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Aug 08, 2025 The Turning of the Season
The Turning of the Season

To live the life of the mind is to navigate the deep currents of thought and the restless tides of the world with the scholar’s precision and the poet’s eye. Here, the arc of a life bends toward the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, and the work

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 08, 2025 On Being Scholarly
On Being Scholarly

The keynote address for incoming doctoral students at Freed-Hardeman University, titled On Being Scholarly, was delivered by Dr. Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, on May 13, 2018, in Henderson, TN. You are a scholar; these are your fellows. Individually, you are scholars. A scholar is one given to serious academic inquiry.

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 08, 2025 War Practices and Diplomacy in the Italian Renaissance
War Practices and Diplomacy in the Italian Renaissance

The reign of Pope Boniface VIII is a tapestry of papal agendas fashioned for the creation of empire under the guise of the Holy Roman Church. His papacy materializes as kingship rather than pure Apostolic See. The papacy is a relic of the spiritual body. Empire is the incarnation of

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Between Plato and Luther: The Intellectual Roots of Infallible Revelation in Western Christianity
Between Plato and Luther: The Intellectual Roots of Infallible Revelation in Western Christianity

Reflective Commentary (2025) This essay undertakes a critical examination of infallible, divine revelation in Christianity, focusing on the dynamic interplay between Scripture, Tradition, and ex cathedra authority as understood within both Catholic and Protestant traditions. One of its main strengths lies in its expansive historical grounding, tracing the development of

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Reading Foucault and Derrida as a Humanist: Origins, Evolutions, and Critique
Reading Foucault and Derrida as a Humanist: Origins, Evolutions, and Critique

Reflective Commentary (2025) This brief essay, composed in 2015, records my first serious engagement with the post-structuralist theories of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. At that time, my priority was to précis their arguments and to register my own tentative responses as a doctoral student. On re-reading, I recognise the

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 The Poet as Imaginative Genius
The Poet as Imaginative Genius

Reflective Commentary (2025) This essay marks a foundational moment in my scholarly engagement with Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of art and aesthetics. The primary aim was to unravel Kant’s conceptual framework concerning fine art. Attention centred on his elevation of poetry and the notion of the imaginative genius. The

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 The Legacy of Classical Philology: From the Trivium and Quadrivium to Textual Criticism
The Legacy of Classical Philology: From the Trivium and Quadrivium to Textual Criticism

Reflective Commentary (2025) The brief essay ‘Classic Philology: A Definition’ was composed in 2014 during my doctoral programme, as part of the course Introduction to Humane Letters. Now, a decade later, I return to the text for the first time since its drafting. In this review, my primary concern has

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Leisure and Festivity: The Foundation of Liberal Arts
Leisure and Festivity: The Foundation of Liberal Arts

Reflective Commentary (2025) The following essay was written in 2014 for one of my earliest doctoral courses at Faulkner University. Dr. Robert Woods led the course titled “Introduction to Human Letters." An Evaluative Inquiry into the Life of the Modern Liberal Individual Leisure and festivity together form the foundation

by Shawn D. Mathis
The Turning of the Season
Aug 08, 2025 The Turning of the Season

To live the life of the mind is to navigate the deep currents of thought and the restless tides of the world with the scholar’s precision and the poet’s eye. Here, the arc of a life bends toward the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, and the work

by Shawn D. Mathis
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Aug 08, 2025 The Turning of the Season
The Turning of the Season

To live the life of the mind is to navigate the deep currents of thought and the restless tides of the world with the scholar’s precision and the poet’s eye. Here, the arc of a life bends toward the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, and the work

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 08, 2025 On Being Scholarly
On Being Scholarly

The keynote address for incoming doctoral students at Freed-Hardeman University, titled On Being Scholarly, was delivered by Dr. Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, on May 13, 2018, in Henderson, TN. You are a scholar; these are your fellows. Individually, you are scholars. A scholar is one given to serious academic inquiry.

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 08, 2025 War Practices and Diplomacy in the Italian Renaissance
War Practices and Diplomacy in the Italian Renaissance

The reign of Pope Boniface VIII is a tapestry of papal agendas fashioned for the creation of empire under the guise of the Holy Roman Church. His papacy materializes as kingship rather than pure Apostolic See. The papacy is a relic of the spiritual body. Empire is the incarnation of

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Between Plato and Luther: The Intellectual Roots of Infallible Revelation in Western Christianity
Between Plato and Luther: The Intellectual Roots of Infallible Revelation in Western Christianity

Reflective Commentary (2025) This essay undertakes a critical examination of infallible, divine revelation in Christianity, focusing on the dynamic interplay between Scripture, Tradition, and ex cathedra authority as understood within both Catholic and Protestant traditions. One of its main strengths lies in its expansive historical grounding, tracing the development of

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Reading Foucault and Derrida as a Humanist: Origins, Evolutions, and Critique
Reading Foucault and Derrida as a Humanist: Origins, Evolutions, and Critique

Reflective Commentary (2025) This brief essay, composed in 2015, records my first serious engagement with the post-structuralist theories of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. At that time, my priority was to précis their arguments and to register my own tentative responses as a doctoral student. On re-reading, I recognise the

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 The Poet as Imaginative Genius
The Poet as Imaginative Genius

Reflective Commentary (2025) This essay marks a foundational moment in my scholarly engagement with Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of art and aesthetics. The primary aim was to unravel Kant’s conceptual framework concerning fine art. Attention centred on his elevation of poetry and the notion of the imaginative genius. The

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 The Legacy of Classical Philology: From the Trivium and Quadrivium to Textual Criticism
The Legacy of Classical Philology: From the Trivium and Quadrivium to Textual Criticism

Reflective Commentary (2025) The brief essay ‘Classic Philology: A Definition’ was composed in 2014 during my doctoral programme, as part of the course Introduction to Humane Letters. Now, a decade later, I return to the text for the first time since its drafting. In this review, my primary concern has

by Shawn D. Mathis
Aug 07, 2025 Leisure and Festivity: The Foundation of Liberal Arts
Leisure and Festivity: The Foundation of Liberal Arts

Reflective Commentary (2025) The following essay was written in 2014 for one of my earliest doctoral courses at Faulkner University. Dr. Robert Woods led the course titled “Introduction to Human Letters." An Evaluative Inquiry into the Life of the Modern Liberal Individual Leisure and festivity together form the foundation

by Shawn D. Mathis
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