This paper was written for a Festschrift in honor of Dr. Robert Hickson. It was intended to be a loving tribute to my superior, teacher, mentor, and friend, Brother Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M. Savoring Reality: An Introduction to the Childlike Catholic Mind … Continue reading
Category: Philosophy
Mandeville, the Frankfurt School, and Yves Simon on Authority and Liberty
A Counterpoint to Bernard Mandeville’s Deceitful Doctrine of Man and to the Frankfurt School’s Irrational Dialectical Anthropology: The Frigid Equivocations, Psycho-Cultural Subversion, Seductive Despair. A Commentary on Two Revolutionary and Neo-Sophist Texts of the Frankfurt School and the British Tavistock … Continue reading
The Dangers of Scientism (December, 1946)
If a man were to say to me, “I refuse to use my eyesight except through a microscope,” I might think that the man is queer or crazy, and I would certainly try to avoid his company. Imagine taking a … Continue reading
Reflections on Knowledge, Beauty, and Wisdom
[Taken randomly from Brother Francis’ lectures, with a minor amount of editing.] Some things have to become part of our knowledge through acquaintance, so to speak. Knowledge becomes impossible if everything needs a definition. If someone were to ask you … Continue reading
Natural Law and the Church’s Necessity
When you see an article with a title like, Do You Renounce Kennedy and All His Works?, you can have a moral certitude that it was written by John Zmirak, the eccentric, Croatian-Irish, working-class Yalie turned standup apologist. (I was … Continue reading
Immortality of Soul, Creation Ex Nihilo: Qs and As on the Power of Reason Alone
Q: Is it really possible to explain, using reason alone, the immortal nature of the human soul, versus the animal soul? I understand that the ability to reason is particular to humans, but I don’t see how this proves our … Continue reading
The Church vs. Economic Liberalism: Ferrara Nails It!
[Christopher A. Ferrara, The Church and the Libertarian (Minnesota: The Remnant Press, 2010), $25, 383 pp., soft cover.] Since hearing, a few years ago that Chris Ferrara was preparing this book, I have eagerly looked forward to reading it. I … Continue reading
Liberalism: An Evil Defined
The following excellent explanation of liberalism is taken from: Parente, Pietro; Piolanti, Antonio; and Garofalo, Salvatore, Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, translated by Emmanuel Doronzo, O.M.I., S.T.D., Ph.D. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1951) p. 163 and 164. I have provided … Continue reading
No Escaping the Threes
Reminiscing over the days when I would spend hours at a time leisurely listening to Brother Francis teach and asking him questions, I thought of the countless times we played the numbers game. Brother loved to make all studies as … Continue reading
Contribution Of Catholic Letters
(This is the paper written in preparation for a talk given at the 2005 St. Benedict Center Conference.) (Saint Anthony Mary Zaccharia, July 5, 2005) The Contribution Of Catholic Letters To The Conversion Of Our Country A deepening, savored knowledge … Continue reading
Evelyn Waugh’s Edmund Campion
(28 January 2006, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Peter Nolasco) Forming a Catholic Resistance and Deeper Culture of the Faith in Times of Permeating Disorder: Evelyn Waugh’s Edmund Campion (1935) and Some Combatant Lessons from the Sixteenth Century The scope and … Continue reading
A Brief Metaphysical Excursus on the Words “First” and “Second”
If you have survived the magniloquent name of this little piece, you should easily get though the rest, for the grandiose title heads a subject matter well within reach. It occurred to me while I was deep in thought — … Continue reading
It’s All or Nothing
(Dealing with two common objections against the Faith.) A Note of Introduction: In its first part, this article employs the use of some fundamental concepts of logic, the art and science of correct reasoning. As an aid to the reader, … Continue reading
Sentimentality and the Pursuit of Happiness
All Americans know that the pursuit of happiness, like life and liberty, is an “unalienable right”. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, edited by Benjamin Franklin and famously approved by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, … Continue reading