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.

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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 DiscourseThe 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.

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‘Dead Name’ Documentary Shows Kids Aren’t The Only Victims Of Trans Radicals — Their Parents…

Nathanael Blake

The film shows parents against transgenderism are not the bigots they have been portrayed as by trans activists and their media allies.

Articles

The Federalist / January 11, 2023

Why Leftists Like Nicholas Kristof Can Never Reconcile Christianity And The Sexual Revolution

Nathanael Blake

The rules provided by Christian sexual ethics protect the weak from the selfishness of the strong. It’s an essential part of loving one’s neighbor.

Articles

The Federalist / January 2, 2023

Many of those Committed to Sexual Liberation will Persist unto Destruction

Nathanael Blake

Abortion has much in common with transgenderism, for both are rooted in revulsion at the givenness and finitude of our physical being as male and female.

Articles

The Catholic World Report / December 26, 2022

For Conservatives To Win, Republicans Must Get Comfortable Using Power

Nathanael Blake

Conservatives should evaluate and exercise government power prudentially rather than rejecting it as a matter of principle.

Articles

The Federalist / December 21, 2022

No, It Is Not Good For Man To Be Alone

Nathanael Blake

Contrary to what the media want you to believe, it is not desirable to live alone without obligations or responsibilities.

Articles

The Federalist / December 15, 2022

Transgenderism and the Fallacy of Liberation

Nathanael Blake

Transgender ideology is an incoherent mess, but we still need wisdom about what it means to be men and women.

Articles

The Federalist / December 12, 2022

The Christian Right’s Resistance to Child Sexualization is Vindicated

Nathanael Blake

Though Christian belief and community are not necessary for morality and human flourishing, they are often essential to helping people live by them.

Articles

The Federalist / December 6, 2022

The Most Passionate Science Deniers Are Pro-Trans ‘Experts’ Who Profit From Carving Up Kids

Nathanael Blake

From medical associations to hospitals, countless people are in too deep to admit error, even as transgender ideology collapses. 

Articles

The Federalist / November 29, 2022

The Materialist Magicians of Transgenderism

Nathanael Blake

The claims of the transgender ideologues are both dangerous and untrue.

Articles

WORLD Opinions / November 18, 2022

Liberal Individualism Is Undermining Itself

Nathanael Blake

By making the false ideal of independence the basis of our political and social order, we end up denigrating actual, dependent human lives.

Articles

Public Discourse / November 14, 2022

Republicans Can Be Right, Or They Can Be Happy

Nathanael Blake

Following the disappointing midterm results, GOP voters need to decide if they want to be right about 2020, or if they want to win in 2024.

Articles

The Federalist / November 9, 2022

It’s Time to Name Your Price

Nathanael Blake

The Roe regime of judicial policy-making obscured and diluted the connection between voting and abortion, but now the candidates we vote for will determine whether human life in utero is protected or not.

Articles

The Catholic World Report / November 7, 2022