"In the heat of our political squabbles we tend to lose sight of the fact that our differences of principle are very small compared to those over which men used to fight."
"Reason is only one part of the soul's economy and requires a balance of the other parts in order to function properly. The issue is whether the passions are its servitors, or whether it is the handmaiden of the passions."
@AllanBloomNotes@TheSimonEvans I think that also speaks to the (typically unrecognized) brilliance of his Closing
I mean this: Bloom, translator of the Republic and that great Modern version of the Republic (Emile), provides a thought experiment on the possibility of the Republic in an American setting. That…
"Each age always conspires to make its own way of thinking appear to be the only possible or just way, and our age has the least resistance to the triumph of its own way."
"The dislike of philosophy is perennial, and the seeds of the condemnation of Socrates are present at all times, not in the bosoms of pleasure seekers, who don't give a damn, but in those of high-minded and idealistic persons who do not want to submit their aspirations to…
"I thought of the old joke about the farmer who hears a thief in the chicken coop. Substituting the Harvard Coop, I imagined myself yelling, "Who's in there?" and getting the answer, "There's nobody in here but us antielitists."
"Many such lessons are to be learned on future voyages to the non-Western world ..."
An amusing passage in which Bloom imagines a Gulliver’s Travels-style journey to Japan for American professors eager to denounce ethnocentrism.
"The old view was that delicacy of language was part of the nature, the sacred nature, of eros, and that to speak about it in any other way would be to misunderstand it. What has disappeared is the risk and the hope of human connectedness embedded in eros."
"Edgar Z. Friedenberg once said that social scientists are always giving themselves hernias trying to see something about America Tocqueville did not see. That is why we need Tocqueville, and our neglecting to read him can be interpreted as an effort at hernia prevention."
"Science is surely somehow transcultural. Religion seems pretty much limited to cultures, even to define them. Is philosophy like science, or is it like religion?"
"None of the beautiful or noble activities of man which are the proper subjects of epic or drama can be found in the state of nature. The subject matter of epic or tragic poetry vanishes when man becomes essentially a being concerned with rational self-preservation."
"Everybody must now drink heavily. The weaker drinkers slip away. The faithful Aristodemus himself falls off into a drunken sleep, but awakens to find Agathon, Socrates, and Aristophanes having a discussion, with only Socrates fresh and in full possession of his powers..."
"The philosophers, ancient and modern, agreed that the fulfillment of humanity is in the use of reason. Man is the particular being that can know the universal, the temporal being that is aware of eternity, the part that can survey the whole, the effect that seeks the cause."
This is also why Modern psychology and psychiatry —“therapy”—have been dominated by the political left for over a century:
When everything about the “self” is believed to be manifestations from the subconscious, everyone is a victim
“Therapy” is victimhood in search of victims
This is also why Modern psychology and psychiatry —“therapy”—have been dominated by the political left for over a century:
When everything about the “self” is believed to be manifestations from the subconscious, everyone is a victim
“Therapy” is victimhood in search of victims
8K Followers 1K FollowingRoubos Sabbatical Scholar @BensonCenter & Professor of Political Philosophy @uaustinorg | Specialist in the most weighty matters and the one thing needful
6K Followers 3K FollowingCandidate for Virginia's 7th District, US Congress.
Proud Virginian husband, father, grandfather, veteran, and rescue dog owner on the Rappahannock.
152 Followers 44 FollowingThe first word is “the.” The central “H” stands for Hellas. Hellenism, as Homer reminds us, is most associated with the Homecoming of the soul.
10K Followers 3K FollowingWalk with me on "The Digital Sidewalk" 🚶🏼♀️🚶♂️Voice of the Internet’s first conversational AI platform (Tellme Networks)✨Ph.D. Entertainment-Education
61 Followers 423 FollowingHere to engage with and develop my interests - nutrition, health, political science, economics, technology, road safety... and the list goes on...
2K Followers 274 FollowingWorking at the intersection of theology, technology, the Western Christian tradition, and classical models of leadership. Virginian. Autodidact. #GoHoos
46K Followers 3K FollowingMy principles are only those that, before the first series of Big Brother, every well-born person considered sane and normal. One/one's. Patreon - see Pinned.
8K Followers 1K FollowingRoubos Sabbatical Scholar @BensonCenter & Professor of Political Philosophy @uaustinorg | Specialist in the most weighty matters and the one thing needful
1K Followers 735 FollowingPhilosophy professor in exile, Catholic convert, occasional musician.
Latest: Conservatism, Past and Present: A Philosophical Introduction.
46K Followers 3K FollowingMy principles are only those that, before the first series of Big Brother, every well-born person considered sane and normal. One/one's. Patreon - see Pinned.
1.4M Followers 1K FollowingBuilding @EurekaLabsAI. Previously Director of AI @ Tesla, founding team @ OpenAI, CS231n/PhD @ Stanford. I like to train large deep neural nets.
4K Followers 201 FollowingExecutive Director American Cinema Foundation
Distinguished Fellow @hillsdale
Visiting Fellow @mcc_budapest
International Program Coordinator @NatConTalk
39K Followers 155 FollowingA weekly podcast helping people read the Great Books. Hosted by @HarrisonGarlic1. Podcast, YouTube videos, written guides, & more! You can read the Great Books!