Political philosophy requires political theology for its fullest intelligibility and justification, particularly when treating of fundamental political questions, such as: “What is the ideal political order?” I think this is a true statement, and here are some supporting interlocutors.
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For those who read Part I of this post, you may recall that a fellow academic or “lead assessor” was conducting a meeting in which I was present. This lead assessor colleague of mine decided to deploy a positive reinforcement technique through the handing out of Hershey Chocolate Bars to all contributing participants.
I sat in complete horror and disbelief. All of the sudden I realized that this elementary technique of positive reinforcement, one that has been tried on little children and canine mutts everywhere would be deployed on all of my colleagues and myself.
“What would happen next?” I wondered. How would this candy be given out? What were the rules of this game?
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At my university, every Fall the freshmen sit down with faculty, the day before classes start, to discuss a famous book: Pieper's Leisure, the Basis of Culture. This year, I was struck by the, well, inconsistency between what Pieper holds and what John Henry Newman held in The Idea of a University (or, for that matter, JPII in Ex Corde Ecclesiae).
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Intellect or Imagination? What ought we primarily train?
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I’m a political theorist, but I teach comparative politics as well. Instead of canvassing the whole subfield in my introductory class, rapidly moving from topic to topic, I focus on the varieties of democracy and the possibilities for democratic consolidation in traditionally non-democratic societies. I’m sure it’s more usual to offer a full survey of the subfield, but I’ve heard too many grad students (and professors) say they don’t remember their introductory courses in comparative, so I try to give the students a chance to sink their teeth into something.
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I am looking to connect the two title themes in a more explicit way, and I am soliciting suggestions for sources and methods.
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Teaching about liberty should be an easy task, right? After all, who doesn’t love freedom?
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One of history’s most accomplished economists—Paul Samuelson—died Sunday in Belmont, Massachusetts at age 94.
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For our discussion of Islamic politics, I assign readings on radical political Islam. Many of these consider the difference between radical political Islam and the way politics has traditionally been understood by Muslims over the centuries. Even so, the focus is on the radical side in order to gain a deeper understanding of it.
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In this post I pick up a thread left behind long ago, and offer some initial reflections on the pedagogy of economic rhetoric.
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