ziran (lit. 'so of itself'): nature
"Every military government floats between the extremes of absolute monarchy and wild democracy." Gibbon
"The refinements of life corrupt while they polish the intercourse of the sexes. The gross appetite of love becomes most dangerous, when it is elevated, or rather, indeed, disguised by sentimental passion."
People are oppressed not by another's power but by imposed impediments to their own.
God as the common good of all common goods
To say that something is a complete society is not to say that it is not part of a broader society; all societies connect to other societies.
"Politically the societies of Western modernity are oligarchies disguised as liberal democracies." MacIntyre
The New Jerusalem is the eschatological fulfillment of all nations.
Manhood and womanhood are laid down in many layers.
the 'modern world' as a relatively depauperate population of spiritual practices
the cultural molting of philosophical ideas
fideistic beauty: pleases on being seen by intellect with virtue of faith
Fideistic beauty is a sign of truth discernible by faith.
Kant's df. of event (A192/B237): perception following another perception
deterministic structure but with locations (or possibilities, or permissibilities) rather than times
On the timescales at which the Church works, art and architecture are very good investments, even at considerable expense, and even allowing for maintenance expenses.
poetry as saying what the heart intends
Drawing is an exercise in multiple abstractions.
drawing a line vs. making a drawing of a line
(in the latter, the line is actually a shape or value-shape)
ritualistic behavior as a structuring of interior thought
aphorisms as slices of reasoning
"The modern world will have to fit in with Christmas or die." Chesterton
Maria porta caeli
pragmatism as magicalism
every existence an epiphany
being-in-the-Church as a form of being-in-creation
being created vs being in creation
conditionals as descriptions of illative potential
Every faithfulness is under the guise of some loyalty.
"Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterward." Bernanos
It is a matter of considerable importance, and inadequately taken into account by both academic practices and philosophy of science that most scientific research will inevitably fail, that much that one does will mislead, and that there are always wrong assumptions.
'Publish or perish' inevitably becomes 'cheat and lie to get by'.
Gn 6:11 -- The world was filled with chamas.
cf. Micah 6:11; Ezk 7:11, 23; Am 3:10; Gn 16:5
-- plundering that leaves others without any recourse
diagrams as mediating notations
Of the six kinds of causes mentioned by neoplatonists (e.g., Olympiodorus), the paradigmatic and the instrumental are most essential (but not exclusive) to discussing intelligent causes in particular.
All evaluations presuppose principles of classification.
We go beyond mere tribalism by means of shared rituals.
necessity under ideal conditions, at the limit, in the final cause, as three different kinds
natural velleities as indirect indications of natural inclination
Inspired by wisdom, we aspire to it.
Even elicited natural desires, qua elicited, cannot be wholly in vain, although the end that fulfills them may be so eminenter rather than formaliter.
etiology : efficient cause :: allegory : formal cause :: anagogy : final cause
philosophy as the point between exitus and reditus, the point of exitus becoming reditus
"Prayer, considered in its essence, has a relation to the order of creation. In invoking the divine aid, we implore a continuation of the creative action, of which oblation is the perpetual memorial." Gerbet
"The superiority of the Christian religion properly so called over the primitive religion, consists principally in uniting us more closely with the Deity."
"The eucharistic communion is something intermediate between the union with the Deity granted to the just of old in this land of banishment, and that which saints enjoy in the celestial city."
"The precept which ordains the pardon of injuries, is the great mystery of Christian morality, as redemption is the great mystery of faith."
Substitution of one thing for another is one of the most essential elements of human society.
forms of apologetics
(1) evidential (the point is inferred from principles)
(2) mediational (the point is a principle that reconciles an opposition or tension)
(3) convergent (the point is a limit case of a series)
fear of the Lord & recognition of divine power
In the face of great difficulty, people generally become both harsher and more generous.
ecclesia: gathering of those summoned
Democracy only works when it arises out of the self-organizing of the demos.
conspiracy theories as arising from a taste for complaining
"Personal interest is often the standard of our belief, as well as of our practice...." Gibbon
philophronetic rites
It is remarkable how often people talk about the future to justify focusing only on the now.
necessary vs gratuitous means
means in which the end is achieved, means through which the end is achieved, means with which the end is achieved
Where and how to research/inquire next requires prudential regard for circumstances, and cannot be determined by rule.
"Every kind of intelligence is a fullness of forms." Proclus
"The foundations of chemical philosophy, are observation, experiment, and analogy. By observation, facts are distinctly and minutely impressed on the mind. By analogy, similar facts are connected. By experiment, new facts are discovered; and in the progression of knowledge, observation guided by analogy, leads to experiment, and analogy confirmed by experiment becomes scientific truth." Sir Humphry Davy
"No Cosmos is complete from which the question of Deity is excluded; and all Cosmology has a side turned towards Theology." Whewell
the intimate relationship between almsgiving and hope
the depravification of names
We can answer a question with an action. (e.g., "Do you have X?" can be answered by offering X.)
a high-trust society, reverent of its past, rich in fellow-feeling
