Patrick Keeney

3 weeks ago | newenglishreview.org | Patrick Keeney

By Patrick KeeneyDialogue is the lifeblood of friendship, which depends upon a certain moral courage: the willingness to be honest, especially about the limits of our knowledge. I recently shared a quiet lunch with an old friend, an erudite American scholar whose accomplishments in the academy are as impressive as his loyalty to the Democratic Party is steadfast. Our conversation meandered, as good conversations often do, and eventually turned to the topic of tariffs.

3 weeks ago | theepochtimes.com | Patrick Keeney

CommentaryDialogue is the lifeblood of friendship, which depends upon a certain moral courage: the willingness to be honest, especially about the limits of our knowledge. I recently shared a quiet lunch with an old friend, an erudite American scholar whose accomplishments in the academy are as impressive as his loyalty to the Democratic Party is steadfast. Our conversation meandered, as good conversations often do, and eventually turned to the topic of tariffs.

3 weeks ago | newenglishreview.org | Patrick Keeney

By Patrick KeeneyThe modern university, once a sanctuary for critical inquiry and truth seeking, has become a laboratory for fashionable ideologies. Mark Mercer, a professor of philosophy at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and a longtime defender of academic freedom, has provided us with a disturbing case study that reveals the depth of this transformation.

4 weeks ago | newenglishreview.org | Patrick Keeney

By Patrick KeeneyThe French have an apt expression for those vexing moments when, having exited a spirited exchange, the perfect rejoinder belatedly arrives. They call it l’esprit de l’escalier—“the wit of the staircase.”The phrase captures that all-too-human affliction of eloquence delayed. The sharp retort, the subtle riposte—these come not in the heat of dialogue but only after one has turned his back and descended the stairs.

1 month ago | theepochtimes.com | Patrick Keeney

CommentaryThe French have an apt expression for those vexing moments when, having exited a spirited exchange, the perfect rejoinder belatedly arrives. They call it l’esprit de l’escalier—“the wit of the staircase.”The phrase captures that all-too-human affliction of eloquence delayed. The sharp retort, the subtle riposte—these come not in the heat of dialogue but only after one has turned his back and descended the stairs. “If only I had said…” It’s an experience with which I’m intimately familiar.