Euripides: The Zenith of Tragedy
The plays of Euripides confront us with sophisticated moral problems and subtle characterization that advance even on Æschylus and Sophocles.
The Great Conversation: Monarchy
Kings and emperors remain staples of our art and media, but the history and philosophy of monarchy is more complex than we often realize.
St. Thomas à Kempis: Workaday Mysticism
St. Thomas à Kempis’ “Imitation of Christ” is one of the most influential religious works in history, crossing denominational and even religious lines.
The Great Conversation: Happiness
What is happiness? Is virtue necessary for happiness, or are they in competition with each other? Is happiness under our control or beyond it?
Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy
The wheel of fortune, the problem of evil, and the mystery of divine foreknowledge are famous problems; Boethius, in a forgotten book, addressed them all.
Why a “Hard” Education Is Better
It isn’t really possible to make a child love learning; you can only make them learn. Their loves will be their own.
The Great Conversation: God
Religios studies concern how human beings think and behave; theology concerns the thing they think and act “about.” They differ as eyes and light differ.
Epictetus: Slave and Sage
Self-mastery, over both emotions and thoughts, is an invaluable skill that every person should work to acquire.
The Great Conversation: Rhetoric
The techniques of persuasion have been so habitually separated from logic and wisdom, it’s assumed that rhetoric is persuasion through bad reasons for bad purposes. But in truth, the art of persuasion is as necessary for good arguments as it is for bad ones.
