See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (Colossians 2:8). What business do we have studying the liberal arts? The quadrivium and trivium? Why should Christians take an interest in philosophy, in … Continue reading Vain Philosophy and Christian Learning
How Aristotle may help us Conceptualize the Conflict between Ordinary Perception and Modern Science Annotated Bibliography This project serves to fulfill a requirement of PHS 611: Classical Logic and Epistemology, taught by Dr. Philippe Yates, Spring 2018 Continue reading The Two Tables from an Aristotelian Perspective
A talk Given at New College Franklin, Prospective Weekend, Spring 2018 Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the great Western text on virtue, concludes in a very strange way. After all his work discussing virtue, Aristotle unexpectedly relegates it to second rank. But if I am to make clear the remarkable nature of this move, I first need … Continue reading Virtue and its Limits: from Prudence to Contemplation
from a talk given at New College Franklin in the Fall of 2013 Main Texts: Homer’s Odyssey, Book 8, lines 42-45, 62-94, 483-499, 521-534 Homer’s Iliad, Book VI, lines 440-465 My goal in giving this talk is to inspire wonder and excitement about the program of study here, to encourage intellectual enthusiasm. With this goal … Continue reading A Question of the Liberal Arts: Why is Song a Gift from the Gods?
Here are two arguments why ideas are not themselves bodies. First, before God created, he knew all that he would make. If ideas are bodies, than bodies would have existed in God from eternity. Second, we can imagine a closet filled with clothing (shirts, pants, etc.). The closet does not know what is in it. … Continue reading Why Ideas are not Bodies
An excerpt from a recent paper: Incidental being is not an object of science because it is neither always and necessarily in the same condition, nor even for the most part so.[1] The essential stability of knowledge depends upon an essential stability of being. The analogy used to show this is a remarkable example of … Continue reading The Fancy Chef: On the Subject of Science
Why is there motion? The stars move, birds move, people move, air moves, even rocks move (when dropped). Why? In the Physics, Aristotle inquires into natural or movable bodies. The source of their motion is explored. But this mode of inquiry leaves him on the threshold of metaphysics and theology. To look into the causes of motion leads … Continue reading Order in the General: On Aristotle’s Vision of the Unmoved Mover and Cosmic Order
For Aristotle, place or topos is not the abstract, absolute points expressed by a Cartesian grid extendingout into infinity. Rather place is that which holds and contains; it has a sense of rightness and belonging which every being innately knows. The proper place for the heavy is down (or in the center) as all earthy … Continue reading No Place Like Home: Aristotle and Topos
We study the world that we may understand Scripture, and Scripture teaches us to truly read the world. Is this a conflict of principle or a vicious circle? No, it is the ordinary course of human learning elevated to a glorious pitch. God is pleased to use the things of His creation as a tutor unto … Continue reading On Christian Doctrine: The Rule of Scripture and Knowledge of the Profane
Is man fundamentally a contemplative being or one whose fulfillment is found in work? Perhaps the answer lies in how we understand the term ‘work’. A long standing argument in Christian and philosophic circles grapples with anthropology, the goodness of work, and the nature of happiness in general. In some sense, this issue touches even … Continue reading Work or Rest?
Same & Other 