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. |
From inside the book
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Page 6
... truth . " 5 Though Clement and Ori- gen won this important argument , they did not do so without fierce opposition . Tertullian ( ca. 225–150 ) sternly asked , " What , indeed , has Athens to do with Jerusalem ? What concord is there ...
... truth . " 5 Though Clement and Ori- gen won this important argument , they did not do so without fierce opposition . Tertullian ( ca. 225–150 ) sternly asked , " What , indeed , has Athens to do with Jerusalem ? What concord is there ...
Page 7
... truth . Exterior heroism becomes interior aspiration , in Socrates to cognition , in Jesus to perfection of the soul . Paul of Tarsus , a contemporary of Jesus , Roman citizen , Jew , rabbi , Christian , and a Greek speaker , embodies ...
... truth . Exterior heroism becomes interior aspiration , in Socrates to cognition , in Jesus to perfection of the soul . Paul of Tarsus , a contemporary of Jesus , Roman citizen , Jew , rabbi , Christian , and a Greek speaker , embodies ...
Page 11
... truth available to both Athens and Jerusa- lem , toward which they converge , even if the two paths may not finally meet within human understanding . The dominant Islamic tradition , in contrast , evolved a tradition of ...
... truth available to both Athens and Jerusa- lem , toward which they converge , even if the two paths may not finally meet within human understanding . The dominant Islamic tradition , in contrast , evolved a tradition of ...
Page 14
... a prince of Greece alone but of philosophy itself, an explorer of the human essence and of the cosmos. Plato thought he saw beyond Homer to universal truths that remained only implicit in the Chapter Two - Athens: The Heroic Phase.
... a prince of Greece alone but of philosophy itself, an explorer of the human essence and of the cosmos. Plato thought he saw beyond Homer to universal truths that remained only implicit in the Chapter Two - Athens: The Heroic Phase.
Page 15
... truths, often conceiving of them in ways that now may seem bizarre. As its greatest exemplar and refiner, Plato sought to complete their thought and, as against such Homeric heroes as Achilles and Odysseus, put forward his universal ...
... truths, often conceiving of them in ways that now may seem bizarre. As its greatest exemplar and refiner, Plato sought to complete their thought and, as against such Homeric heroes as Achilles and Odysseus, put forward his universal ...
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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