A Tribute to Carl Barney
I wrote a book about the nature of heroism. I know a hero when I see one. Carl Barney is a hero. Full disclosures: Carl has been a friend for thirty years; he funded the Ayn Rand Institute, which hired me to perform multiple intellectual tasks; he helps fund the...Effective Defense of Innocent Lives Requires Gun Ownership By Honest Persons
Introduction The atrocities in our schools must be ended. It is unconscionable that we do not take the actions necessary to save the innocent lives murdered by cold-blooded, gun-slinging psychopaths. There is a way to terminate these campus bloodbaths and to lower...
Great Islamic Thinkers vs. Islam
“During its Golden Age, the Muslim world, in the arts and sciences, conducted a love affair with the Greek method of observation-based rationality; but—because such method applied to life’s most fundamental questions threatened religious beliefs—could not, and,...
The Enduring Positive Legacy of Aristotle – Aristotle Versus Religion (7 of 7)
The Enduring Positive Legacy of Aristotle In one of history’s great and tragic ironies, in the late Middle Ages Aristotle became the patron Greek philosopher of the Catholic Church. Many of that era’s thinkers, the Scholastics, were Christian Aristotelians. But a... Muslims Embrace and Then Repudiate Aristotle – Aristotle Versus Religion (6 of 7)
In the 7th century, Islamic armies swept the world. In conquering parts of the Byzantine Empire, Arabs encountered Greek thought. To their everlasting credit, Muslim scholars studied and were fascinated by the writings of Aristotle and translated them into Arabic. In... Christianity’s War against the Mind – Aristotle Versus Religion (5 of 7)
Judaism exerted its influence not only by means of its own doctrines, but also by spawning Christianity, the worship of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was a Jew who, according to later Christian belief, was the Son of God come to earth to die for the sins of man, thereby... The Birth of Monotheistic Religion – Aristotle Versus Religion (4 of 7)
Alexander, writes historian Paul Johnson, “cracked the Persian Empire like a rotten egg.”20 Following Alexander’s conquest of Persia, explains Durant, “Still enterprising and alert, the Greeks moved by hundreds of thousands into Asia and Egypt. . . .”21 They... The Seminal Intellectual Achievements of Aristotle – Aristotle Versus Religion (3 of 7)
Whereas Socrates taught mankind the germ of a method for determining values, Aristotle broadened and deepened that method as a means to pursue knowledge in any field. Aristotle is the fountainhead of the field of logic. Among other things, he formulated the rules for... The Greeks Give Birth to Western Civilization – Aristotle Versus Religion (2 of 7)
What did the Greeks contribute to human life? As the eminent historian Will Durant wrote, “there is hardly anything secular in our culture that does not come from Greece. Schools, gymnasiums, arithmetic, geometry, history . . . physics, biology . . . poetry, music,...Support Andrew Bernstein on Patreon!
