Jul 25, 2023
Some ideas are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them. But some wisdom is so profound only an old man can pass it on. In this new installment of his series on the virtues, Spencer introduces a form of moral excellence that is sorely lacking in the world: not intelligence or intellectual horsepower,...
Jul 18, 2023
This one's for the girls. The ancient Greek word for courage is andreia--manliness. But whereas physical courage on the battlefield is a picture of something essential to manhood, there is also a womanly moral courage that no civilization can do without. In times of crisis and in the daily work of raising a family,...
Jul 11, 2023
It's the age of the anti-hero, and Machiavelli can help explain why. Talking through the life of Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, and discussing the portrayal of him in The Prince, Spencer probes deeper into the uneasy line between recklessness and courage, shamelessness and virtue. Can we find our way out of the war...
Jul 4, 2023
This 4th of July, it's hard to feel confident that everything is gonna be just fine. But that's the point: nobody said it was easy, and it may be you were born for such a day as this. Continuing a series on the cardinal virtues, Spencer pauses to consider the nature of courage in America now and at its founding. Plus:...