Tag Archives: The Teaching Company

Napoleon’s March to Russia

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The year 1812 was a turning point in Napoleon’s career due to his fateful decision to invade Russia. While many know of his defeat by the Russian army in the bitter winter cold, less well known (at least to me) … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, Felix Markham, French Revolution, history, Leo Tolstoy, military history, Napoleon, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Stanley Kubrick, The Teaching Company, war is hell | 5 Comments

Medieval Scholasticism and Legal Reasoning

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Common-law legal reasoning, or the method by which lawyers and judges analyze a problem, has roots that stretch back almost 1,000 years to the educational method known as Scholasticism. Before we get to exactly what Scholasticism is, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Law, Philosophy and Religion | Tagged law, legal reasoning, Middle Ages, Scholasticism, The Teaching Company | 3 Comments

Etymology of the Day

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: We’ve talked about polysemy several times, the phenomenon of one word having several meanings, some of which eventually come to overlap. An example is the word uncouth, the history of which we can chart with information from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged English, language, linguistics, The Teaching Company | Leave a comment

The Law Rock

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: From 930 until 1262, medieval Icelanders lived in a society with no national government — no king, no army, no taxes. Hell, there wasn’t much local government either. The basic unit of organization was the family farmstead. There … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Law, Politics and Economics | Tagged anarchism, Iceland, law, medieval history, Prose Edda, Sagas of the Icelanders, Snorri Sturluson, spontaneous order, The Teaching Company, Vikings | 10 Comments

Things I’ve Learned from World History

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: As I mentioned way back here, I’ve been avoiding television and radio in an effort to wean myself from idiocy. As part of that effort, I’ve been partaking of some of the Great Courses offered by The Teaching Company. … Continue reading →