Irving Babbitt’s second published book, THE NEW LAOKOON: AN ESSAY ON THE CONFUSION OF THE ARTS (Boston, MA: Riverside Press, 1910). This is a gorgeous book on the meaning of art within the humanist mindset and discipline. Enjoy…. Read More
Here’s one of my favorite topics–whether I do justice to it or not is another question–the origins of Greek philosophy. Fire, air, water, soil, cycles, repetition, the One, the Many . . .
The Imaginative Conservative has graciously allowed me to explore the writings of Edmund Burke in a long series, going back to the first principles of conservatism. “After Burke defined and defended his “love of a manly, moral, regulated… Read More
Leonidas and 300 Spartans birth western civilization through their sacrifice. Complete with not one but TWO tornado sirens during the lecture.
In my fifth lecture for the Western Heritage core course, I moved the class from the ancient Hebrews to the ancient Greeks, considering how each people(s) despised the notion of a God-King. In particular, I considered the roles… Read More
Lecture 4, if you’re keeping count. This one, a focus on Genesis 17 and Exodus 3. The relationship of Adam to Abraham to Moses. Or, why God never changes but man’s understanding of Him does. The previous… Read More
Ok, so, I’m getting a little behind, and it’s only the third day of MWF classes! Here’s lecture 3, if you’re keeping count. This one focuses (after a bit of housekeeping) specifically on chapters 2 and 3 of… Read More
One of the most important Christian Humanists of the 20th century, Francois Mauriac is largely now forgotten. Here’s the book Mauriac wrote for Christopher Dawson’s edited series, ESSAYS IN ORDER. It would be, technically, vol. 15, though it’s… Read More
For my freshmen students in H104, sections 7 and 8, Fall 2016. Term chaser for the secondary text. *** Term Chaser, Autumn 2016; Birzer For Kagan, Ozment, and Turner: THE WESTERN HERITAGE Chapters 1-5 Culture Code of… Read More
My praise of the four iconographic cities of the West: Jerusalem; Athens; Rome; and London–culminating, of course, in Philadelphia. Full, unedited lecture–September 2, 2016. Warts and all.
I’m so honored that The Imaginative Conservative thinks so well of RUSSELL KIRK: AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE. Thank you proudly to Winston, Steve, and Co. The Imaginative Conservative‘s co-founder and editor-at-large, Bradley J. Birzer, has received another award for his… Read More
STRANGER THINGS is bloody and gruesome and, strangely, quite heroic and beautiful. There’s definitely no gloss on any thing. What appears good is really just apathy and conformity and what is broken must overcome brokenness to find heroism… Read More
Stormfields 