| From | Intercollegiate Review <[email protected]> |
| Subject | Does tradition still matter? |
| Date | May 9, 2024 6:11 PM |
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The best of intellectual conservative thought.
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CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY (34 MIN)
A traditional thesis
[link removed]
Many concepts in political theory and philosophy exist not as positive goods on their own but rather as tools which can serve good or ill depending on the user. Healthy criticism can become radical skepticism, moderate willingness to change can become excessive revolution, and love for one’s country can become blindness to its faults. Think of Aristotle’s golden mean.
Could the same be true of something which conservatives value above most else: tradition?
In a 1994 Modern Age article, reprinted in The Imaginative Conservative, the late German Catholic thinker Josef Pieper discussed the definition of tradition itself and its impact on our lives. Pieper’s in-depth and wide-ranging article interacts with philosophers from across the span of history, including ancient Greeks like Plato and Aristotle and more modern thinkers like Karl Marx and Hans Georg Gadamer.
Pieper did point to benefits from tradition itself. He argued that the instinct to preserve tradition does allow cultures to better deal with “changes in externals”—outside influences which otherwise could shake moral foundations. But Pieper also specified that we ought to preserve “what is finally worth preserving . . . and must be preserved.”
This spiritual “holy tradition,” Pieper believed, could lead to true unity among those who protect and defend it. To discover Pieper’s full articulation of the right tradition, read his comprehensive article right here.
Read Now
[link removed]
Weekly Poll
Should IVF be banned??
[A] Yes
[link removed]
[B] No
[C] Unsure
[link removed]
RESULTS: 5/2/24
Is DEI hurting America?
[A] Yes - 97.2%
[B] No - 1.9%
[C] Unsure - 0.9%
[link removed]
CATEGORY: CULTURE (11 MIN)
Personhood or property
[link removed]
The Alabama Supreme Court’s February ruling in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, which opened the door for parents to sue for the loss of embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF), faced huge backlash from groups who found it absurd that someone could consider such embryos children. Such one-sided vitriol ignores the difficult moral quandaries created by new fertility technology—quandaries which force Americans to grapple with what they really think about life.
For The New Atlantis, Leah Libresco Sargeant argues that LePage revealed the paradoxical treatment of IVF embryos by the fertility community. Sargeant calls the embryos “Schrödinger’s persons,” after the famous example of Schrödinger’s simultaneously dead-and-alive cat. She says IVF relies on refraining from saying whether the embryos are people “until we know whether they’re intended for life or death.”
Sargeant points to another legal battle—a 2023 Virginia divorce case—which forced a judge to decide whether frozen IVF embryos were mere property. The judge ended up relying in part on old laws about slavery, resulting in substantial criticism. But Sargeant simply uses this example to highlight the extremely awkward questions IVF poses to the legal world and to ordinary Americans.
What do you think? Discover Sargeant’s perspective to learn more about the IVF debate.
Read Now
[link removed]
[link removed]
CATEGORY: VIDEO
IS Assisted Dying Moral? | Ross Douthat vs. Kimberly Callinan
[link removed]
Ross Douthat debates Kimberly Callinan. Moderated by Leah Libreso Sargeant.
As Western nations have become increasingly comfortable with assisting citizens in death, questions not merely on its legality, but its very ethics, are being raised across the globe. The act is not only allowed by countries like Spain and Belgium, but is actively celebrated in some places, like Canada, where it is hailed as an achievement in human dignity. But what are the obligations and rights that we have when it comes to the end of our lives? What goods ought a society protect?
Can a period replace the question mark looming over assisted dying?
Watch Now
[link removed]
ISI's Annual
Homecoming Weekend
Join ISI on September 20-21, 2024, for a garden party that’ll welcome students, professors, alumni, and friends of ISI from across the country.
Every year, we host ISI’s annual Homecoming festivities right on our 20-acre campus tucked away into a bucolic pocket of Wilmington, DE. Our Homecoming sets the tone for the new school year and is an opportunity to celebrate and network with our impressive community of students, teachers, alumni, and professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
Reserve your ticket>>>
[link removed]
Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
Thinker’s Arthur Long Leads Counter-Protests at UChicago
[link removed]
via The Chicago Thinker
“On Friday, the Chicago Thinker’s Arthur Long led a pro-America counter-protest in response to the pro-Palestine encampment installed on the University of Chicago’s Main Quad.
