The Knowlership Blog

We Americans tend to measure our material success relatively, not absolutely.  In other words, we judge our personal success not just on  how much  influence, money, etc. we have, but how much we have compared to those around us,  ceteris paribus . There is a growing sense, particularly in the millennial generation, that it is simply unfair for so few people to own so much of the capital circulating the country.  Some are even calling for a total reformation of the market-based economy the United States is so well-known for because they feel it has failed all but a fortunate few (note the success of the Bernie Sanders campaign). Despite these sentiments, the current generation of Americans possesses far more than any generation previous.  More desirable  things  are more commonly available.  Consider spending patterns over the last hundred or so years.   First, food expenditures as a percentage of income have plummeted during the la...

Below is an essay responding to Clark Nardinelli's research on child labor during the Industrial Revolution. Although our impulsive response to such a system is one of disgust, such sentiments lack sympathy for nineteenth-century families and the choices they faced. Indeed, families viewed child labor with such favor that child labor laws could not be passed until 1) a regional economy no longer utilized child labor and 2) special interest groups such as unions joined forces with the relatively small romantic movement against child labor. Nardinelli's work reminds us to remember the importance of choices and how premature restriction of choice can harm families over the long-run. ______ Nearly eight decades after the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act, public opinion sees child labor as a relic of an ignorant and archaic past. The prohibition of employing children under fourteen has been seen as a moral victory over abusive business practices proliferated in the late nine...

As someone who favors minimal restriction of the freedom of movement, I am greatly concerned about the President's recent executive order.  But the most problematic part of the order, and the part to which I wish to react, is found in Section 5c, which prohibits entry to Syrian refugees “until such time as I have determined that sufficient changes have been made to the [United States Refugee Assistance Program] to ensure that admission of Syrian refugees is consistent with the national interest.”  Although apologists may assert this rhetoric demonstrates reasonable caution, the wording really carries the same permanence as a normal piece of legislation.  In other words, this section contains the one permanent policy in the executive order, and it is directed against the people group most desperate for a land to receive them. Though the United States has long been “a proud nation of immigrants,” as the President himself has said, we have long been suspicious of “the oth...

I recently wrote an article on prayer and the public square for the Illinois Family Institute's prayer team.  Check it out  here . ________________________________________________________________ Our country has never been so parched for prayer, yet we never have found praying harder . Prayer is too hard for us , so our country withers. Our culture’s health intertwines with our prayers, and both contribute to the other’s success. We conservative Christians are quick to point our fingers at our public school system for discouraging prayer, but how many of us pray for our schools? We complain about the decline of church leadership in the public square, but who is praying for their leaders’ humility and wisdom? For the sake of clarity, I do not wish to suggest prayers—or the lack thereof—causes whatever happens in the public square. God rules the nations (Psalm 22:28, 47:8, Job 12:23), which includes the United States. No decisions made by voters, church leaders, or elected off...

Black lives matter vs. All lives matter. Gay pride vs. Straight pride. These are a couple battles we've seen crop up on social media within the last few years.  This is assuming you can call them battles, of course; they're really a one-two punch of reactionary movements.  Black Lives Matter is a reaction to the resurgence in notorious cases of police brutality against blacks.  To proclaim the oppression of one race, though, attention must be called to the race of the oppressor, and here, it's not just whites. Last year, for example, saw a Latino police officer shoot a black man several times despite the fact he was already neutralized.  So the Black Lives Matter movement rose to put the spotlight on the challenges blacks have with our criminal justice procedures.  The conflict arose when attention was called to the oppressors' races.  People have a psychological tendency to be defensive about groups they are part of, including race, because an attack...

Here's a somewhat hastily made documentary my friends and I made for a research class last semester. We chose to dive deeper into the story of the Gospel of Judas, a (relatively) recently published Gnostic text with a backstory worthy of a soap opera. Each of us dove into one or more influences of Gnosticism to better understand the text.   We cover the backstory to its discovery and publication, summarize the text, and analyze it according to early Christian thought, Platonist philosophy, and Gnostic cosmology. Wish we could have more time to make it a polished production, but our content beats the heck out of National Geographic's documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ssxBO1PBg&feature=youtu.be  If you're interested, the Gospel of Judas is a rather short read, and you can read it here: http://www.brianauten.com/Apologetics/GospelofJudas.pdf 

When an infatuated young man gazes at a young lady, what is he admiring? What should he admire? How does sexual consummation relate to one’s desire for another? Such questions demand answers, for while it is human nature to experience desire for another person, misconceptions about the nature of desire may lead some to experience or express desire in ways unconstructive or destructive to their actualization as a human. A misconception cannot be corrected until it is recognized; thus, this essay examines some of the philosophical issues that arise from interpersonal desire. What is the nature of desire? Roger Scruton, a philosopher who has written extensively about aesthetics, considers desire to be a manifestation of humanity’s attraction to Beauty. Along with many other philosophers, Scruton considers Beauty a transcendental, like Truth and Goodness (p. 2), and is thus considered intrinsically desirable. In resonance with Plato and Kant, Scruton states a rational person is one w...