The Imaginative Conservative

At the heart of Owen Barfield’s thought is the concept of participation—the psychic unity between the perceiving self and the external phenomena it encounters. While Barfield’s theories are fascinating, he seems perhaps too pessimistic about humanity’s loss of vision.

Music held a notable place within Thomas Jefferson’s cultured and humanistic life—a point reinforced by his insistence on having music instruction at his newly founded University of Virginia. This shows the importance Jefferson placed on music in the life of the mind, just as his involvement with music throughout his life enhances his image as an o...

How did our traditional antipathy to third parties start in America, and what role have third parties played in our electoral history?

Introduction

There is nothing in the natural world, or in the inner and outer life of man, that does not find its counterpart in the all-embracing realm of tones. Music as symbol is the whole of all things.

“They who were two and divided now became one and united.”

—Gottfried von Strassburg,

Between the omnipotence of God, who holds all creation in being, and the impotence of men, who possess no claim whatsoever on being, there remains an impassible barrier which ...