Among the questions that every responsible man must address during his lifetime, this one has a special resonance for both parents and teachers: When I ask whether ethics can be taught, I mean by someone standing up in front of you and speaking, as in a classroom. Someone speaks about the virtue of …
Category: virtue
May 29 2022
Virtue And Its Nature
The contemporary aversion to philosophy – and to most philosophers, come to think of it – has the same emotional foundation as the contemporary aversion to poetry. Sarah Hoyt once wrote that the decline of civilization begins with open-mic poetry nights. She had an excellent point. It would apply with equal force to open-mic …
Jan 26 2022
Bullies, 2022 Edition
During today’s early-morning news sweep, my eye caught on three stories in particular: Antifa Wins At Dartmouth OSHA Drops Vaccine Mandate Savor the Democrats’ Humiliation All three are relevant to the subject given by the title of this piece. The first is an example of how bullies prevail when not opposed by forces …
Sep 01 2021
A Comment On Commentary
Back in the heyday of blogging, everyone and his halfwit Uncle Herman had a blog. There were, at peak, over 50 million such sites. Most, of course, were of no broad consequence: little was posted there, and most of that was worthless. However, they gave their “proprietors” a sense that they could be listened …
Apr 30 2021
To Be Or To Do? A Rumination
Before I launch into today’s indulgence in sententiousness, allow me a few prefatory words. Several Gentle Readers have written to ask why I’ve been writing so much about subjects in moral-ethical thought. I expected to be asked about it, and have been thinking about the answer for my own benefit as well as that …
Apr 29 2021
The Virtues And Virtue: A Rumination
If you’ve had any kind of education at all, you’ll be familiar with the three “theological” virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity. …and if you managed to graduate high school without being incarcerated for a major felony, you’ll probably know about the “cardinal virtues:” Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude. I shan’t expend server space expounding …
Fran’s Recent Novels
Margaret’s Recent Novels
