There is a myth, to be dispelled, that the Romans were always cruel conquerors. In truth, those who lived under the rule of the Caesars had plenty autonomy, be it in the public or private sector of society. It was that rationality and pragmatism of Roman law, which regulated regulated the lives of the conquered peoples, that structured Western culture as is evident from a host of historical, cultural, political, and societal elements.
Innovation is both a fundamental human activity, and a fundamentally human activity. It is fundamental, insofar as we are compelled by the need to innovate—a need that expresses itself in various ways.
The more cognition advances, the more challenging it is to create a unified approach to our knowledge. This is the trap of transparency, our crystal palace is therefore a dangerous structure. Information society and the endlessly expanding scientific discourse tendentially become a barrier to knowledge—just as the traffic itself in our cities obstructs the traffic.
A new populism is appearing, based on real participatory federalism oriented towards tradition and community, with the Nomos being grounded in the ethnic divisions of states and regions.
Hungarian policymakers not only consciously reject the idea that history did and can end, but also do not pretend that the final chapter of Ukraine’s or Europe’s war-torn history can be ‘closed’ once and for all.
This article will present the reader with a basic understanding of the tragic but triumphant life of Whittaker Chambers, the man whose dramatic, twelve-word encounter with God and subsequent heroic exploits became the inspiration for a new generation of conservatives, like Ronald Reagan.
As long as people are conditioned to become consumers by advertising applied on an industrial scale, and as long as material comfort and interest are above all else, the environmental crisis will not be solved satisfactorily and especially not with more technology.
‘Bangha considered “social redistribution and governmental intervention to be appropriate tools”. These tools, according to Bangha, create the possibility to eliminate the imbalances that—as he puts it—are caused by mega-wealth concentrated in a few hands. In turn, these measures are embedded in a larger social reform, meaning the reformation of public life based on the Christian spirit and the re-elevation of Christianity to the status of the state’s main principle.’
As philosophical materialism and the resulting transhumanism are atheistic systems of thought, it is extremely important for Harari—as it is for Dawkins—to deny the idea of God. Just as Richard Dawkins replaces a transcendent creator with the theory of evolution, so does Harari use evolution as a justification for the theory of transhumanism.
The seeds of Hungarian humanism were sown by Matthias Corvinus, which helped the Jagiellonian kings pave the way to embedding humanism into Hungarian culture.
The distinguished speakers all stressed how important they believe it is to have the global centre of political philosophy moved from the US to Europe, where it originates from.
Physiocracy played only an episodic role in modern economic political thinking and, therefore, so did the perspective that linked the economy’s performance and ability to produce value to nature.
Today, law has taken on a legalistic attribute, consequently shunning the spirit of the law, or rather, Roman jurisprudence.
Europe’s contemporary society, the current system and operation of the European Union, its political, social and more deeper tensions—affecting the whole of human existence—all prove that the still popular phrase ‘progress’ is losing its catchword character just as more and more people become disillusioned with the ‘big projects of globalism.’
Conservatives are those who uphold tradition, the nation, and the values of the Bible. If we take care to uphold those principles consistently, it will become increasingly difficult, and eventually impossible, for those who advocate other principles, to present themselves as conservatives.
Today our society, the Roman Church, and other ecclesiastical communities are experiencing an epidemic of confusion and moral and doctrinal disorientation, which is threatening the common good.
This paper should suffice to invite the reader on a theoretical pathfinding journey, throwing light on why some forms of criticism of modernity have faced difficulties.
Hobbes refuted traditional higher law tenets and motivated people to accept the established laws and customs of their nations, even if they appear oppressive, for it is the only way peace and security can be obtained in society. The state thus becomes successful at the expense of justice, as it is today in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation where power divorced from justice maintains order through oppression.
Some 30 years ago, István Bibó was looked upon as one of the most influential Hungarian political scientists. Unfortunately, he has been largely forgotten since—so perhaps it is time to rediscover him.
Maistre associated the Protestant cult of books and philosophers with individualism, which he saw as the root cause of all the problems of his age.
Creativity continues to be a central component of politics, but it is less frequently manifested in the novel application of experience than in the methodical implementation of a procedural rule in practice.
There is growing concern that the overuse of the term ‘genocide’ may devalue it. Clearly defining what genocide means is crucial to prevent it from being used as a validation of every kind of victimhood.
One should shed tears when the true essence of humanism, which parallels our Christian faith, is not only misplaced, but altogether exploited for non-humanist purposes.
The recent assassination of Alexander Dugin’s daughter has seen a consistent mantra from the Western media; Dugin described as an ‘ideologue’. It is one of those phrases which epitomize the “corruption” of language, for—as language develops—certain terms become sacrosanct, unexamined, plagiarized.
A recent panel of remarkable political thinkers from across the West attempted to define the essence of conservatism, along with its current direction and its possible future pathways. A report from Tusványos 2022.
Salutati’s humanism, focused on the continuity or discontinuity between ethics and politics became the civic turning point of the humanistic spiritual and philosophical reinterpretation of Cicero’s political tenets that would later culminate with the notable Niccolò Machiavelli.
What classifies Petrarch as a humanist was his belief that secular literature and philosophy could enlighten all men and bring about an end to, what Flavio Biondi called, the darker ages of distrusting the critical thinking and non-religious wisdom of the ancients.
In the wake of a global pandemic, Western democracies have become hugely indebted, weak, self-loathing riven by incessant migration and beset by an identity crisis. What went wrong?
The rise of political and spiritual disunity in early modern Europe coincides with what Patočka calls
the desire to “project […] the division of Europe upon a division of the world” — in a word, colonialism.
In the twelfth and final part of the Theologians on Modern Politics series, we would like to highlight the details of Pope Pius XII’s political thinking.