About Dr. Edward Feser 46 Articles
Edward Feser is the author of several books on philosophy and morality, including All One in Christ: A Catholic Critique of Racism and Critical Race Theory (Ignatius Press, August 2022), and Five Proofs of the Existence of God and is co-author of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment, both also published by Ignatius Press.

17 Comments

  1. Guilt drives this self hatred, “the enthusiastic embrace of the demonization of their whiteness as the source of all evil in the world” (Feser).
    From one perspective, that of a Christian philosopher, Christ’s witness to the truth, himself has been absorbed and finally rejected en masse. Renunciation of the source of our humanness and inherently recognized worth is emotively traumatic even when subliminal, as it is in most instances “as Anton argues sui generis”.
    +Feser as expected identifies this as precisely the cause, apostasy from Christ. “And it is this character of apostasy” that Feser considers by nature eminently perverse and diabolical in character. Whites find this self immolation a gratifying assuage of relentless guilt [my opinion]. Again he hits the mark citing Nietzsche’s take on the destructiveness of unprincipled liberalism that had its source in Christian freedom. Its “breathtaking” rapid collapse is alarmingly consistent with the anomaly of a Church presumed benign effort at relevance to the world.
    Within Catholicism we find like correspondence of White self hatred, the chest beating mea culpa, former traditional Catholic converted from stone throwing Pharisee to the merciful open armed father of the prodigal son – absent of any realistic sign or expectation of repentance.
    A radical change in spiritual tone is underway with the suppression of the ancient liturgical form, the one worship of the divinity that exudes the presence of the divinity and promotes sanctity. This is a most remarkable act by a pontiff.
    This writer finds greatest alarm that the preponderance of evidence points to the putative catalyst of a sui generis Christian apostasy, the Roman Pontiff. Whether intent be benign God alone is the judge, nevertheless the deleterious effects are there.

    • I’m truly sad that the most prominent avant-garde of the Catholic Church has a relentless ressentment with the Pontiff. May the Almighty be merciful to myself and all of us, Merry Christmas!

  2. This article is. In essence, common sense. I believe the following quote to be most appropriate to the zeitgeist:
    “A society is in decay, final or transitional, when common sense really becomes uncommon.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

  3. The good news is that American “woke” isn’t selling that well in Europe.

    And the worse news is that someday our spiritual vacuum will be filled such that we all wake up (woke!) one morning to find that we a praying five times a day–and to an Allah who keeps his distance from the anthill.

    • That’s because much of what’s labeled woke by Republicans in the Us, such as free Medicare, taxing the rich heavily ,and a high minimum wage, are considered common sense in Europe.

  4. This is hardly surprising. With the rise of the “New Things” of socialism and modernism in the early nineteenth century, the natural and sup0ernatural orders were confused, often deliberately in an effort to discredit existing religious, political and domestic forms of society. This was why adherents of the “Democratic Religion” (socialism) usually called for the abolition or substantive changes in organized religion (especially Catholicism), traditional political institutions (especially monarchies), and marriage and family.

    The roles of the natural and supernatural virtues were confused. Rejection of reason as the basis of natural law went hand-in-glove with rejection of faith as the basis of “supernatural law.” People began rejecting the natural order (prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice) because as twisted by rationalism it contradicts faith, and rejected faith because it is not subject to reason. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century the influence of the New Things was so pervasive that, as Fulton Sheen noted in his doctoral thesis, faith and reason had for many people become alien concepts. Personal opinion replaced both faith and reason and (as was inevitable when moral relativism seeps in), might made right. Whoever had the most power to force others to do their will could create truth. Tradition, culture, reason, and faith became dirty words.

  5. Archbishop Vigano’s Message to America

    Whether or not you agree with Vigano’s recent message in all its details, you will find that it corresponds with Feser’s remarks here. We are indeed fighting the diabolical — at least we should be fighting it.

    While Feser’s remarks are essentially analytical, Vigano’s message is more exhortative.

