Western Heritage Lecture 8: Introducing Socrates
I needed to devote the first 22 or so minutes of class to “how to write a liberal arts essay,” so the actual lecture on Socrates is very short. My apologies. You might want to skip ahead 20 or so minutes into the lecture.
Also, a major caveat. During the lecture, I claimed that Socrates is regarded by some Eastern Orthodox as a saint. I WAS WRONG! It turns out that that several philosophers and humanists in the Western tradition have thought he was a saint, but no actual church body has ever declared such a thing. So, my apologies for the confusion regarding this.
Regardless, here’s hoping you enjoy!
Gleaves Whitney on Stephen Tonsor
Gleaves Whitney
If you’re not had a chance yet, please make sure you check out Gleaves Whitney’s series of essays, reminiscences, and vignettes regarding his graduate school advisor, Stephen Tonsor.
Though more or less forgotten now (as so many of the greats of the last century have been), Tonsor once stood rather high within conservative thought.
Whitney’s relationship with his mentor was not always calm, but it was certainly always sharp. He is now on a long and fascinating journey exploring exactly what that relationship meant and what his advisor signified to him and to the republic.
Don’t miss this excellent series Whitney is writing. There’s nothing he does that is not critically important, but, even by his always exacting standards, Whitney is producing some thing innovative, artistic, and moving.
Here’s the first piece: http://gleaveswhitney.blogspot.com/2016/08/to-hone-one-mind-against-gritty-stone_31.html
Irving Babbitt, ON BEING CREATIVE (full)
Babbitt’s last work before he passed away, ON BEING CREATIVE. A brilliant final look at humanism.
Irving Babbitt, THE NEW LAOKOON (full book)
Irving Babbitt’s second published book, THE NEW LAOKOON: AN ESSAY ON THE CONFUSION OF THE ARTS (Boston, MA: Riverside Press, 1910).
This is a gorgeous book on the meaning of art within the humanist mindset and discipline. Enjoy.
Lecture 7: The Origins of Greek Philosophy
Heraclitus, the greatest of the Pre-Socratics.
Here’s one of my favorite topics–whether I do justice to it or not is another question–the origins of Greek philosophy. Fire, air, water, soil, cycles, repetition, the One, the Many . . .
My Series on the First Principles of Edmund Burke
The Imaginative Conservative has graciously allowed me to explore the writings of Edmund Burke in a long series, going back to the first principles of conservatism.
“After Burke defined and defended his “love of a manly, moral, regulated liberty” in Reflections on the Revolution in France, he turned to other matters, some of which demand exacting attention. He warned against the manifestation of flattery as unbecoming to a people or a king, and he further noted that when men act “in bodies,” they generally serve power rather than liberty. The average Englishman, Burke continued, who believes in his neighborhood, his garden, and his hearth, wants to see the good in the equivalent person in France, but, because of radically different circumstances, history, and cultural mores, he cannot see it. For the French have not only done something the English cannot understand, but, truly, something the Western world cannot understand. The English desire to see the good in others has created a confusion that might grow into something with which the people of the West might use to “wage war with Heaven itself.””
Here is part II, Burke and the duties of each generation.
Western Heritage Lecture 6: The Birth of Western Civilization
Leonidas of Sparta (taken from wikipedia)
Leonidas and 300 Spartans birth western civilization through their sacrifice. Complete with not one but TWO tornado sirens during the lecture.
Western Heritage Lecture 5: No God Kings
In my fifth lecture for the Western Heritage core course, I moved the class from the ancient Hebrews to the ancient Greeks, considering how each people(s) despised the notion of a God-King.
In particular, I considered the roles of Samuel, Saul, Nathan, and David.
I also talked about the corruption of power; the Mediterranean tolerance regarding religions; and the assimilation of cultures.
Here’s hoping you enjoy!
Western Heritage Lecture 4: Hebrews and Covenant
A Hollywood depiction.
Lecture 4, if you’re keeping count. This one, a focus on Genesis 17 and Exodus 3. The relationship of Adam to Abraham to Moses. Or, why God never changes but man’s understanding of Him does.
The previous lectures
Lecture 1:
Lecture 2:
Lecture 3:
Western Heritage Lecture 3: Genesis 2-3
Ok, so, I’m getting a little behind, and it’s only the third day of MWF classes! Here’s lecture 3, if you’re keeping count. This one focuses (after a bit of housekeeping) specifically on chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis. Not theological, but literary and historical.
Enjoy.
Francois Mauriac, GOD AND MAMMON (Full book)
Francois Mauriac
One of the most important Christian Humanists of the 20th century, Francois Mauriac is largely now forgotten. Here’s the book Mauriac wrote for Christopher Dawson’s edited series, ESSAYS IN ORDER. It would be, technically, vol. 15, though it’s listed as “New Series: No. I” Sheed and Ward published a total of 16 ESSAYS. Each is meant to be read in a single sitting.
It’s also worth remembering that Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952, back when it meant quite a bit to win such a thing.
Enjoy.
Term Chaser: For THE WESTERN HERITAGE by Kagan, Ozment, and Turner
For my freshmen students in H104, sections 7 and 8, Fall 2016. Term chaser for the secondary text.
***
Secondary text for H104.
Term Chaser, Autumn 2016; Birzer
For Kagan, Ozment, and Turner: THE WESTERN HERITAGE
Chapters 1-5
Culture
Code of Hammurabi
Persian Empire
Cyrus
Darius
Monotheism
Mycenaeans
Polis
Agora
Hoplite
Sparta
Stormfields 