For several years after Spence Publishing converted itself into Spence Media, this work was unavailable. I’m pleased that I was able to make a few revisions when it was picked up by Wipf and Stock. Full disclosure: Some of the chapters are online. But the book also provides new material and an argument that ties everything together, and besides, wouldn’t you rather hold a book in your hands than hunch over a screen or a monitor? (Then again, I’m a dinosaur.)
This book is a rational defense of the common moral sense of plain people (which, paradoxically, is out of fashion). Although it wasn’t written as a textbook, it can serve as one. A new preface on the four ages of natural law puts the topic in historical context. Although the book is for scholars too, if you have no background in natural law, this is probably the best place to begin.
Although I try to write all my scholarly books in such a way that non-scholars can also understand them, this one may be difficult to follow without a bit of background. Beginners should start with What We Can't Not Know: A Guide, and come back to The Line Through the Heart afterward.
Of all my books, this may be my favorite. I wanted to title it The Sweet Science, a phrase suggested by the mystical poetry of John of the Cross, who wrote “There He taught me the science full of sweetness …. There I promised to be His bride.” The publisher pointed out that the expression “the sweet science” is also used for wrestling.
Descriptions and how to obtain
This is J. Budziszewski's website. Unbelievable as it may seem, I am not the only person with that name. One of the others complained to me that he was losing clients because people were getting us confused.
Scholarly, semischolarly, popular
Interviewed by Douglas Wilson, 2012
Interviewed by Marcus Grodi, EWTN, 2005