Artists Formerly Known as Saints
As the death of ‘Prince’ was emblazoned on the front pages of the Western world’s newspapers, I had to wonder – once again – why we treat musicians, actors and
The Balboa Moment
In the autumn of 2013, I spent a night in Panama City on my way from Brazil to Massachusetts. Such pauses turn an otherwise burdensome 12 hour ordeal into two
Something's Missing
In any area of research, and particularly one which already boasts centuries of advances and impressive claims of conquest, new discoveries and even significant paradigm shifts (to use the catchphrase)
What other philosophers say…
Here are about 20 minutes of a variety of English-speaking philosophers answering (or dodging) the question: “What is philosophy?” (courtesy of the website philosophybites.com). Most are surprised by the question,
Why I like Tom
One of my students asked me once what it was I most admired in St. Thomas Aquinas (whom I tend to quote a lot). I’d never been asked that before,
Pointing and Seeing Together
All babies point without training. No mother need instruct her infant to extend its tiny index finger and direct it at an object. They do it on their own, and
The Nestorian Stele
After making my way from Beijing, Mount Tai, Qufu and Harbin in the east of China, I took a plane to one of the country’s former capitals, Xi’an. This was
Naked Facts
Modesty, as I understand it, is a form of respect we show to other people, acting and dressing in ways that address their higher faculties and do not arouse their
Losing the Evidence
The “obvious” is that which goes without saying. Indeed, it only really goes when it isn’t said. When we say it anyway, it sounds tautological and intrusive. “The world is
The Vortex of Conspiratorial Thought
For any child of Abraham, the idea that hell is in a conspiracy against heaven is a commonplace. It is in the category of “so what else is new?”. Still,
The Three Legs of the Stool
Our sensory and emotional lives are rooted in our bodies; our thinking and willing in our minds; our deepest aspirations and our slowly evolving character in our hearts. Our humanity is
Hasty Transitions
The problem with most up-to-date thinkers is that they are eager to transcend what they have never traversed, to overcome what they’ve never come to, and to leave forever behind