A flag-waving Long led around 200 students to the front of the encampment. The original intent of the group was to re-hoist
[link removed]
the American flag on the Quad’s flagpole after the University took down a Palestinian flag mounted by those participating in the encampment. Upon realizing that the University had cut the halyard, the counter-protestors proceeded to hang “Old Glory” on light posts across the Quad.“
UVA’s Class of 2024 Reflects on Their First Graduation Post-Pandemic
[link removed]
via The Jefferson Independent
“With his first real graduation at the University of Virginia around the corner, Jered Cooper is excited to finally have a gown that fits him right. Four years ago, instead of walking across the stage to celebrate the end of high school, 6’3” Cooper put on the small-sized gown that was sent to him and huddled with his family around their kitchen island to watch a video slideshow of his graduating class. Cooper is just one of more than 3,500
[link removed]
UVA fourth-years who will celebrate their first proper graduation on the weekend of May 17-19, 2024. With Final Exercises approaching, many students are reflecting on where they were four years ago and are looking forward to what a “normal” celebration will bring.“
Announcing “Stanford’s Censorship”
[link removed]
via The Stanford Review
“For thirty-eight years, the Review has stood as the bastion of contrarianism on campus. The forthcoming “Stanford’s Censorship” series of articles will continue our mission by documenting just some of the censorship that has occurred on our campus. We will tell the stories of Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Scott Atlas, document the Stanford Internet Observatory’s collaboration with the government to suppress speech, and report on the self-censorship and lack of free speech on campus after administrators fail to uphold
[link removed]
free speech. Our series will serve as an archive of Stanford’s assault against free speech and academic liberty.“
Georgetown Grapples with Gaza: Free Speech and Israel-Palestine at Georgetown University
[link removed]
via The Georgetown Review
“While students have certainly objected to events and speakers at Georgetown, no situation has arisen in which objection to an event has been marred by physical disruption or violence. This stands in contrast to other colleges across the U.S., which are continuing to grapple with free speech issues and questions over what makes a protest antisemitic.
[link removed]
”
Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Campus Life at UT Austin in Growing National Trend
[link removed]
via The Texas Horn
“Finals week at the University of Texas at Austin is usually filled with concerns about grades, graduation, and plans for internships and vacations. But a new occupation has gripped the campus: pro-Palestine protests that have brought in law enforcement and disrupted university and student life. UT Austin, unlike some other universities across the country, has not canceled finals, classes, or graduation ceremonies. But students are living in a volatile atmosphere as the academic year concludes. Students have conflicting views regarding the proper response to the demonstrations on campus and wonder whether the university can provide a safe environment for learning.“
CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY (7 MIN)
Perfection’s pull
[link removed]
In the biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel, the people of the earth gathered together to create a tower to make a name for themselves and allow for a perpetual society. Since these ancient times, the goal of utopia—a perfect world—has led to massive ramifications. Much like the philosophical concepts discussed earlier, utopianism can lead to destruction if carried to an extreme.
In this vein, author John Gray wrote his 2023 book The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism. For this week’s article from the Modern Age website, David Gordon reviews Gray’s work and discusses the idea of utopia and its connection to liberalism. Gordon notes that Gray bases much of his work on Thomas Hobbes; his title refers to Hobbes’s classic Leviathan.
Gordon criticizes Gray’s arguments against free market thinkers, saying that the future extinction of the human race is no reason to discount finding the best economic system now. He generally faults Gray for his excessively “bleak” outlook on the future of humanity. But Gordon also credits Gray for his willingness to dive into otherwise unheralded aspects of history.
“Gray has an affinity for those with unusual outlooks on the world, whose startling though often irrational insights make us see the world in new ways, even if we reject these visions as false,” Gordon writes.
Read Gordon’s entire review on the Modern Age website right here.
Read Now
[link removed]
Thought of the Day:
“The ultimate meaning of the active life is to make possible the happiness of contemplation.”
- Josef Pieper
Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club
It’s never been easier for you to support our mission—and stay part of our community—with ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club!
For just $19.53 a month, you can join the fight and “pay it forward” by educating the next generation for ordered liberty.
Join the Club
[link removed]
Follow on Twitter Friend on Facebook Forward to Friend
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
3901 Centerville Road
Wilmington, DE 19807
unsubscribe from all emails
[link removed]
update subscription preferences
[link removed]
Email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser
[link removed]
.
