Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher EducationYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 286 pages Although the essential books of Western civilization are no longer central in our courses or in our thoughts, they retain their ability to energize us intellectually, says Jeffrey Hart in this powerful book. He now presents a guide to some of these literary works, tracing the main currents of Western culture for all who wish to understand the roots of their civilization and the basis for its achievements. Hart focuses on the productive tension between the classical and biblical strains in our civilization, between a life based on cognition and one based on faith and piety. He begins with the Iliad and Exodus, linking Achilles and Moses as Bronze Age heroic figures. Closely analysing texts and illuminating them in unexpected ways, he moves on to Socrates and Jesus, who internalized the heroic, continues with Paul and Augustine and their Christian synthesis, addresses Dante, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Moliere, and Voltaire, and concludes with the novel as represented by Crime and Punishment and The Great Gatsby. Hart maintains that the dialectical tensions suggested by this survey account for the restlessness and singular achievements of the West and that the essential books can provide the substance and energy currently missed by both students and educated readers. |
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Page 4
... every thing . " A friend of mine , who is connected with the town- politics of A- , and who had a vote in the election . of the mayor , told me a few days ago , that one of the candidates for that office had formerly used him in a very ...
... every thing . " A friend of mine , who is connected with the town- politics of A- , and who had a vote in the election . of the mayor , told me a few days ago , that one of the candidates for that office had formerly used him in a very ...
Page 3
... made a fool of by the weather turning out mild and beautiful . Perhaps the ad- miral wanted to ' raise the wind , ' and couldn't do it ; but go on . " But the great march of Science knows no bound , EVERYTHING NEW? OR NOTHING NEW? ...
... made a fool of by the weather turning out mild and beautiful . Perhaps the ad- miral wanted to ' raise the wind , ' and couldn't do it ; but go on . " But the great march of Science knows no bound , EVERYTHING NEW? OR NOTHING NEW? ...
Page
... Everything's Vow To A Reaper ~ Author : Nagi Mashiro Published by : FUNGUILD ( 7 ) This story is a work of fiction . Names , characters , businesses , places , events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or ...
... Everything's Vow To A Reaper ~ Author : Nagi Mashiro Published by : FUNGUILD ( 7 ) This story is a work of fiction . Names , characters , businesses , places , events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or ...
Page 76
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Page 169
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Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education Jeffrey Peter Hart No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Aaron Abraham Achilles Aeneas Agamemnon Alceste ancient areté Aristotle Athens Athens and Jerusalem Augustine beauty beginning Bronze Age Brunetto C. S. Lewis Canto Célimène century certainly chapter Christian civilization cognition Commandment Confessions cosmos course culture Dante Dante's death Divine Comedy Dostoyevsky Egypt Egyptian empire Enlightenment epic everything Exodus experience figure Gatsby Gatsby's Genesis Greek philosophy Hebrew Bible Hector hero heroic holiness Homer Horeb human idea Iliad important Inferno intellectual Israelites Jesus killed King literature live Logos Lord magical mind Molière monotheism monotheistic moral Moses move murder narrative Nick novel Numbers Odysseus passage Paul perhaps Pharaoh pilgrim Dante Plato play poem poet Prince Hamlet Prophets Raskolnikov religious Rendsburg Roman scene seems sense Shakespeare Sinai society Socrates speak spirit student T. S. Eliot tell tension things Thou thought tion tradition Troy truth Ulysses universe Virgil voice Voltaire Western words