MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Proposal

I’m not sure if the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre plans on writing anything for the upcoming elections, but a noteworthy essay he wrote for Notre Dame magazine back in 2004 bears repeating. In it he famously argues that the best vote for the upcoming presidential election is not to vote at all. In my view, this argument is all the more relevant in this current presidential election. It also depends on and moves from a collection of political principles that in most peoples minds, should be called “revolutionary,” principles that I would maintain however, are in fact recoveries of a classical Christian understanding of politics, that go against much of our contemporary acquiescence to the status quo of modern politics, founded on Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, among others. In my opinion, MacIntyre offers the most substantial argument against the modern nation-state and its alliance with neo-liberal capitalism.

Baseball, cheating, and the law.

No doubt many of the readers of this blog have been paying attention to the Mitchell report on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball and its clamorous aftermath. As a lifelong baseball fan I was saddened by the report, for mostly sentimental reasons. The whole phenomenon of sports in American culture is a fascinating one. Some might see this as a marginal (or even indulgent) concern, with little to do with Catholic social teaching. On the contrary. Many thinkers, from Hugo Rahner, to James Schall, to Stanley Hauerwas, have commented on the importance of sport as a form of leisure, continuing a tradition that began with Plato and the classical notion of eutrapalia. Aristotle noted that usually the closest man comes to pure contemplation is the watching of a beautiful game.

Sports are the principal place where children learn the notions of right, law, and fairness. It is also one of the few places where the common man thinks metaphysically: here is something that might not have been, but is. And it is one of the few liturgical acts remaining in our culture: something that is done, not for ulterior reasons, but for its own sake. In a world that is dominated by consumerism and fealty to the almighty dollar and its queen, efficient production, the playing field is the last place where people gather for no other reason but to celebrate, to enjoy festivity, to witness and contemplate the beautiful. It is true that sports are constantly threatened by pernicious forces, particularly in the world of professional athletics, and even in collegiate sports (e.g. the current bowl system in college football, the hegemony of which is preserved solely because it brings in lots of money). Nonetheless, no where else is the value of the amateur so prized.