Aquinas holds that lying is wrong primarily because it violates the nature/purpose of enunciative speech. This paper raises the possibility that 1) enunciative speech has more purposes than that identified by Aquinas and 2) that some kinds of falsehoods build up rather than destroy society. I am going to identify some principles in Aquinas' own thought that I believe lend support to the claims I am making.
For C.S. Lewis, the invention of romantic love in the age of the troubadours was far more momentous for the development of the West, and far more broadly influential than, say, the Protestant Reformation. Lewis compares the Reformation to a ripple on the vast ocean of romantic love.
If ignorance really is bliss, then no one should read The Closing of the Muslim Mind.
We often do not realize the power of our words. Our words can be used to buildup or to tear down.
The fallacy of reductionism is simply a habit of mind that involves transferring the way we know a mechanical artifact to the realm of nature, as if knowing a substance is like knowing a machine.
Many people in the world of science will often employ terms like 'indeterminacy', 'chance', 'probability', etc., and using knowledge from the world of science they will often attempt to draw philosophical conclusions about the nature of reality as a whole.
Many young people who have good minds for science and math tend to think with a reductionist habit of mind.
Self-discipline is crucial for both the athlete and the Christian, especially when it comes to food.
St. Thomas Aquinas calls intemperance the most disgraceful of the vices.
