Dialectics | Classical Wisdom Weekly - Part 6

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Classics Without the Classroom: A Guide to Getting (Really) Educated…

by May 26, 2021

Can we understand the Classics without the Classroom? A guide to getting (really) educated… with Dr. James Hankins, Professor of History at Harvard University, Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom, and Alexandra Hudson of Civic Renaissance.
If you already know WHY we should preserve the classics… It’s time to ask HOW… and how YOU can help. What are the resources? Where can we begin? And who can help?
As mainstream educational institutions move away from a classical core in the liberal arts, it can be tempting to feel despondent about the future of this educational model that has educated men and women for millennia. Yet there are a growing number of organizations around the world committed to remedy this. These non-accrediting institutions are nourishing those who care about ideas and the wisdom of the past and are offering people a chance to engage in the Great Conversation.
What can we learn from these initiatives? How can we promote more of them? How can these new organizations nurture the values of curiosity and lifelong learning?
About the Speakers:
Dr. James Hankins, professor of History at Harvard University and an intellectual historian specializing in the Italian Renaissance. He is author of many books, including, Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft. You can purchase his book here.
Anya Leonard, Founder and Director of Classical Wisdom, a platform dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to Modern Minds. You can learn more about Classical Wisdom here: https://classicalwisdom.com/
Alexandra Hudson, curator of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to the wisdom of the past. Sign up for Civic Renaissance here: https://www.civic-renaissance.com/

Resources

Podcasts:
Ancient Greece Declassified: https://greecepodcast.com/
The Partially Examined Life Podcast: https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/
Community/E-learning:
Ralston College: https://www.ralston.ac/
Classical Pursuits (travel with the classics): https://www.classicalpursuits.com/
Modern Stoicism: https://modernstoicism.com/
Articles:
“The Forgotten Virtue” explores the classical notion of humanitas, or love of humanity, that the ancients cultivated through education and the Renaissance Humanists revived in their own era. Hankins shows how a liberal arts education teaches us to love and respect our fellow man–the essence of civility. Read it here: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/12/the-forgotten-virtue
“What are the classics for?” By Alexandra Hudson. This essay explores recent criticisms of the classics and looks at what an omnicultural core might look like today. Read it here: https://thebulwark.com/what-are-the-classics-for/
Institutions:
– Clemente Course in the Humanities. Founded by Earl Shorris, he powerfully described the origin of this course in the humanities for low income and minority individuals in a beautiful Harper’s essay, As a weapon in the hands of the restless poor.
– Liberty Fund. Publishes affordable paperback editions of great books, with hundreds of editions also digitized, annotated, freely available online in their Online Library of Liberty.
– Circe Institute They aim to promote and support classical education in the school and in the home and provide tools to help classical educators.
– Modern Stoicism Home of Stoicon and Stoic Week: https://modernstoicism.com/
– https://platosacademy.org/ Help restore Plato’s Academy! An exciting new initiative by Donald Robertson to help restore the original site of Plato’s learning in Athens.
Books:
“A Great Idea at the Time” by Alex Beam A wonderful, though often tongue and cheek, history of the the Great Books movement in America
“Know Thyself” by Ingrid Rossellini This sweeping history of Western Civilization is readable, exciting, and an education in and of itself.
“How to Live on 24 Hours a Day” by Arnold Bennett A delightful defense of the intellectual life with very practical tips for how to find more time to read (he suggests creating a “day within a day” and where to start one’s reading (He suggests poetry!). Free on Project Gutenberg.
“Virtue Politics” by James Hankins. This book explores the Renaissance intellectuals that sought to reform society through reforming and crafting the souls of elites. The Humanist’s focus on character building through classical learning helped improve society for generations.
“Lost in Thought” by Zena Hitz. An excellent book explaining the need for leisure and the fulfillment one finds in spending time on thoughtful activities.

