Contra Cartesiana: An Original Translation of Some Scholastic Criticisms of René Descartes, c. 1643

2015-4-23 Translation img02The world remembers René Descartes for his two major seminal philosophical works, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, published in 1637 and 1641, respectively. In addition to this, he accomplished the world-changing marriage of algebra and geometry with his Cartesian coordinate system, allowing any function or equation to be expressed in terms of lines and curves twining around his x and y axes.

Descartes’ philosophy, born in the midst of the bloody Thirty Years’ War – the heart-breaking religious wars (1618-1648) between Catholics and Protestants – sought to establish absolute certainty. Continue reading

A Reasoned Defense of the Irrational

2015-4-2 Irrationality img01Is it logical to enjoy irrational things?

The terms of the question seem to necessitate “No” as an answer. The logical and the irrational appear immiscible.

On closer inspection, however, the question asks whether “it” is logical to enjoy irrational things. So then, this asks not about the things themselves, but about the enjoyment of them. Is that actually illogical? Continue reading

Good, True, Beautiful

2015-2-25 GoodTrueBeautiful img01Editor’s Note: To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Good True Beautiful, Pallas has undertaken to summarize a mission statement for the blog.

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”

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Egyptian Gold in the Christian’s Treasury

2014-8-7 Egyptians img01When the people of Israel were thrust out of Egypt in the time of Moses, they took at God’s command some of Egypt’s riches with them. To a Christian observer of the Western Heritage, the phrase “plundering the Egyptians” may have an additional, metaphorical meaning. From Tertullian’s “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” to Clement of Alexandria’s “The way of truth is therefore one. . . . into it, as into a perennial river, streams flow from all sides,” the early church writers ran the gamut of attitudes towards extra-biblical philosophy. Augustine’s use of imagery from the book of Exodus, arguing for a sanctification of pagan philosophy, has prompted enthusiastic battle cries of “Plunder ALL the Egyptians!”

But before we take their stuff, can we make positively certain our use for it is better than theirs? Continue reading

Imagination: More than Child’s Play

2014-6-12 Imagination img01The human imagination is an incredible thing. For a child, an active imagination can make the difference between a dull afternoon and an exciting time filled with adventures. Contrary to popular belief, the role of the imagination does not dwindle as a child matures into adulthood. As physical, mental and emotional capacities increase, the imagination plays an enduring and vital role in the making of a young man or woman.  For aspiring authors and artists, this may manifest itself in the creation of new and fantastic worlds. The most important universe which the imagination helps us to see, however, is our own, and its role as a lens lasts throughout our lives.

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Of Magnanimous Men and Pusillanimous Princes

Night001In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle examines the “magnanimous,” or great-souled, man, who is by definition the superior representative of goodness. Centuries later, Niccolò Machiavelli counters Aristotle’s presentation of greatness with his advice for statesmen in The Prince. Aristotle, based on his view of human life as ordered according to a hierarchy of goods, claims that the truly great man has achieved the pinnacle of virtue. Machiavelli, in contrast, argues that the existence of evil men would prevent the happiness of such a man. The truly great man must adopt virtue or vice as the situation demands to achieve his ends.

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Artist’s Statement

2014-3-6 Artist's Statement img01A human person is an embodied soul – an apparently contradictory combination of spirit and body. Our lives are finite, yet our souls are eternal. As an artist, I address this tension by focusing on memory and unity. I seek to remember loved ones and represent the human form primarily in photography and charcoal drawings.

Images are crucial to memory, because they evoke associations and clarify the past. Every piece of art I create holds a fragment of time in its colors and shapes. Photographs are unique… Continue reading

Evil to Good

2014-2-27 Good to Evil img01When I first saw the play Measure for Measure, still my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, I thought it presented a difficult moral question. For those not familiar, the general plot is this: the strict judge Angelo is left in charge of the city of Vienna, and he goes about trying to get rid of immorality. He finds out that a gentlemen named Claudio has not properly married a lady named Juliet, and decides to make an example of the sin of fornication by sentencing Claudio to death. Claudio’s sister, a novice nun named Isabella, appears in front of Angelo to plead for her brother’s life. Angelo immediately desires her, and declares that he will spare Claudio only if Isabella sleeps with him.

 I was fourteen at the time, and this seemed a terribly difficult situation to be in. Should Isabella be willing to sacrifice her own purity so that another might live? Continue reading