Lehrman American Studies Center

Josef Pieper believes that the cult, as the ritual of public sacrifice, is the primary source of our independence and freedom, with leisure, as the basis of culture, defined as our fundamental relationship to reality as a type of philosophical act, where we learn to see how worthy certain aspects of reality are and therefore require a celebration of them in divine worship. This philosophical act is to participate in reality as it unveils itself to us and is characterized by enthusiasm and freedom. The reason why philosophy is regarded as the most free of the liberal arts is because it is the farthest removed from utilitarian concerns.

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On the last Thursday morning in July, I stood on the Lexington green with my beautiful and sagacious wife, my five very active and somewhat mischievous children, the talented Ben Cohen (acting as Paul Revere; and who also turned out to be a supporter of Hillsdale College), the vivacious Malana Salyer of Gary Gregg’s McConnell Center, and roughly twenty-seven teachers from Kentucky.

As “Paul Revere” described the battle on the commons that morning—the Lexingtonians greatly outnumbered by the advancing British—I felt immensely humbled.

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In previous blog posts, I have commented on Ken Bain's What the Best College Teachers Do (Harvard, 2004). Bain's book, in my opinion, is a well-documented, evidence-driven, and hard look at excellent and effective college teaching. It gives one much to think about and challenges one to look deep into one’s own teaching.

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Kant leaves open some questions concerning the "self-interest" societies have in joining the federation of republics. Does Kant anticipate the federation of republics making a pre-emptive strike against non-members who, by definition, are essentially warlike? After all, they wish to defend themselves. Does the movement toward perpetual peace in fact increase the likelihood of war? Does his federation have the seeds to exhibit the same imperialistic ambitions that plagued the Athenians, especially after Pericles died? Is "making the world safe for democracy" the perpetual Sicilian expedition for all democracies?

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I visited Kenya last month to give a talk at African International University in Nairobi about democracy—in particular, early American democracy. For those who may not know, Kenya has been struggling to establish a stable and workable democracy for some time, and last year the nation tragically experienced a wave of violence after a disputed election, which left over 1,800 people dead. And the nation is far from healed. In fact, Kenya remains deeply divided by tribalism and other political divisions. Its people are also struggling to curb rampant corruption throughout its national government.

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In an article in the February Inside Higher Ed called “The Business Model is the Wrong Model,” Peter Katopes argues that the market place model of customer satisfaction and efficiency has created a culture of entitlement, instant gratification, and institutional fiscal irresponsibility.

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More and more universities and colleges are augmenting their traditional course offerings with online course offerings. "If students can't come to us," so the logic goes "then, perhaps, we can go them." And thus, virtual campuses are birthed with many living a long and healthy life and others only surviving short term. Given this rise in online teaching, what are some of the basics that faculty should know about virtual teaching?

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States depart the lawless state by the same logic as individuals depart the state of nature. They simply tire of killing one another and find mutually beneficial relations advantageous. In pursuing their self-interest (for peace), they discover the advantages of avoiding war. Kant insists individuals remain as depraved as ever. Rather, the "mechanism of nature" enables cooperation to evolve; individuals seeking their self-interest inadvertently produce public goods.

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I try to design my classes so that students will learn both the materials and important skills that they will continue to use for the rest of their lives. In the coming semester, I want to focus in particular on writing ability, and I’m trying to devise a system that will help my students to develop their writing skills over the course of the semester.

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There is an interesting series of books coming out of Johns Hopkins Press, edited by Garrett Ward Sheldon: The Political Philosophy of... So far it has covered Jefferson, Madison (both by Ward himself), Franklin (Lorraine Pangle), and Washington (Jeffry Morrison). All seem to subscribe to the basic idea of a synthesis of classical republicanism, British liberalism, and Christianity is the basic backdrop of the American Founding. I would be interested to know what other Lehrman fellows think of this collection and this synthesis.

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