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What are we REALLY in control of?

by May 17, 2021

It was raining gold. The hazy autumnal light caught the cascading leaves, brilliantly illuminating them as they gently drifted to the pavement. The noonday sun, already sinking low to the horizon, stretched out the branches’ shadows, creating a speckled mosaic on the ground. 
Down here in South America the season has suddenly shifted to the cold, just as it has no doubt for my northern counterparts, sprung into warmth. And as we swiftly move into our shoulder seasons, it becomes evident once again of the continuous movement of the earth, the never ending cycles of life, death, and rebirth. 
Fall in Buenos Aires
With this timeless perspective of constant change, we are forced to take a step back and look at our place within it. What is our individual role in relation to this incomprehensible experience of the world forever rotating, the life giving star directing movements of growth and decay like a grand conductor of the heavens?
As I walked through today’s gilded shower, I have to ask once again:
What are we really in control of? As the earth turns and the seasons change – are we but a cog in a great machine? Are we simply reacting to the environment around us? Do we have free will? 
Yes dear reader, the response to last week’s question was so plentiful, I’ve decided to make a two-parter. To that end, I have a sampling of your fellow classicists’ musings with more to come next week. 
In the meantime, feel free to contribute to the conversation with your own ideas on what is in man/woman’s control. What can we choose? And do we have free will?
As always, you can write to me directly or comment below. 

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Is there such a thing as FREE WILL?

by May 11, 2021

And if not, what are the consequences? 

It quickly became a spirited debate… after all, there is a lot on the line and it’s certainly not a point to be conceded without a fight. 
We were discussing the concept of free will… and whether we have it… or not. 
My interlocutor was steadfast and impassioned. 
No, he said. None at all. Zero free will. 
He was quick to quote others.
“The sciences have grown steadily bolder in their claim that all human behavior can be explained through the clockwork laws of cause and effect.” Writes Stephen Cave in the Atlantic.
“The challenge posed by neuroscience is more radical: It describes the brain as a physical system like any other, and suggests that we no more will it to operate in a particular way than we will our heart to beat.”  
He continues, “Brain scanners have enabled us to peer inside a living person’s skull, revealing intricate networks of neurons and allowing scientists to reach broad agreement that these networks are shaped by both genes and environment. But there is also agreement in the scientific community that the firing of neurons determines not just some or most but all of our thoughts, hopes, memories, and dreams.”
It is this understanding of neuroscience that has led many to relinquish their fundamental belief in the control of our own choices. 
But where does insisting on a diminished Free will leave us? How does it affect our moral codes, criminal justice systems, religion, and indeed, our very understanding of life itself? 
If every moment in life is simply the result of predictable outcomes of mechanical laws, what’s the point of it all? 
Of course this debate has been raging since the birth of philosophy. Early myth-makers were, in their fear of the gods, more than ready to submit themselves to the Moirai (the Fates), who were thought to determine every person’s destiny at birth.
Anaximander
The pre-socratics (or as I like to term them, the first philosophers) wrestled control from the gods to nature. Thinkers like  Anaximander and Heraclitus believed in the logos behind nature, while the materialist philosophers Democritus and his mentor Leucippus claimed that all things, including humans, were made of atoms in a void, with individual atomic motions strictly controlled by causal laws.
Socrates famously claimed ignorance was the cause of evil (since no man does wrong willingly) rather than individual agency whereas Aristotle, in his Physics and Metaphysics, said there were “accidents” caused by “chance (τυχή)”, though this is a gross simplification of Aristotle’s more nuisance exploration into the inquiry.
Nonetheless, so far it appears Free-Will isn’t storming ahead. 
Then Epicurus and the Stoics came into the scene and formulated clear indeterministic and deterministic positions.
Epicurus
One generation after Aristotle, Epicurus builds on the Macedonian’s understanding of why things happen by adding a few other causes; 
“…some things happen of necessity (ἀνάγκη), others by chance (τύχη), others through our own agency (παρ’ ἡμᾶς).”
…necessity destroys responsibility and chance is inconstant; whereas our own actions are autonomous, and it is to them that praise and blame naturally attach.”
It wasn’t until the Peripatetic philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 150–210) defended a view of moral responsibility, that we find something that we would call libertarianism today. While Greek philosophy had no precise term for “free will”  as did Latin (liberum arbitrium or libera voluntas), Alexander termed the discussion in regards to responsibility, what “depends on us” (in Greek ἐφ ἡμῖν).
Man is responsible for self-caused decisions, Alexander argued, and can choose to do or not to do something, adding to the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus. 
So where does this leave us, dear reader? Sorting through the wisdom of the past and the science of today, we have to take a step back while looking deep inside our own thoughts and decisions and ask: 
Do we have free-will? And if we don’t… Or if we do… What are the many consequences? 
As always, you can write me directly at [email protected] or comment below. 

