James Matthew Wilson

Provincializing the University: A Proposal for Reform

May 31, 2012

Last November, FPR readers may recall, some of our writers held a panel discussion on The Place of Education at the University of Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture’s annual conference. My comments gave an account of Cardinal Newman’s…

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The Mishawaka Cruisers

May 24, 2012

They make their measured circuit along three blocks of neon fast-food chains, the darkened panes of auto dealerships, the Checks-Cashed, and the boarded Dollar Store.

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Misanthropy or Hymenopteraphilia? E.O. Wilson is Ant(i)-Gracehoper

May 17, 2012

Devon, PA.… DePaul University in Chicago has many distinguished qualities. Most striking among them would seem to be that it is nominally a Catholic university, and yet not only are most of its students not Catholic — many of its

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Uncle Joe Vs. “Too Big to Fail”

May 16, 2012

Devon, PA.… Outside of a few magazines and other fora on the conservative and collectivist fringe, one seldom hears the opinion that the banking crisis of 2008 was brought about chiefly, not to say exclusively, by the kinds of

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Contraception and Signs of Contradiction: Part II

April 27, 2012

The Yoke of Nature and Human Vocation.… When it comes to marriage and the having of children we experience these gifts, burdens, and yokes in ways few other aspects of human life impress with such obviousness. Although the common

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Contraception and Signs of Contradiction: Part I

April 26, 2012

Contraception as Apparent Moral Good. …Most persons who use contraception conceive of it as a moral good. They see an unruly, pullulating nature directed toward nothing other than its own continuance all about them; and in their sexual desires and

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The Business Like Concerns of Elizabeth Bishop and George Herbert

April 21, 2012

Devon, PA.… In the first months of FPR‘s existence, I wrote a short essay on George Herbert, secularization, and devotion. I return to that subject by a different avenue in a brief article just published, as part of a

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The Place of Religion and Literature

April 6, 2012

Devon, PA.… My talk from the annual Ciceronian Society Conference, held in joy and good company last weekend at the University of Virginia, has now been published on the Anamnesis website. The essay, “Literature between Theology and Religion” grew out of

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Sonnets of Deracination

March 20, 2012

Devon, PA.… Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry has been one of the few consistently good poetry journals since it began publication in 2006, and is one of the great cultural institutions of southern Indiana. The latest issue is

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The Insidious Logic of Liberalism

March 4, 2012

Tucson, AZ.… This Arizona Daily Star paragraph greeted me as I began the annual family vacation in Tucson. Rather than offering full commentary, I shall just provide the offending remark along with the despairing observation that it is intended to

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Formal Augustinian Revenges

February 16, 2012

Devon, PA.… A few years ago, Jason Peters swore Learical revenges on me for reprinting a poem of mine on the debauchery of Michigan State students. He could not understand how I could find subject for drollery in a

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An Open Letter to Karen Heller

February 12, 2012

Devon, PA.… Cursed with a lousy city newspaper rife with good coupons, I sat down with my coffee this morning to read Karen Heller’s latest column, “What? Birth Control? Again?” You can read it here. What follows is a

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Dark Places and Dappled Things

February 3, 2012

Devon, PA.… The Catholic magazine of arts and letters, Dappled Things, is no stranger to the writers of FPR, having published a debate on the free market between John Médaille and Robert T. Miller, last spring. The most recent issue

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“Even mainstream Democrats have no time for Mr. Paul . . .”

December 16, 2011

Devon, PA.… We face only two feasible policies in America’s engagement with the world. We can seek to be a bomb-throwing hegemon until the money, and the credit, and the bodies, run out, and can identify American national interest with our sitting

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Catholic Universities, Protestant Ministries, and the Purpose of Education

November 7, 2011

Devon, PA.… Last week, Villanova University’s Office of Mission and Ministry invited several faculty members to speak about the contributions of their religious faith traditions to the life and mission of the University. In anticipation of the FPR panel

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FPR at Notre Dame This Week

November 7, 2011

Devon, PA.… As I announced some months back, Front Porch Republic will return to the University of Notre Dame this week to participate in the Center for Ethics and Culture’s annual fall conference. We will hold a panel discussion

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