Man is but a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage the universe has over him; the universe knows nothing of this.
A thinking reed – it is not from space that I must seek my dignity, but from the government of my thought. I shall have no more if I possess worlds. By space the universe encompasses me and swallows me up like an atom; by thought I comprehend the world.
Pascal, Pensées.
Inside “Headroom” with Jim Owens
Recently, my friend Jim Owens invited me on his mental health podcast, “Headroom.” We talked for about an hour about the intersection of philosophy and mental health, specifically in light of the moral thought of Aristotle. I hope you give the two episodes, embedded below, a listen. In this episode, Dr. Michael Giles, a political science professor at LCC, delves into the intersection of philosophy and political science, with a focus on political…
Hitler’s Reading of Machiavelli
In his excellent book on Maritain, The Philosopher In Society, James V. Schall comments on Maritain’s theoretical critique of Niccolo Machiavelli. The Florentine master of immorality, Maritain observed, charms and seduces us. Why, or with what teaching, does Machiavelli seduce us? It is not so much when men ought to do, but what they do “do,” that should be the concern of the statesman, Machiavelli says. And what rulers do “do” is stay…
What I’m Reading Now
Up From Slavery, by Booker T Washington. We probably underestimate the enormity of the task that Washington set for himself: He dedicated his life to the “uplift of our race” from the cruel depredations of slavery. Washington says that what took the white man hundreds of years to learn – the habits and conditions of political liberty – the former slave would have to learn all at once. But Booker was an optimist.…
My Purpose
In this blog, I present short reflections, tidbits of scholarship and inquiry, and passing thoughts. I shall strive to be serious-minded, that is, meditating on enduring political and social questions. And yet, I shall strive for a light touch. Everyone hates a blog that takes itself too seriously. My goal is to give my readers a snapshot of the issues I’m considering and the problems I’m working on, in real time. This blog…
The Love of Glory
In my classes, we often discuss statesmanship, or leadership. When my students and I talk about leadership, we want to discover what a good leader is, so that we can become that kind of person. Now, one underrated but critically important key to transformational leadership is ambition. Ambition, or the love of glory, is like jet fuel for great leadership. All the great leaders have it – it is part of their “secret…
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Michael T Giles 