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Should they give them Back? Benin Bronzes & Elgin Marbles

by May 3, 2021

“In 1897, British colonial forces razed Benin City, massacring an unknown number of people and bringing a violent end to the Kingdom of Benin, which had thrived for centuries as one of West Africa’s major powers. 
“During the raid, British troops looted at least 3,000 precious items made by the Edo people, including ivory statues, carved elephant tusks, ceramics, masks, carved portraits of Obas (or kings) and their mothers, and more than 1,000 intricately decorated brass plaques that once adorned ancestral altars and court buildings in the city’s royal palace.” – Smithsonian Magazine 
It was significant then that recently several museums have committed to returning the stolen loot from the kingdom of Benin – most prominent being the 13th century Benin Bronzes.
But as institutions such as Berlin’s Humboldt Forum and Scotland’s University of Aberdeen commit to reinstituting Nigeria’s historical artifacts, the largest holdings of Benin’s work, the British museum, remains conspicuously quiet. 
A Benin Bronze, pictured in Berlin, depicts a high-ranking dignitary with sword and rectangular bell accompanied by two hornblowers, brass plaque. 
Credit: Adam Eastland/Alamy
Indeed, they hide behind conveniently created laws, such as the British Museum Act 1963 and the Heritage Act 1983…
The Benin bronzes no doubt throw up the old conversations, the ones that continue to plague those interested in the ancient world. Namely, what should be done with the Elgin (or more accurately names Parthenon) marbles. 
If Nigeria can house these historic pieces in their “small but growing museum ecosystem,” according to Alex Greenberger of ARTNews, then surely Greece can too? 
“Of course, we do have our problems, in term of the state of our museums in the country, but that will not remain as it is forever,” said Abba Isa Tijani, a member of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, during the conference, per ARTNews.
While the removal of the marbles from the parthenon was not as violent as Benin City’s razing, they were no less unceremoniously taken from 1801 to 1812 by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. 
Lord Elgin… always a controversial character
Controversial even in its own time (Lord Byron, likened the Earl’s actions to vandalism or looting) the debate still rages on… should the British museum return the marbles to Athens? 
This is a conversation we have brought up in the past, but as our world continuously changes (and indeed dramatically over the last pandemic year), we have to ask the question anew: 
Should they give them back? Should historical pieces housed in museums around the world be repatriated? If Benin’s Bronzes, then why not “Elgin’s marbles” or any other significant piece, for that matter? 
And at what point does it keep going? How far back? And to whom should the pieces go? 
Parthenon Marbles
As always, you can write to me directly at [email protected] or comment below. 

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Can We Make Philosophy Popular?

by April 26, 2021

It didn’t take too long before realising he was famous. Probably the third or fourth group asking for photos tipped us off. Of course we didn’t know who the distinguished gentleman sitting two tables over was at first… a sideways snap, dispatched to a local friend who’s more ‘knowledgeable’ about Spanish celebs, confirmed the star’s details. 
It was none other than Francesc Orella, the Catalan star of the popular netflix series, Merlí. 
I was delighted… because, despite my usual dearth in popular culture references, I did in fact know the show. Indeed, I had been recommended the series numerous times! Afterall, it is a show about a philosophy teacher… and each episode includes the approaches of a great thinker or school of thought, such as the Peripatetics, Nietzsche or Schopenhauer, linking their teachings with fictional events and characters. 
The creators reference films like Dead Poets Society, in their attempts to bring philosophy to the public. They even described Orella’s character as a sort of ‘new Aristotle’ who ‘teaches his students to question and reflect’. 
What’s not to love? 
Your editor with Francesc Orella
Fortunately for me, the actor spoke perfect English as well… so I told him I appreciated what he was doing for philosophy. 
“I also work in philosophy of sorts”, I awkwardly confided, “and I think it’s just so important nowadays for people to get exposure to it… so I think it’s wonderful the show can get young folks interested in philosophy.” 
Francesc smiled warmly and politely thanked me before posing for the next waiting bystanders.
Of course not all of us can star in a hit netflix series dedicated to philosophy. In fact, almost no one does – outside Francesc Orella that is.
So, what can the rest of us do? How can we get those around us interested in viewing the world in different ways? In studying alternative perspectives and the proposals of great minds throughout the centuries?   
Essentially: How can we make philosophy popular? 
As always, you can write me directly at [email protected] or comment below. 
Also, on a completely related note: Happy Birthday Marcus Aurelius!
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is marcus-aurelius.jpg
Yes, it’s been exactly 1900 years since the closest thing to a philosopher king was born on this day, April 26th, 121 AD. His contributions to popularizing Stoicism can not be underestimated. 

