We hear all the time that privilege is bad. It is not. For why, see V&R Chapter 7 on Kolnai. Establishment is alive and well in fashion and if you like your Gucci and YSL, or if your tastes run to vintage Levis or second hand Savile Row, you do not want it otherwise. …
Prince Charles is, in effect, an advocate of Max Scheler’s estate (V&R Chapter 4). A well-known defender of the countryside and farming, he is also an architecture critic and over the last few decades has been responsible for the development of a model village, Poundbury. The cognoscenti were, of course, snide about his effort…
Another lovely video from Petrolicious.com (https://petrolicious.com/films/1975-jaguar-xj6c-pillar-less-perfection). I drive a 1970 saloon version of this car. The 1975 version is what they call a Series II. Mine is a Series I. However, this hyper cool coupe version was only designed for the Series II. It is a beautiful design.
Przywara argues that a basic quality of beauty is vulnerability (see his magnum opus, Analogia Entis, Essay 10). Yiqing Yin, the Franco-Chinese head designer at couture house Poiret, plays with this idea in clothing she casts as “supple armour” (https://couturenotebook.com/couture-news/2012/07/20/yiqing-yin-the-interview). Yin is the young but highly esteemed couturier tasked with bringing back House Poiret. …
What are the conditions of wealth creation? Smith and Hume argue that vanity is axiomatic. Turgot thinks it is the amount of money put out for loan at interest. Both claims consciously touch upon moral prohibitions. The Catholic Church sponsored sumptuary laws (against vanity) and usury laws (against money loaned at interest). These…
As mentioned previously, reaction to Andrew Bolton’s “Heavenly Bodies” at the Met has ranged from annoyed Catholics and secularists to others, like V&R, who are thrilled. Some who have posed a stark contrast between fashion and the Church — and this can include both Catholics and secularists — oftentimes simply misunderstand the nature of…
Brutalist soap imitates concrete coastal barriers so it won’t slip out of your hands
I haven’t followed closely all the Catholic reaction to the Met Gala but I understand from conversations with others there is a lot out there and it is principally negative. I hope within a week or so to have good news about my new book on natural law and its publisher. A theme of…
V&R emerged from my teaching at Loyola’s business school. This good article accurately describes much that passes for ethical reflection in US business schools (https://newrepublic.com/article/148368/ideology-business-school). Jesuit business schools are different, however, and serious reflection on the role of business in hampering or fostering the common good is on-going. I have proposed Scheler’s estate…
Amidst the controversy over the Met Gala the main moral question may have been missed. According to a news report, Anna Wintour, the famed head of Vogue, is seeking to rehabilitate Marchesa. The brand’s designer is Georgina Chapman, who is separated from her brutish husband, serial abuser and rapist, Harvey Weinstein. A Marchesa dress figured…