A Call to Virtues by Stephen Paul Kennedy

A Call to Virtues

on the Promiscuous Use of the Word "Values"

Many political prognosticators now pondering the health of our republic pronounce its moribundity. If its lifeblood is reasoned debate, then its health can be judged by the lively precision, intelligence, and civility of its public discourse. On these grounds, the pessimists may have the better diagnosis.

The lack of precision in our use of language is a primary source of toxins. One malignancy is the ubiquitous and promiscuous use of the word values. In order to resuscitate reasoned discourse, we need to limit this word's use to its proper range of meanings for at least three reasons: first, its misuse obscures its legitimate meanings; second, illegitimate meanings obscure the need for other words, like doctrines, principles, precepts, and virtues; and third, the obscuring of important words makes us more susceptible to propaganda.

THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:


Stephen Paul Kennedy is Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Human Rights, Trinity Law School, in Santa Ana, California. He and his wife Michele have four children and eight grandchildren. He is a member of St. Matthew's Parish, an Anglican Catholic Church in Newport Beach, California.

subscription options

Order
Print/Online
Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

Order
Online Only
Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.


more on culture from the online archives

19.4—May 2006

Liberalism as Religion

The Culture War Is Between Religious Believers on Both Sides by Howard P. Kainz

23.2—March/April 2010

Job’s Progress

on Maturity for a Rising Generation by Peter J. Leithart

34.1—January/February 2021

Jeremiah Revisited

Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher by Hans Boersma


more from the online archives

28.3—May/June 2015

Dumb Sheep

on the Truth About a Slanderous Accusation by James S. Spiegel

32.4—July/August 2019

Image- Bearers for God

Does Biblical Language for Man Matter? by Stephen F. Noll

32.3—May/June 2019

Theodicies & Messy Desks

on the Infinite Problem of Goods & Evil by Hugh Hunter

calling all readers

Please Donate

"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand

"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor

Support Touchstone

00