[link removed]
CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY (34 MIN)
A traditional thesis
[link removed]
Many concepts in political theory and philosophy exist not as positive goods on their own but rather as tools which can serve good or ill depending on the user. Healthy criticism can become radical skepticism, moderate willingness to change can become excessive revolution, and love for one’s country can become blindness to its faults. Think of Aristotle’s golden mean.
Could the same be true of something which conservatives value above most else: tradition?
In a 1994 Modern Age article, reprinted in The Imaginative Conservative, the late German Catholic thinker Josef Pieper discussed the definition of tradition itself and its impact on our lives. Pieper’s in-depth and wide-ranging article interacts with philosophers from across the span of history, including ancient Greeks like Plato and Aristotle and more modern thinkers like Karl Marx and Hans Georg Gadamer.
Pieper did point to benefits from tradition itself. He argued that the instinct to preserve tradition does allow cultures to better deal with “changes in externals”—outside influences which otherwise could shake moral foundations. But Pieper also specified that we ought to preserve “what is finally worth preserving . . . and must be preserved.”
This spiritual “holy tradition,” Pieper believed, could lead to true unity among those who protect and defend it. To discover Pieper’s full articulation of the right tradition, read his comprehensive article right here.
Read Now
[link removed]
Weekly Poll
Should IVF be banned??
[A] Yes
[link removed]
[B] No
[C] Unsure
[link removed]
RESULTS: 5/2/24
Is DEI hurting America?
[A] Yes - 97.2%
[B] No - 1.9%
[C] Unsure - 0.9%
[link removed]
CATEGORY: CULTURE (11 MIN)
Personhood or property
[link removed]
The Alabama Supreme Court’s February ruling in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, which opened the door for parents to sue for the loss of embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF), faced huge backlash from groups who found it absurd that someone could consider such embryos children. Such one-sided vitriol ignores the difficult moral quandaries created by new fertility technology—quandaries which force Americans to grapple with what they really think about life.
For The New Atlantis, Leah Libresco Sargeant argues that LePage revealed the paradoxical treatment of IVF embryos by the fertility community. Sargeant calls the embryos “Schrödinger’s persons,” after the famous example of Schrödinger’s simultaneously dead-and-alive cat. She says IVF relies on refraining from saying whether the embryos are people “until we know whether they’re intended for life or death.”
Sargeant points to another legal battle—a 2023 Virginia divorce case—which forced a judge to decide whether frozen IVF embryos were mere property. The judge ended up relying in part on old laws about slavery, resulting in substantial criticism. But Sargeant simply uses this example to highlight the extremely awkward questions IVF poses to the legal world and to ordinary Americans.
What do you think? Discover Sargeant’s perspective to learn more about the IVF debate.
Read Now
[link removed]
[link removed]
CATEGORY: VIDEO
IS Assisted Dying Moral? | Ross Douthat vs. Kimberly Callinan
[link removed]
Ross Douthat debates Kimberly Callinan. Moderated by Leah Libreso Sargeant.
As Western nations have become increasingly comfortable with assisting citizens in death, questions not merely on its legality, but its very ethics, are being raised across the globe. The act is not only allowed by countries like Spain and Belgium, but is actively celebrated in some places, like Canada, where it is hailed as an achievement in human dignity. But what are the obligations and rights that we have when it comes to the end of our lives? What goods ought a society protect?
Can a period replace the question mark looming over assisted dying?
Watch Now
[link removed]
ISI's Annual
Homecoming Weekend
Join ISI on September 20-21, 2024, for a garden party that’ll welcome students, professors, alumni, and friends of ISI from across the country.
Every year, we host ISI’s annual Homecoming festivities right on our 20-acre campus tucked away into a bucolic pocket of Wilmington, DE. Our Homecoming sets the tone for the new school year and is an opportunity to celebrate and network with our impressive community of students, teachers, alumni, and professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
Reserve your ticket>>>
[link removed]
Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.
Thinker’s Arthur Long Leads Counter-Protests at UChicago
[link removed]
via The Chicago Thinker
“On Friday, the Chicago Thinker’s Arthur Long led a pro-America counter-protest in response to the pro-Palestine encampment installed on the University of Chicago’s Main Quad.
