Political History Through the Eyes of Eric Voegelin
In his Autobiographical Reflections, Eric Voegelin recounted the moment when he had abandoned writing a history of political ideas to write a history of political order rooted…
Terror and Memory
Manfred Henningsen was born in 1938 in Flensburg, Germany, and he grew up in post-war Germany. He studied in West Berlin, before the Wall was built, and…
Values vs. Virtue
Today’s discourse is all about values. We shouldn’t obey certain laws or enforce certain policies because they are against “one’s values” the common saying goes. We send…
Living in an Age of Boredom
We in the United States have lived in an age of material comfort and relative geopolitical peace for almost eighty years. While there have been wars and…
A Siberian Rebirth
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. At the end of Crime and…
More Than Money?
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. One of the more horrific scenes…
What Holds Russia Together?
Endre Sashalmi. Russian Notions of Power and State in a European Perspectives, 1462-1725: Assessing the Significance of Peter’s Reign. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2022. With its…
Motivations to Murder
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. Overhearing a young officer and a…
The False Promise of Money in “Crime and Punishment”
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. One of the fascinating questions Dostoevsky…
Dostoevsky on Descartes
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. Earlier in the semester we had…
Breadth versus Depth: Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. We are finishing our freshmen core…
A Genealogy of Christianity: Why I Teach Nietzsche at a Christian University
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. Christianity for Nietzsche was the greatest…
Questioners of the World, Unite!
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. Maybe the most influential text written…
Slavery as the Original Sin of America?
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. With religious arguments sanctioning slavery at…
The Reasons of Motivations: Teaching Kant to Freshmen
For this semester I’ll offer my reflections on an introductory, freshmen-level course on western core texts that I am teaching. What should students make of Kant’s…