Patrick J. Deneen

Patrick J. Deneen
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https://www.patrickjdeneen.com
Patrick J. Deneen teaches political theory at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of several books, most recently Why Liberalism Failed.

Recent Essays

Can There be a National Conservatism?

Here’s the irony: a growing number of conservatives realize that it will require the assistance of the State to correct many of the problems that have been created by the State that was motivated by progressive commitments against the more local, parochial, and particular.

Res Idiotica

South Bend, IN My students are know-nothings.  They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent.  But their minds are largely empty,...

Post-Antibiotic

Every morning when I would shuffle to our refrigerator to lug out the gallon of milk for cereal, or after school when I'd stand...

First Lecture

On Monday, November 11, I delivered the first "First Lecture" to students at the University of Notre Dame.  This series - modeled on the...

Biopolitical Tyranny?

John Milbank has written a remarkable critique of gay marriage that points to the ways it will ultimately and immeasurably strengthen the modern liberal...

Ron Swanson’s Man Rules

The best thing to come out of Hollywood since....   well, maybe ever:  Ron Swanson's Man Rules. It's hard to pick a favorite, but #5 -...

A Refreshing Bit of Sanity

I've been sitting in an airport most of today, subject to the inescapable barrage of manufactured outrage that is CNN, and was offered this...

The New Domesticity

This is a highly confused article on the turn, particularly among women, to forms of "new domesticity."  Its author, Emily Matchar, appears eager to deny...

Social Science and Human Liberty

At about the same moment I was reading David Brooks's third "Social Science Palooza," which is a summary of some recent, interesting findings in...

Benedict XVI – Porcher

From an address calling for a renewal of agricultural work by Pope Benedict in November, 2010: "To this end, it is essential to cultivate and...

Leaving Washington

Notre Dame, IN. It was on the virtual “pages” of the Front Porch Republic that I announced last February that I was leaving Georgetown University,...

Front Porches in Chattanooga

On Monday, June 11, I will be lecturing as part of the marvelous "Monteagle Sunday School Assembly," a longstanding summer community based in Chattanooga,...