Against Marriage by Clare Chambers

OUP

MoJ: "Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State" by Rick Garnett

Teaching the Nicomachean Ethics

The text is still used by some philosophy departments of the "new, small, Catholic liberal arts colleges" -- however the ethics course is usually co-ed. Is this use of the Nicomachean Ethics, or the teaching of ethics in general, in a "gender-neutral" way appropriate, if we admit the existence of sex differences? It should be clear from the text itself that it is addressed to young men (of a certain educational background), and not to young women. Is the text useful for women who have a similar background? Perhaps some parts, like the discussion of happiness and friendship. But the discussion of the virtues may not be, as those virtues would be different for men and women in so far as their general virtue is also different.

As the teaching of ethics is part of moral education, and not just a component of a "liberal education" (which in turn must be judged in accordance with moral standards and requirements), ethics above all should not be taught to a mixed-sex class. What would be required for a proper ethics course for women, besides acknowledging the existence of sex differences? More on that another time.

If Adam had not sinned, would there be any sex differences? Would men and women have had interchangeable minds/psyches? How can one claim that men would not have been the head of women if there had been no fall, except by inferring (erroneously) that this headship is a consequence of the Fall or that it is sinful domination?

Eastern Christian Books: Nicholas Denysenko on Liturgical Reform

Eastern Christian Books: Nicholas Denysenko on Liturgical Reform

Liturgical Reform after Vatican II: The Impact on Eastern Orthodoxy is another book from Fortress Press.

Related:
Fr. Lawrence Farley, Altar Girls

I now see one way in which Nicholas Denysenko is associated with Pray Tell....

"Post-Conciliar" Reformers

Attempting a human, top-down reform.

The Liturgical Reform and the ‘Political’ Message of Vatican II in the Age of a Privatized and Libertarian Culture by Massimo Faggioli

And then there's Anthony Ruff, OSB: Don’t Miss It: Faggioli on Liturgy Reform and the Rest of Vatican II

Perhaps this test case, which comes from me and not Faggioli, helps make the point: Should women be admitted into the sanctuary and be allowed to exercise liturgical ministry? There was a prohibition of this before Vatican II. But now women are acolytes, lectors, commentators, cantors, lay Eucharistic ministers, and so forth.

Let this change be emblematic of the many changed relationships brought about by the council. The move, broadly speaking, is from authoritarian subordination to (at least increased) collaboration and dialogue. The unreformed liturgical practice that overemphasizes clergy over laity, and lay men over lay women (only boys can be servers) made perfect sense in the larger context of authoritarian subordination in other aspects of the church’s life. The church then related to the modern world and secular states in a stance of privileged superiority (or sought to). Same with Catholic truth and other positions – error has no rights and religious liberty is rejected. Ecumenism? Heretics and schismatics are called back to the one true church, which already possesses within itself all the unity intended by the Lord Jesus. True equality between men and women, between husband and wife? No, not really.

So one version of liberalism over another... sounds familiar?

An "Interest" Choice of Academics

Classical Theism Workshop Call for Papers

Confirmed Participants in the 2015 Workshop Include:
Richard Cross (University of Notre Dame)
William Hasker (Huntington College)
Eleonore Stump (Saint Louis University)
Sandra Visser (Valparaiso University)
Thomas Joseph White, OP (Dominican House of Studies)
Linda Zagzebski (Oklahoma University)

The Ugly Reality of the Patriarchate of Rome

The spirit of egalitarianism has taken over, in the name of meritocracy. Sister Melone: “Equality between men and women is still a long way off”

Mark Brumley, "Should We Seek Economic Equality?" (via Insight Scoop)

Op-StJoseph: New website for Providence College. Here it is. At the website I see this: ​Collaborative Dorr Rebellion Documentary to Premiere. The filmmakers seem to be democrats: "But while Rhode Islanders may be among the only people to learn of this important incident in the history of voting rights, constitutional scholars and historians remember it as a milestone in the quest for the common man to control his own government." Not exactly something I'd expected to see in connection with Providence College.

A DPS project of the Phillips Memorial Library.

Is a [naive] commitment to democracy a feature of Americanism?

Wiki: Dorr Rebellion

Catholic Dualists

Original posted at The New Beginning. I'm reposting it here, with some small changes.

To deny that there are differences between men and women in how they think, materialists and feminsits must be "subtle" in attacking the data. (One strategem is to argue that since not all of one sex exhibit a trait to the nth degree that therefore this trait is not more exemplary of one sex than another. That is to say, a distribution curve is insufficient--one is needed is two distinct and sharp peaks.) In contrast, it is likely that Catholic egalitariansno matter how much they may criticize Descartes for being a father of modernity, must partially embrace a form of dualism that is similar to his if they are to dismiss the generalizations that have been made about the cognitive differences between men and women. They may claim to accept the hylomorphic account of the relation of soul to body, but on this point they become a dualists. They have to argue that because the soul is equal in all that all reason equally or in the same way.

They may acknowledge that there are differences in the exercise of the intellect or intellectual performance, as some are clearly more intelligent than others, but the power is the same in all. Now I think some distinctions need to be made. While the intellectual power may be the same in all, it is not exercised, in this life, by itself, but in conjunction with the sense powers. It is also influenced by other factors, such as one's emotions. The conjunction of body and soul is not something that is accidental to our way of reasoning in this life. That the body may have a regular (and not necessarily determintal) influence on how we reason may be part of God's design--sex differences in reasoning are "natural."

John Finnis is a Catholic egalitarian, and as far as I know, he has not written specifically about the soul or Descartes. But perhaps his egalitarianism is tied to his understanding of human dignity, and human dignity upon the spiritual nature of man.