    Exhortation is what is needed in our times. The origins and development of the present crisis — nothing less than the collapse of Western Civilization — will be the most analyzed and fully understood downfall of a civilization ever. Although there is still a chance that neverending analysis being replaced by exhortation will prevent its collapse.

    If you haven’t read Cyprian’s Exhortation to Martyrdom recently, now would be a good time to read it again. It can be found here.

  6. Thank you, Dr. Feser, for your perspicacious insights on this diseased whirlwind we find ourselves in. Hopefully, your prognosis for the progression of this disease is correct — “If norms that persisted for millennia can seemingly disintegrate in a single lifetime, why on earth does anyone have the confidence or fear that what has replaced them will last?” Amen.

  7. European empires have plenty to feel guilty about, Countries were looted and cultures and people destroyed in the process by all European imperialialists. Their societies being pagan still does not justify mass slaughter and robbery of land and resources. There were atrocities carried out by non European cultures too but as white people we are responsible for the white wrongs. Asia and Africa were exploited by European powers and their people suffered as a result of empires. I am white.

  8. The reference to Suicide of the West caught my eye, as I read it not long ago. A really impressive book.

    I am always grateful for those (increasingly rare) occasions when an obviously intelligent person strikes a relatively optimistic note about America’s future. Thank you!

  9. I have to chuckle that the author is so positively triggered by the sight of fat people with tattoos that he wrote an essay about the death of the west.

    But this is also a man who apparently wrote an entire book(!!!) about why the state should kill people. And here I thought such a man would be made of sterner stuff.

  10. Most of this article seems correct to me, but I question the statement that “affluence breeds softness which breeds egalitarianism.” Softness Yes, but egalitarianism No. The disparity in wealth within many western societies is appalling and unjustifiable.
    An unjust society will suffer internal violence. It would be well to read the popes of the early C20 to get a flavour of justice in society.

  11. A rather sad, depressing (but true!) recounting of where we as a country and/or western society are today. On the precipice of certain decline and destruction, and anyone who denies it is simply ignoring reality. Pretty good evidence that Satan and his minions are still around and busy. From how I understand the scriptures, this world will never get any better, except for brief and temporary periods of time. Cling to Christ our Savior; “Come Lord Jesus!”

  12. If wishing could make it so, we’d rebut and demolish Feser’s prediction. If wishing could make it so, the writing on the wall would proverbially fade.

    Only one task remains to do. Hopeful Catholics with eyes that see should get their houses clean and in good order.

    Thank God for hope and love and His salvation. God bless us all.

  13. As the author of a book appropriately titled “The Camp of the Sane and the Camp of the Saints” I have to correct Dr. Feser on some important points. First, we need to define “Western.” I we mean Western Europe and the entirety of the Anglosophere, yes it is dying from a compound pathology of what I call civilizational AIDS, cognitive spongiform encephalitis, and autoerotic self-asphyxiation. But the Camp of the Sane is not similarly suiciding. That camp is comprised of the eastern quarter of Europe that Roosevelt and Churchill ceded to Stalin in 1945. Russia is not culturally suiciding either. To the contrary, all those countries suffer neither from oikophobia nor leukophobia, they despise the Globohomo New World Order, know that the number of genders is two, are proud of their history,, and emphatically affirm that diversity is not a strength but a curse. As Milan Kundera pointed out way back in 1984, it’s in those countries where Western Civilization was thriving even under the commie jackboot, while even then it was wilting in the “West.” This continues now, though each member of the Camp of the Sane, because of economic or defense dependence on the West, is infected by the Western disease to some, fairly small degree. The Russia – Ukraine war cannot be understood without realizing that Ukraine has since 2014 become seriously infected (e.g. think of Zelensky in stiletto heels shaking his fanny on TV) while Russia is determined to excise such pathologies.

5 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

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  5. Edward Feser contre le wokisme : liste d'articles – Par la foi

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