Nathaniel Hawthorne — The House of the Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter (3rd reading) Plato — The Republic, Theaetetus, Timaeus, Sophist, Statesman John Steinbeck — Cannery Row Justin Martyr — First Apology L. M. Montgomery — The Blue Castle (2nd reading), The Story Girl (2nd reading), The Golden Road (2nd reading), Anne of the Island … More Books I Read or Listened to in 2022 📚

There is such a thing as ‘the good life.’ No living person has entirely lived it, some may be closer to it than others. The goal all seek is this good life. It is seen from afar and proves elusive to many. People fill their lives with chasing the wind in this cause; those who … More Essence and the Good Life

Rules: Find a book for each of your initials (Alexander C. Young): Anna Karenina — Leo Tolstoy City of God — St. Augustine The YOUNG Fur Traders — Ballantyne Count your age along your bookshelf: what book is it? The Major Works of Anselm of Canterbury Pick a book set in your city/country: Images of … More My Life in Books blog tag

On going to the grave of my great-grandparents one of the first things I did was to reach out and touch the cold granite headstone, bearing their names and dates. Thomas boastfully stated that he would not believe unless he touched the risen Christ, and John records of Jesus that, “(Him) we have looked upon, … More Communion and the Physical

   This book is about how, as a culture, saying, “I am a woman trapped inside a man’s body,” seems to make sense to many. What had to take place in a culture for that bit of nonsense, or at least that which would have seemed nonsense to most human beings across history, to be … More The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Book Review

  Aristotle was the most influential student of Plato. He was born in the half Greek kingdom of Macedon, and at a young age studied at Plato’s academy. He was a philosopher, scientist, and researcher who left his finger prints on most academic interests, from the digestion of animals, to theories of ethics and metaphysics; he … More Notes on Aristotle

  Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics can be outlined, as Aristotle himself states in the text, “the excellences, the forms of friendship, the varieties of pleasure… [and] the nature of happiness.” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, The Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume Two Princeton University Press, 1984. Page 1854.) This is a book not only on moral theory, but one … More Review of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Reading Jane Austen is basically like reading Aristotle in novel form. Maybe not quite, but almost. I have read all her works multiple times through and on reading Aristotle’s Ethics I was amazed at her almost Aristotelian views on virtue and ethics. It seems a debated point whether she would have read him directly or … More Austen the Aristotelian

The great difference between the heroic epics of the pre-Christian era and the literature of the Middle ages was the concept of chivalry. The history of both traditions are thick with warriors or knights of great courage and skillful prowess, so far St. George the dragon slayer and the terrific Achilles are the same. But … More A Literary Shift

Mankind needs ritual, communal worship, mystery, myth. We are lost without it. Paul speaks of the knowledge of the divine in the heart of everyone, and Moses warns against the inborn urge to worship the starry heavens. Every society is deeply religious. This is quite self-evident, any brief survey of history will bear this claim … More The Coming Rehumanization of Man