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Alasdair MacIntyre 16

Reflections on Alasdair MacIntyre

Dependent Rational Animals offers both a satisfying philosophical exclamation point and a sorely needed ethical and political vision appropriate for the struggles of our own day.

Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025)

I don’t see how any English-speaking student of politics or philosophy from the past half-century could have avoided being shaped by After Virtue, his short and explosive argument against the…

Education as Pilgrimage

"We seem to be born homesick, and that homesickness is meant to lead us into a life of pilgrimage.” Walker Percy Black Mountain, NC. Where are you going? At its…
February 15, 2023

The Wicked Common Good: An All Hallows’ Eve Meditation

The spirit of community that arises from festivals such as Halloween is a common good. I suggest that it is also a great time to practice the virtues of shared…
October 31, 2022

Communitarianism, Left and Right

Populism can in fact be seen as being precisely a reassertion of democracy against the anti-democratic tendencies of managerial, technocratic elites.

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: A Review

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self draws on a deep reservoir of erudition rather than the shallow puddle of populism.

Free Yourself from the Telescopic Morality Machine

There is one version of the history of modern media that is a story primarily about a drug, developed to make its users feel anger with delightful intensity. Refinement of…
December 9, 2014

Newman, MacIntyre, Aristotle, and Tradition in ANAMNESIS

Those interested in J.H. Newman, Aristotle, and traditional theory will enjoy the new ANAMNESIS essay, "J.H. Newman and the Aristotelian Structure of Traditions." 

Living Alone

The New York Times recently ran a précis of a book by Eric Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University and the author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary…
Mark T. Mitchell
February 28, 2012

Catholic Universities, Protestant Ministries, and the Purpose of Education

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…

Thoughts on Teaching Wendell Berry

Teaching Wendell Berry to students today isn't a thankless task, but the victories are small and far between (which, one might say, is all the best victories always are).
April 29, 2010

Tom Coburn Vilified

Coburn calls Nancy Pelosi a "nice lady" and earns the ire of conservatives.
Mark T. Mitchell
April 14, 2010

Meritocracy, Urban Design, and Culture: Observations from a Friend

PHOENIX, ARIZONA. (Note: this post has two pages, thanks to webmaster Lundy's new-and-improved FPR technology.) I am gratified by the many responses, here and elsewhere in the sphere, that were…
Jeremy Beer
May 21, 2009

This is My Son

Devon, PA.  This is my son.  As you see him here, he has been alive for just about one-hundred-forty days and has, this and other ultrasound images suggest, my nose…

Reasoning about Stories

  Devon, PA. Here is something for you that no one will dispute: all complaints about modernity, including those that fit under the rubric of "conservative," are arguments about stories. …

David Brooks Does (In) Edmund Burke

SOUTH BEND, IN. Edmund Burke's reputation has suffered much among conservatives during the past few years. Russell Kirk, of course, held him up as an exemplary genius of the conservative…