Dietrich von Hildebrand, RIP

At 14 years of age he told one of his sisters, who was 27 years old at the time and claimed that moral values were affected by circumstances, that moral values are absolute, unchanging. He used all of the arguments which Plato had given, but his sister was unconvinced and complained to their father, who said to her, “But he is only a child; why do you argue with him?” Hearing this, the son said to the father, “My age is the weakest argument you could have used against me.”

The exchange presaged things to come, for, when Dietrich von Hildebrand died on January 26 at age 87, the argument most frequently advanced against his positions was that he was too old.

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Eileen Nielsen

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At 14 years of age he told one of his sisters, who was 27 years old at the time and claimed that moral values were affected by circumstances, that moral values are absolute, unchanging. He used all of the arguments which Plato had given, but his sister was unconvinced and complained to their father, who said to her, “But he is only a child; why do you argue with him?” Hearing this, the son said to the father, “My age is the weakest argument you could have used against me.”

The exchange presaged things to come, for, when Dietrich von Hildebrand died on January 26 at age 87, the argument most frequently advanced against his positions was that he was too old.