Archive for October, 2006

Hellenistic Metaphysics is Too Small

Sunday, October 29th, 2006

Recently, Pope Benedict XVI caused a bit of a stir in his address at the University of Regensburg (Sept. 12, 2006). I’ll address the true thrust of his speech and not those remarks which were taken out of context. Specifically, I intend to work in line with his stated intention: “The intention here is not [...]

What is Original Sin?

Monday, October 9th, 2006

As I noted in my book, “To See a World in a Grain of Sand”, the term ‘original sin’ points to a fundamental truth about the human condition, but it seems to miss the target a bit. Our knowledge of human nature and of the physical world has expanded greatly in recent years and has [...]

Sleepwalking Into an American Empire

Sunday, October 1st, 2006

I know just enough about history and economics to be dangerous and what I know leads me to the dangerous thought that a sufficiently large political entity with a centralized government will tend strongly to evolve into an empire, no matter its pretences to being a republic. It may have initial periods of freedom, but [...]