any indication, the first presidential debate of 2016 is shaping up to be the most watched – and probably most entertaining – in history. Recognizing this, the candidates are both taking the appropriate steps to be well-prepared. They might be wise to take a look at Thomas Jefferson’s simple tips for
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The Reason America Fell in Love With Zombies Again0
- Culture
- September 26, 2016
This March, another season of The Walking Dead will come to a close, much to the chagrin of its devoted fan base. The show’s success in particular, and the prevalence of zombie-themed shows in general, has led me and many others to ask: Why zombies? Why now? Surprisingly, the reasons for zombies’ popularity are not
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Should People Still Be Free to Argue That Homosexuality is ‘Wrong’?0
- Culture
- September 26, 2016
Christianity is known for traditionally teaching that homosexuality is wrong and therefore a sin. This past weekend Richard Swinburne—a famous Christian philosopher—argued that homosexuality is wrong. He argued this in his keynote address he was invited to give at the Midwest Society of Christian Philosophers. Doesn’t seem all that controversial, right? However, Swinburne’s arguments triggered
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Should Parents Stop Paying for Their Kid’s College?0
- Culture
- September 26, 2016
There’s an unwritten rule of parenting in today’s society and it goes something like this: All good parents pay for their child’s college tuition. This rule was most recently exemplified in a headline from The Telegraph, which read, “Parents ‘expected to pay up to £5,372 a year’ towards university costs,” an amount which translates to
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Harvard Prof on the Frightening Consequence of Relativism0
- September 26, 2016
If there’s no such thing as objective truth, then learning is impossible. School becomes merely the place where one group’s ideology and opinions are planted into the minds of students. Education becomes indoctrination. Believe it or not, that’s how many schools and students today think about education, according to Harvey Mansfield, the William R. Kenan,
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What the New Pagans and Christians Have in Common1
- Culture
- September 23, 2016
Today is the Fall Equinox, and it is being welcomed by some throwback pagan celebrations. It has become commonplace among many Christians to quickly denounce these neo-pagan rituals and the people who participate in them. They see the increasing visibility of paganism as a fruit of secularism and a sign that the West is descending
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Top 10 High School Books: 1900 vs. 19900
- Education
- September 23, 2016
The other day I ran across a fascinating literature list. Reproduced in the chart below, the list hails from the latter part of the 19th century and details the top 10 titles used in high schools in the North Central region of the U.S. As can be seen, several titles tied for the fourth and
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