An Introduction to English War Poetry
When we think of English poetry, we are right to think of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Donne, Milton, and all of the other patron saints of English literature. Their…
Constancy and Coleridge
Although this essay will be about Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his poem “Constancy to an Ideal Object,” I want to open with Shakespeare’s “Sonnet XXV” to convey…
“Notes from Underground” in Lockdown and Isolation
The fictional story of a Russian recluse appears less fictional now. The Underground Man in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s famous novel tells us that he has willingly confined himself…
Foucault and “Las Meninas”: On Postmodernism and Painting
Not everyone might be familiar with the original Spanish title for Diego Velázquez’s famous painting, The Ladies-in-Waiting (1656). It is arguably the most famous painting by this…
T.S. Eliot and Reconversion on Ash Wednesday
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita . . . There is something telling about man’s tendency to view his life as a journey, for journeys convey…
The Hobbes-Bramhall Debate on Liberty and Necessity
An intriguing feature about Thomas Hobbes’ famous political treatise is how it is divided into two separate but connected sections. The first chapters of Leviathan discuss philosophy before…
Death at Yuletude: T.S. Eliot and “The Journey of the Magi”
There is an idea that the best artists who have converted to Christianity sacrifice their creativity for spiritual relief. Regarding T.S. Eliot’s baptism and confirmation in the…
Poems and a Poor Old Lady in December
A most welcome December, and a most welcome Advent season. We often joke on an annual basis around this time, saying “where has the year gone?” It…
John Courtney Murray and the American Civic Psyche
We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition. John Courtney Murray, S.J. London: Sheed & Ward, 2005. Reading John Courtney Murray’s famous work, We…
George Santayana and the Ironies of Liberalism
The question—is liberalism a self-defeating enterprise?—has gained traction over the last couple of years. Even as far back as 1921, the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana dedicated time…
Secular Iconoclasm and the Peasants’ Indignation
Those who defend revolutions cite speeches; those who accuse them cite facts. — Nicolás Gómez Dávila The moments of vandalism that we have been witnessing these…
Call for Papers: Cultural History and its (Political) Lessons for Cosmos + Taxis Journal
Cultural history serves many purposes, the ends of which we can hardly agree upon. The idea of this history as a form of cultural preservation—that is, the…
Thomas Kuhn and the Persistence of Myth, Magic, and Genealogies
In Dr. Gray’s words, “the 20th century’s greatest economist described the founder of modern science as a magician,” and Keynes was not mistaken to describe Newton in…
The Other Side of Bleakness: On Winter and the Nativity
Those of us who associate Christmas with cold weather, rain, snow, dark days with little sunlight, and windy chills, might sometimes forget to count our blessings. It…
Do We Learn From History?
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. This line will most likely sound familiar to every reader. It has been paraphrased countless times…