I am happy to announce the launching of the Academic Freedom Alliance, a new group of professors dedicated to the cultivation, protection, and defense of academic freedom. According to its website, The Academic Freedom Alliance is an alliance of college and university faculty members who are dedicated to upholding the principle of academic freedom. This principle is central to the mission of our institutions for the pursuit of truth and knowledge. Our members from across the political spectrum recognize that… Read more
March 23, 2021
The censorship of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the unbooking of Ryan T. Anderson
March 23, 2021 By Francis J. Beckwith
That’s the title of an essay I published last Thursday over at Public Discourse. Here’s how it begins: It seems somehow fitting that the great beat poet and artist Lawrence Ferlinghetti, departed this mortal realm (at the age of 101) on February 22, 2021, the day after Amazon.com digitally unbooked When Harry Became Sally. You can read the whole thing here. Read more
March 13, 2021
My Latest on the Same God Question in Book Honoring the Jewish Philosopher David Novak
March 13, 2021 By Francis J. Beckwith
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I am grateful to be a contributor to a festschrift honoring the Jewish philosopher David Novak: The Achievement of David Novak: A Catholic-Jewish Dialogue. Just published by Pickwick Publications (an imprint of Wipf and Stock), the book is edited by Matthew Levering and Tom Angier. My chapter–entitled “A Christian Account of Why David Novak Is Right about the Same-God Question”–deals with the question of whether Christians, Muslims, and Jews worship the same God. It’s a topic I’ve addressed in several places over the past… Read more
March 5, 2021
Thomas S. Hibbs named new J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University
March 5, 2021 By Francis J. Beckwith
I am happy to report that Thomas S. Hibbs has been named the holder of the J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Chair in Philosophy at Baylor University. The previous holder of the Rayzor Chair was John J. Haldane, who held it from 2015 until 2020. Currently president of the University of Dallas (UD), Tom will begin his appointment at Baylor on July 1. His last day as UD president will be March 7, the original feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas. For the… Read more
February 6, 2021
Special Super Bowl LV Post: Should I Like Football?
February 6, 2021 By Francis J. Beckwith
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Tomorrow I will be watching Super Bowl LV. Although I love watching football, I sometimes wonder if I should. I address this question in an essay entitled I published over six years ago soon after Baylor University opened up its new football stadium. Originally published on September 12, 2014 over at The Catholic Thing I republish it here in its entirety: Ever since my wife and I bought a giant flat-screen television set for our living room, I cannot get… Read more
January 29, 2021
Baylor Provost Defends Free Speech Against Cancel Culture
January 29, 2021 By Francis J. Beckwith
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We recently had an unfortunate incident at Baylor in which a small group of students on campus, with the assistance of the student newspaper (The Lariat), called for the dismissal of a lecturer in the English department. Her crime? She had made comments on twitter with which these students did not agree. The comments concerned the uncontroversial public policy question of whether biological males who claim to identify as girls or women should be allowed in semi-private spaces (such as… Read more
December 31, 2020
Petition Against Liberty University’s Falkirk Center: Some Observations
December 31, 2020 By Francis J. Beckwith
It is not unusual for universities to house a think-tank or two. A think-tank is an academic unit committed to research and the proliferation of that research. Some of the most well-known think-tanks include Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. They often host lectures, symposia, discussions, debates, etc. in which resident scholars and/visiting researchers participate. Unlike other academic units of the university, think-tanks do not offer degrees or even classes, though most if not… Read more
December 14, 2020
2019 and 2020: My most productive two year period of publishing, and a little advice to my younger self
December 14, 2020 By Francis J. Beckwith
The last two years have been my most productive in terms of publishing. I really don’t understand why. My guess is that I have become far more disciplined in reading and writing while at the same time realizing how little I actually know. Looking back at some of my early publications in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, I am actually surprised that they were published at all. What I see in my younger self is a way too… Read more
December 13, 2020
Reading the Summa Theologiae Cover to Cover: Mission Accomplished
December 13, 2020 By Francis J. Beckwith
Beginning on January 1, 2019 I embarked on a journey through St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae. Nearly two years later, I am finally finished. I read the last page today, December 13, 2020, on the Feast of St. Lucy. Although I had read a lot of the Summa over the past 40 years or so (not to mention numerous other works by Aquinas including the Summa Contra Gentiles), I had never read the whole thing cover to cover in such a… Read more
December 13, 2020
Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929-2020)
December 13, 2020 By Francis J. Beckwith
MIT philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson died on November 20, 2020 at the age of 91. She was, by all accounts, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, having penned some of the most penetrating essays in the history of the discipline. But, as her New York Times obituary notes, she is best known for an article she published in 1971 in the journal Philosophy and Public Affairs, “A Defense of Abortion.” The Times writes: [Thomson’s article] began… Read more
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