One need not always write with broad appeal in mind, but any Canadian will know how limiting it can be to speak of problems that seem particular to the northernmost reaches of the Americas. Still, as a student of Canadian political institutions and history, I cannot help but feel the task of clarifying our ownContinue reading “Ridings & Parties”
Tag Archives: politics
The Idea of Liberalism
For B. A. B., who continually asked for this to be written. ‘Liberalism’ was concerned [with what] I have called the menace of ‘sovereign’ authority and with constitutional devices to reduce it. If it had any theoretical understanding of a state it was that of an association in terms of assured ‘natural rights’ recognized asContinue reading “The Idea of Liberalism”
Disposed to Conserve
For Geoff In a culture so deeply saturated with governmental idioms and ideological jargon, we have lamentably allowed a term of great importance to fall into disrepair in our discourse and thought: conservative. This word surely has salient meanings that are well outside the realm of governance and party ideology, though—in my experience—people tend toContinue reading “Disposed to Conserve”
Friendship and Its Contexts
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses the nature of friendship and its profound (and perhaps near primary) importance in a fulfilling human life. This claim in itself could and has been the subject of much discourse, but his development of this topic provides many other ideas that are worth pursuing in their own right. OneContinue reading “Friendship and Its Contexts”
Communication & Communion
As I have indicated in prior blog posts, I enjoy finding etymological connections between words and thinking through how those connections might inform our living. Thinking about terms that have the same origin might inform us about how others have thought and even the way we implicitly think as we use our languages (usually unreflectively).Continue reading “Communication & Communion”
The Incoherence of the “West”
A new concern emerged during the twentieth century that was more common among ‘conservatives’ (of a certain sort), and there has been something of a countercurrent from those more critical of present affairs: I am referring to the defense or attack of what many have called “Western Civilization” (or, more simply, the “West”). To pointContinue reading “The Incoherence of the “West””
A Note of Self-Reflection
At the wise suggestion of my wonderful wife, I intend to take a summer break from this blog each year. Though I thoroughly enjoy writing these posts and truly attempt to do so for its own sake, there are weeks in which I have written posts merely to maintain my self-imposed goal of a postContinue reading “A Note of Self-Reflection”
In Pursuit of Democracy
The word ‘democracy’ has become something of a buzzword in today’s political discourse, though it tends to be used in a manner that is not merely an easy term to throw around but as something believed to have true substance – this word is supposedly making a real demand of us. There has been anContinue reading “In Pursuit of Democracy”
Love or Euthanasia
My wife and I were recently sat in our living room enjoying some tea, and our conversation turned to her asking me a few questions about my return to Faith. She, having grown up in the Church, has had quite different experiences than I, and our conversation occasionally turns to these matters. It is alwaysContinue reading “Love or Euthanasia”
A Note on the ‘Individual’
Our age is, by and large, one that we might describe as individualistic. What precisely is meant by individualism is not always clear, though I believe there are some common tendencies in the way that this word is used today. This notion was perhaps best captured by J. S. Mill in his seminal On Liberty,Continue reading “A Note on the ‘Individual’”
Hoping for Clarity 