Indeed, we only like to imagine how he would respond to our Stoic Essay Competition question:

How can Stoicism help address the problem of anger in modern society?

If you are a student, or know a student, who would like to win a $500 cash prize and have their essay read by prominent Stoics, check out the details to enter here.

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Do We Need to Almost Die to Know How to Live?

by April 19, 2021

It was exactly six years ago tomorrow that I almost died. It would have been an ancient death, just as it was the end of millions of women before me. My family was asked to fly in to say goodbye, a team of experts gathered around my bedside, anxiously waiting and unable to do much. At one point, I had only hours left… 
It was at that moment (or perhaps earlier when I was going in and out of consciousness… I have no idea; time itself became irrelevant) I had a sort of vision… a feeling if you will. It was of a large tree with its branches first extended and then dripping down to the ground, where it connected to its extensive roots.
The “Tree of Life” is a very ancient and widespread mytheme or archetype in many of the world’s mythologies, religious and philosophical traditions… going as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh! 
Mercifully it is more unusual to ‘give up the ghost’ in childbirth nowadays (at least in most developed countries), but historically it was sadly the norm. At its worst, one in three women perished in the act…  
Then, as in now, there is something both deeply tragic and poetic about leaving this world as another enters. The turnstile of life, its cycles and repetition, become so blatant and undeniable. 
The first time I saw my phone again, you can’t imagine how everything contained in it, all that it represented, seemed so silly and unnecessary. Social media, the inbox numbers, whatever else was happening in the world paled in comparison to what just happened.  

Is the birth of Dionysus the first instance of pre-eclampsia? The word “eclampsia” is from the Greek term for lightning and the first known description of the condition was by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC… in the birth of Dionysus, his mother Semele dies as a result of seeing Zeus’ lightning bolts… Zeus then saves the premature Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh until he is fully developed.

Roman sarcophagus (ca. AD 190) depicting the triumphal procession of Bacchus as he returns from India, with scenes of his birth in the smaller top panels (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland)

Of course, I’m not the only one to have nearly died… historically this would have been all the more common, as well as the profound impact it has on one afterwards. A perfect example is the great Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who on December 22, 1849 was taken to the public square to be shot. Having received a dramatic pardon at the last minute, the fortunate young man poured his newfound thoughts in a letter to his brother: 
“Brother! I’m not despondent and I haven’t lost heart. Life is everywhere, life is in us ourselves, not outside.There will be people by my side, and to be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.“
A sketch of the Petrashevsky Circle mock execution…when Dostoevsky thought he was about to die.
A century later, Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl also had great insight following his profound suffering and near demise, writing that “everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” 
Now, for the classically minded among us (which I imagine is all of you…), this last sentence might seem very reminiscent of another philosophy, the ancient school of thought, Stoicism, in which many of its prominent members have endured great hardships and adversity before reaching a new level of understanding. 
Indeed, Zeno of Citium (c. 334 – c. 262 BC), the very founder of Stoicism, only came upon his discovery of philosophy and thus the initiation of Stoicism itself, after surviving a shipwreck. 
Seneca ( 4 BC – AD 65) sustained a long exile filled with grief and mourning before becoming the famous philosopher and teacher of Nero. 
Doesn’t he look like he suffered?? Baroque marble imaginary portrait bust of Seneca, by an anonymous sculptor of the 17th century. Museo del Prado
Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 135 AD), perhaps most famously, was crippled from beatings in his days as a slave and suffered greatly before dictating his seminal Stoic works, Discourses and Enchiridion.
All of these examples, both ancient and modern, lead us to today’s inquiry and Monday mailbag topic. In fact, it’s a question we asked the prominent Stoic Philosopher and author of The Guide to the Good Life: The ancient Art of Stoic Joy, William B Irvine, in our recent Classical Wisdom Speaks Podcast: 
Is suffering necessary for understanding? Do we need to almost die to know how to live? 
As always, you can write me directly at [email protected] or comment below. 

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