Punishment, Indignation, and Moral Education in Dante
Leo Strauss’s reflections on punishment in The Divine Comedy, found in the transcripts of his lectures on Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, draw attention to a subtle…
Managerialism, Technological Society, and the Transformation of Political Rule: Burnham as a Corrective to Schmitt
The transformation of political order in the modern world cannot be understood solely through the traditional categories of monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, or even bourgeois liberalism. The rise…
Baseball as Covenant: Kendall’s Enduring Symbols of Ordered Self-Government
Willmoore Kendall’s intellectual trajectory presents a fascinating interplay between play, virtue, and political order, tracing a remarkable continuity from his adolescent reflections on baseball to his mature…
Dostoevsky’s “Demons” as a Prophecy of Ideological Possession
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Demons, also translated as The Devils or The Possessed, remains one of the most penetrating examinations of revolutionary fervor, moral decay, and ideological possession in…
The Shadows of German Thought: Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and Eric Voegelin in Hannah Arendt’s Political Philosophy
Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century, stands as a bridge between the philosophical traditions of continental Europe and the democratic…
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: The Advent Promise Fulfilled and Awaiting Fulfillment
The Advent season encapsulates the duality of Christian hope: the fulfilled promise of the Incarnation in the birth of Christ and the future promise of His return…
St. Augustine’s Concept of Love (Agape) and Political Rule
Saint Augustine’s concept of agape—divine, selfless, and unconditional love—occupies a central position in both his theological vision and his political philosophy. Distinguished from other forms of love,…
The Typology of Domination: Max Weber’s Theory of Rule and Its Impact on Political Systems
Max Weber’s political theory remains a cornerstone in the social sciences, particularly for those attempting to understand the nature of political authority and state legitimacy across time…
The Limits of Paradigm: On Giorgio Agamben’s “Stasis”
Giorgio Agamben’s Stasis: Civil War as a Political Paradigm is a characteristically provocative and elliptical work. As part of the Homo Sacer project, it bears the philosophical…
The Importance of Philippe Bénéton
Philippe Bénéton is a French political scientist who should be better known to Anglo-American and English language audiences. Hoping to bring greater attention to his work, I…
An Indispensable Study for Political History and Thought
Marcel Gauchet’s four-volume series, L'Avènement de la démocratie (The Advent of Democracy), stands as a towering contribution to political thought, providing a detailed and nuanced exploration of…
Thoughts on Harry Jaffa and “Natural Right”
Some traditional conservatives wince when they hear Straussians, especially Harry Jaffa and his students, talk about natural right. They see such talk as derived from Enlightenment rationalism…
Aristotle, Tocqueville, and “Populism Rightly Understood”
Daniel Mahoney is someone I have known for over 30 years, after meeting him at the MPSA’s book lobby at the Palmer House in Chicago in April…
The Parasitical Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense
The Parasitical Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Gad Saad. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2020. 235 pp. The author of this book under review, Gad…
The Defenders of Liberty: Human Nature, Individualism, and Property Rights
The Defenders of Liberty: Human Nature, Individualism, and Property Rights. Neema Parvini. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2020. Neema Parvini is a literary scholar at the University…