Nothing to Be Ashamed of: Francis Slade's Apology for Contemplation

Premodern philosophy is an essential constituent of the common good precisely because its contemplative character raises it above politics and thus sets limits on politics. Modern philosophy is ashamed of the ineffectiveness of contemplation, which it sees as the naïve appropriation of mind determined by its naturally given end. By appropriating mind as its own act, modern philosophy becomes effective: reason becomes rule and crushes all natural claims to rule through the obliteration of the naturally “higher things,” exemplified by Machiavelli's elimination of the “gentlemen.” The clarity of Slade's contrast between premodern and modern philosophy helps us to understand the meaning of the new order of things in which there are no natural limits and everything is possible.