Nathanael Blake
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nathanael Blake, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His primary research interests are American political theory, Christian political thought, and the intersection of natural law and philosophical hermeneutics. His published scholarship has included work on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Alasdair MacIntyre, Russell Kirk and J.R.R. Tolkien. He is currently working on a study of Kierkegaard and labor. As a cultural observer and commentator, he is also fascinated at how our secularizing culture develops substitutes for the loss of religious symbols, meaning and order.
Nathanael Blake, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His primary research interests are American political theory, Christian political thought, and the intersection of natural law and philosophical hermeneutics. His published scholarship has included work on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Alasdair MacIntyre, Russell Kirk and J.R.R. Tolkien. He is currently working on a study of Kierkegaard and labor. As a cultural observer and commentator, he is also fascinated at how our secularizing culture develops substitutes for the loss of religious symbols, meaning and order.
Dr. Blake grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and received an undergraduate degree in microbiology with a chemistry minor from Oregon State University. After working as a writer and editor in the pro-life movement, he enrolled in graduate studies at the Catholic University of America, earning a doctorate in political theory. His dissertation was titled: “Natural Law and History: The Use and Abuse of Practical Reason.” Blake was a Richard M. Weaver Fellow of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and served as an adjunct professor of American Government at Wheeling Jesuit University.
Dr. Blake is a Senior Contributor to The Federalist, where he has published over 150 pieces since 2017. His work has been published in a variety of publications, including Public Discourse, The Catholic World Report, and National Review.
An evangelical Christian, Blake helps lead worship at his church—he particularly enjoys playing old hymns on double bass.
The Contradictions of Absolute Academic Freedom
Nathanael Blake
The official moral relativism of absolute academic freedom makes universities self-negating institutions. No wonder many student activists are eager to fashion and enforce new norms and taboos: they realize, however inchoately, that a community of inquiry and instruction must also be one of practice, and that the liberal university fails to integrate these elements.
Articles
Public Discourse / October 13, 2021
Why The Left Hates The Generous Givers Who Keep America’s Lights On
Nathanael Blake
The local gentry has its flaws, but the rest of us have many reasons to prefer it to the ruling national elite.
Articles
The Federalist / October 12, 2021
Social Conservatives Were Right About Sex, New York Times Columnist Admits
Nathanael Blake
After decades of tearing down manners and norms, self-proclaimed social progressives are now frantically trying to reconstitute some sense of public decency.
Articles
The Federalist / September 29, 2021
The Long-Awaited End To Roe v. Wade Will Be Just The Beginning
Nathanael Blake
Just as we must continue the political and legal fight to protect innocent human life after Roe is gone, pro-lifers must continue to show that there is a better option than abortion’s culture of death.
Articles
The Federalist / September 27, 2021
Yes, Pro-Lifers Should Cheer For Texas’s Winning New Unborn Protection Law
Nathanael Blake
Texas’s law will still be challenged in court, but abortion facilities in Texas may be closed or restricted during the legal battle.
Articles
The Federalist / September 7, 2021
A Supreme Court That Capitulates On Roe V. Wade Will Unleash A Whirlwind
Nathanael Blake
Roe v. Wade is the leading example of the Supreme Court acting as an unelected super-legislature and imposing its will on the nation, and upholding Roe will only further delegitimize the court.
Articles
The Federalist / August 30, 2021
Conservatism Doesn’t Mean Putting Whorehouses In Boys’ Pockets
Nathanael Blake
Conservatism is about preserving the true sources of human flourishing in this life — family, faith, and community — rather than tearing them down in the name of liberal ideology.
Articles
The Federalist / August 26, 2021
Leftists Are Living In A Fantasy World While Burning The Real One To The Ground
Nathanael Blake
Adding extreme social leftism to the usual political greed and stupidity has been catastrophic, from the military to education to border security.
Articles
The Federalist / August 19, 2021
Your ‘Fur-Babies’ Are Not A Good Or Healthy Replacement For Human Babies
Nathanael Blake
Replacing babies with pets stifles a person’s capacity to give and receive love, as it wrongly directs our greatest earthly affections toward ourselves.
Articles
The Federalist / August 6, 2021
The Left Essentially Exists To Make Your Entire Life Worse
Nathanael Blake
Leftist ideologues are the nation’s scolds, afraid that someone, somewhere, is having fun in a way that offends the ever-shifting demands of diversity and inclusion.
Articles
The Federalist / July 28, 2021
I Take My Non-Catholicism Seriously: Reflections on Not Receiving the Eucharist
Nathanael Blake
The point of the Catholic Church is to be the Catholic Church, and some of us appreciate that, even in disagreement. As for those who want Unitarian beliefs with Catholic ceremony, they are welcome to join the Episcopalians.
Articles
The Catholic World Report / July 20, 2021
