Online Great Books Podcast

Socratic dialogue, that is, the art of seeking the truth through questions and discussion -- famously demonstrated by Socrates -- lies at the heart of the Online Great Books community. Yet what made Socrates' approach work was his knack for asking good, probing, thought-provoking questions. So what is a good question anyway?   Scott and fellow reader Jim Furr discuss their ideas on what makes a good question. They both agree that, foremost, a good question is open-ended. It does not presuppose an answer or lead the conversant toward a particular idea. Asking an honest question is more difficult than it sounds! A good interlocutor -- the moderator of the small groups at Online Great Books -- asks good, honest questions and holds his group to the same standard, without attempting to teach or profess. As Scott says, the interlocutor is merely the first among equals in the discussion group.   Scott and Jim offer some good questions to ask yourself when approaching a piece of literature: Why do people continue to read this book? There are lots of books from all periods of human history, but what makes this book so important? For instance, why is the Iliad and the Odyssey so seminal in Greek literature, instead of Prometheus Bound? Why was this book written? What can we learn about human nature from reading this book? Has human nature changed since this book was written? Are people the same now as they were at the time of writing? How did this book change the course of thought in history?   These are just a few important questions to ponder whether you're picking up the Iliad for the first time, or you're several books deep in to the Great Books progression.

Scott interviews Online Great Books seminar leader and former ad-man Malachy Walsh about his Classical education and his long career in advertising during the fertile "Mad Men" period of the industry in the late 60's through the 70's.   Malachy has dedicated his life to learning and literature. Educated at a Jesuit school at Georgetown, he had undergrad exposure to Greek, Latin, philosophy, math, science, and of course the foundational texts of the Western canon. Facing down the Vietnam War as a young college student in the Sixties, Malachy pursued a PhD in English at the Univesity of Chicago to avoid going to war, and to dive deeper into his love for literature. He eventually realized the life of an academic involved a lot of toil, long, dark hours in the library, and scholarly articles -- without a lot of reward -- so he abandoned his dissertation for a career in the burgeoning field of advertising.   In the ad world he met a lot of similar folks - literary critics, writers, and other creatives - and began working on many classic ad campaigns including Kellog's Tony the Tiger and the U.S. Marine's famous slogan "The Few. The Proud. The Brave. The Marines." As his career progressed he moved into creative strategy, where he was tasked with learning the audience for various products and their motivations for using the product: their desires, their drive to maintain a certain image, and the language they used to communicate what they liked and didn't like. He found that Socratic dialogue worked best when meeting with focus groups -- small groups of consumers advertisers would canvas to learn more about how products were perceived -- and it was important to ask good questions about consumers wants, rather than to convince them to like a certain product.-   Now retired at the age of 71, Malachy's lessons from advertising still inform his study and teaching of the Great Books. His mission in retirement is to lead others to engage with the Western canon, and help them build their minds through reading and discussion. He leads seminars for his home group based out of Mount Carmel church in Chicago as well as for Online Great Books. As with his focus groups, he insists on not teaching or pushing his own agenda, but asking incisive questions to challenge new lines of thinking in the readers' minds.

Scott interviews attorney, former Marine, autodidact, and lover of classics Quintus Curtius (his nomme de guerre) about his life passion - translating classic works of Latin. Quintus has translated six major books including Cicero's On Dutiesand Sallast's The Conspiracy of Cataline and The War of Jugurtha. He has also written extensively about philosophy, linguistics, travel, and many other topics on his blog. Notably, Quintus is not an academic, yet he has dedicated years of hard study to learning and translating Latin. He is the embodiment of what we strive for at Online Great Books, a man seeking to better himself and gain deeper understanding of the world by engaging in hard, enriching things.   You can find Quintus Curtius and his books and articles at https://qcurtius.com.

He is a man who, in this day and age, needs no introduction. Dr. Jordan Peterson joined the Online Great Books podcast to share his thoughts on the Great Books and the importance of our mission to get people to read and discuss the greatest works of literature.   As Dr. Peterson advises in rule #9 of his 12 Rules for Life, "assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't." The rule can easily be applied to reading as well as listening. In order to live a good life, that is, to avoid a life of suffering and evil, we must be able to critically think about our world and communicate our thoughts and beliefs to ourselves and others. One of mankind's unique tools for this kind of work is a capacity for reason. That reason, however, must be earned through study, critical thought, reflection, and discussion. We're not born with a command of it. Difficult books, like the Western Canon that we keep harping on about, are the portal.      

The podcast explores why we read the Great Books, delving into the big questions of life and happiness. Through these classic texts, we can understand our beliefs and actions, reflecting on the pursuit of a 'good' life. It emphasizes the transformative power of reading and discussing these influential works, shaping perspectives and fostering meaningful conversations.

Our very own Karl Schudt and Emmet Penney, seminar leaders at Online Great Books, joined the ReConsider podcast on May 21, 2018 to discuss three great philosophers and how they still have influence and relevance hundreds, even thousands of years later. The three philosophers chosen for the discussion were Plato, Machiavelli, and Karl Marx.   From the ReConsider episode description: "Today we're joined by Emmet and Karl of OnlineGreatBooks.com to discuss why a bunch of dead thinkers are still hyper-relevant today. We talk about their impact on society and politics, as well as make a case for why they should still be read if we want to understand the world around us, and ourselves. The three philosophers that go under the microscope: Plato, Machiavelli, and Marx."   Many thanks to the ReConsider crew for featuring us on the podcast, and for giving us permission to repost here!

Trent and Hambrick discuss Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound."     Thoughts and questions about the book. Prometheus gives humanity “hope” Consider the significance of this to human beings. Is it right or wrong to oppose ultimate power? Can man judge the world by his own ethical standards? If so, who or what is the arbiter? Can human autonomy and divine rule by reconciled? Prometheus has been compared to Job, in the Bible. Job famously complained of his situation, but never defied God, Prometheus does. Which is the better path? Notice the personification of human attributes in Might and Violence as characters. Violence says nothing. Is there any significance to this omission?

Scott Hambrick and a group of the Online Great Books seminar leaders tackle Plato's The Meno, a short but endlessly deep work attempting to unearth the meaning - or even existence - of virtue. Written as a Socratic dialogue between Socrates and Meno, a young Thessalian noble, the Meno is both provocative and frustratingly inconclusive.   Virtue comes from the Greek arete, meaning "excellence" or more generally, "fitness for purpose." Thus, to arrive at an understanding of virtue, one must first understand the nature and purpose of man. Modern thinking often leans toward objective, scientific descriptions of things, i.e. describing what a thing is. The Meno pushes us to not just think about what man is, but what man should be.   The group ponders what a society built on Socratic dialogue might look like. On matters of justice, modern society often pushes for action -- what we must do to fix a (perceived) problem. The Socratic society might first question whether there is a problem, and, more importantly, whether action would change or fix a problem anyway.