A flag-waving Long led around 200 students to the front of the encampment. The original intent of the group was to re-hoist
[link removed]
the American flag on the Quad’s flagpole after the University took down a Palestinian flag mounted by those participating in the encampment. Upon realizing that the University had cut the halyard, the counter-protestors proceeded to hang “Old Glory” on light posts across the Quad.“
UVA’s Class of 2024 Reflects on Their First Graduation Post-Pandemic
[link removed]
via The Jefferson Independent
“With his first real graduation at the University of Virginia around the corner, Jered Cooper is excited to finally have a gown that fits him right. Four years ago, instead of walking across the stage to celebrate the end of high school, 6’3” Cooper put on the small-sized gown that was sent to him and huddled with his family around their kitchen island to watch a video slideshow of his graduating class. Cooper is just one of more than 3,500
[link removed]
UVA fourth-years who will celebrate their first proper graduation on the weekend of May 17-19, 2024. With Final Exercises approaching, many students are reflecting on where they were four years ago and are looking forward to what a “normal” celebration will bring.“
Announcing “Stanford’s Censorship”
[link removed]
via The Stanford Review
“For thirty-eight years, the Review has stood as the bastion of contrarianism on campus. The forthcoming “Stanford’s Censorship” series of articles will continue our mission by documenting just some of the censorship that has occurred on our campus. We will tell the stories of Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Scott Atlas, document the Stanford Internet Observatory’s collaboration with the government to suppress speech, and report on the self-censorship and lack of free speech on campus after administrators fail to uphold
[link removed]
free speech. Our series will serve as an archive of Stanford’s assault against free speech and academic liberty.“
Georgetown Grapples with Gaza: Free Speech and Israel-Palestine at Georgetown University
[link removed]
via The Georgetown Review
“While students have certainly objected to events and speakers at Georgetown, no situation has arisen in which objection to an event has been marred by physical disruption or violence. This stands in contrast to other colleges across the U.S., which are continuing to grapple with free speech issues and questions over what makes a protest antisemitic.
[link removed]
”
Pro-Palestine Protests Disrupt Campus Life at UT Austin in Growing National Trend
[link removed]
via The Texas Horn
“Finals week at the University of Texas at Austin is usually filled with concerns about grades, graduation, and plans for internships and vacations. But a new occupation has gripped the campus: pro-Palestine protests that have brought in law enforcement and disrupted university and student life. UT Austin, unlike some other universities across the country, has not canceled finals, classes, or graduation ceremonies. But students are living in a volatile atmosphere as the academic year concludes. Students have conflicting views regarding the proper response to the demonstrations on campus and wonder whether the university can provide a safe environment for learning.“
CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY (7 MIN)
Perfection’s pull
[link removed]
In the biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel, the people of the earth gathered together to create a tower to make a name for themselves and allow for a perpetual society. Since these ancient times, the goal of utopia—a perfect world—has led to massive ramifications. Much like the philosophical concepts discussed earlier, utopianism can lead to destruction if carried to an extreme.
In this vein, author John Gray wrote his 2023 book The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism. For this week’s article from the Modern Age website, David Gordon reviews Gray’s work and discusses the idea of utopia and its connection to liberalism. Gordon notes that Gray bases much of his work on Thomas Hobbes; his title refers to Hobbes’s classic Leviathan.
Gordon criticizes Gray’s arguments against free market thinkers, saying that the future extinction of the human race is no reason to discount finding the best economic system now. He generally faults Gray for his excessively “bleak” outlook on the future of humanity. But Gordon also credits Gray for his willingness to dive into otherwise unheralded aspects of history.
“Gray has an affinity for those with unusual outlooks on the world, whose startling though often irrational insights make us see the world in new ways, even if we reject these visions as false,” Gordon writes.
Read Gordon’s entire review on the Modern Age website right here.
Read Now
[link removed]
Thought of the Day:
“The ultimate meaning of the active life is to make possible the happiness of contemplation.”
- Josef Pieper
Join ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club
It’s never been easier for you to support our mission—and stay part of our community—with ISI’s new Alumni Giving Club!
For just $19.53 a month, you can join the fight and “pay it forward” by educating the next generation for ordered liberty.
Join the Club
[link removed]
Follow on Twitter Friend on Facebook Forward to Friend
Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
3901 Centerville Road
Wilmington, DE 19807
unsubscribe from all emails
[link removed]
update subscription preferences
[link removed]
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