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“They Want Awakening”

Education, at its core, has historically been a journey into the profound questions of human existence. Among the most vital of these is the search for life’s meaning. Once central to higher education, this pursuit framed knowledge as more than an intellectual endeavor—it was a deeply personal and existential one. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, […]

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A Pedagogy of Love

Despite my continued failure to secure a full-time university position—a reflection of broader challenges in higher education—I have spent considerable time reflecting on the nature and purpose of education, particularly within my Intellectual Foundations course at Carthage College. In this post, I explore Augustine’s thought and its implications for modern education. His Confessions, particularly the […]

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Cultivating the Whole Person: Newman’s Vision for Higher Learning

In his seminal work The Idea of a University (1852), John Henry Newman (1801-1890) critiques the rising utilitarian approach to education, which sought to align learning with the demands of the Industrial Revolution. For Newman, education was not merely about acquiring practical skills for economic progress; rather, it was about cultivating the intellect, character, and […]

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“Enframing” Modernity: Heidegger, Technology, and the Human Condition

Spent some time this morning reading Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. In several places of his work, Heidegger offers a profound critique of modernity, science, and technology. His concept of “enframing” (Gestell) is particularly relevant today, as it describes how technology has become a dominant framework for […]

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Lessons from King Thamus

Neil Postman (1931–2003) was a media theorist, cultural critic, and educator who spent his career interrogating the societal impacts of communication technologies. Best known for works like Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), Postman argued that media forms fundamentally shape cultural values, behaviors, and institutions. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992) extends this critique, […]

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Curing Mad Truths

Rémi Brague is a prominent French philosopher and historian of philosophy, particularly known for his work in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian thought. Brague’s academic work spans a wide range of topics, with a significant focus on the interplay between religion and philosophy. He is particularly interested in how different cultures—especially the Abrahamic traditions of […]

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Naturalism in the Christian Imagination

In Naturalism in the Christian Imagination, Peter N. Jordan examines the intellectual landscape of early modern England, where the realms of religion and natural philosophy were, perhaps surprisingly, inextricably intertwined. I say “surprisingly,” but most scholars in the field have long recognized the complex relationship between science and religion. But the key to Jordan’s contribution […]

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