New Humanists

Send us a textMaking humanistic education democratic and freely available was its downfall, at least in the eyes of Albert Jay Nock, as he discusses in The Theory of Education in the United States. Taking a cue as well from Plato’s Republic, Jonathan and Ryan address the apparent tension between the excellence of the tradition and the equalitarian, democratic mores of American life. Should everyone be educated? Can they be?Richard Gamble’s Great Tradition: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781935191568Albert Jay Nock’s The Theory of Education in the United States: https://amzn.to/38v94tRAlbert Jay Nock’s Memoirs of a Superfluous Man: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781610160353Plato’s Republic: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780465094080Dorothy Sayers’s The Lost Tools of Learning: https://www.pccs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/LostToolsOfLearning-DorothySayers.pdfNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a text“The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad is force,” wrote Simone Weil. And yet, she said that Homer’s poem is “the purest and loveliest of mirrors.” How can a poem that revels in the visceral description of death and that chronicles the destruction of a great city be so pure and lovely? Jonathan and Ryan take a look into this epic mirror and into Weil’s justly famous essay on it.Simone Weil’s The Iliad, or the Poem of Force (free English translation): http://biblio3.url.edu.gt/SinParedes/08/Weil-Poem-LM.pdfSimone Weil’s The Iliad, or the Poem of Force (bilingual French-English critical edition): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780820463612Homer’s Iliad: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780374529055Aeschylus' Oresteia: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780140443332Sophocles' Theban Plays: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780156027649Ovid’s Metamorphoses: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780156001267Virgil’s Aeneid: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780553210415New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textThe Lost Tools of Learning, a 1947 lecture delivered at Oxford by Dorothy Sayers, was largely ignored at the time and in England until decades later in the United States, when it became a foundation text of the Classical Christian Education movement. Despite being the lecture that launched 1,000 classical schools, Dorothy Sayers appears to undermine the classical tradition and repeatedly side with educational progressives. Jonathan and Ryan dig into the lecture, its impact on the CCE movement, and some pedagogical alternatives.Richard M. Gamble’s The Great Tradition: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781935191568Dorothy Sayers’s Lost Tools of Learning: https://www.pccs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/LostToolsOfLearning-DorothySayers.pdfDorothy Sayers’s translation of Dante’s Inferno: https://amzn.to/36yr31CJonathan Roberts’s Classical Schools Are Not Really Classical: https://ancientlanguage.com/classical-schools-not-classical/C. Stephen Jaeger’s The Envy of Angels: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780812217452J.R.R. Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories”: https://coolcalvary.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/on-fairy-stories1.pdfC.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780060652944New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textIn one of his many letters to his nephew Lucilius, the famous Stoic philosopher, playwright, and statesman, Seneca, advises his nephew to avoid reading too much. Jonathan and Ryan take up the philosopher’s advice and consider what dangers there are, if any, in reading too much or too widely. Seneca’s Epistle 2 (free in English): https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2Seneca’s Epistles 1-65 (English - Latin): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780674990845Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780812968255Joseph Keegin’s What is College? https://fxxfy.net/2021/09/08/what-is-college/St. Thomas Aquinas’ Question 166: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3166.htmC.S. Lewis’s Learning in War-Time: https://bradleyggreen.com/attachments/Lewis.Learning%20in%20War-Time.pdfCicero’s Pro Archia Poeta: https://amzn.to/3KLj8fTNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textShould teachers teach their pupils what to think? Or how to think? The great English philosopher Michael Oakeshott says it’s not so simple. Students certainly must learn how to think, but can only do so by learning about things in particular - in other words, by learning what to think. Jonathan and Ryan are joined to discuss this excellent Oakeshott lecture on learning and education by Dale Stenberg.The Davenant Institute: https://davenantinstitute.org/Pilgrim Faith Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pilgrim-faith-podcast/id1494222569Pietas Classical Christian: https://pietasclassical.com/Richard M. Gamble’s The Great Tradition: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781935191568Carl Trueman’s Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781433556333Alastair Roberts’ blog: https://alastairadversaria.com/Donald Phillip Verene’s The Art of Humane Education: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780801440397C.S. Lewis’s An Experiment in Criticism: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781107604728New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textLong before the New Humanists podcast was born, Irving Babbitt helped found the movement now known as New Humanism. University of Maryland Professor of Classics Dr. Eric Adler, along with his former student (and current ALI Fellow) Katherine Bradshaw, join the podcast to discuss the original New Humanist and what we might stand to gain from him in our debates about education, the humanities, and the canon.Irving Babbitt’s “What Is Humanism?”: http://www.nhinet.org/lac1.htmIrving Babbitt’s “What I Believe: Rousseau and Religion” from Spanish Character and Other Essays: https://amzn.to/34ZP9RHDr. Eric Adler’s The Battle of the Classics: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780197518786Dr. Eric Adler’s Classics, the Culture Wars, and Beyond: https://amzn.to/36a7V9HDr. Eric Adler’s Valorizing the Barbarians: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780292744035C.S. Lewis’ Abolition of Man: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780060652944Alan Jacobs’ The Year of Our Lord 1943: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780190864651Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s First Discourse: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780312694401George MacDonald’s The Princess and Curdie: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781952410475Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780060935467Robert E. Proctor’s Defining the Humanities: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780253212191New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textIt is tempting to dismiss T.S. Eliot’s musings on class, society, and education as the complaints of a cranky reactionary. But the great Anglo-American poet is worth reckoning with - if for no other reason than how profoundly he challenges the democratic norms that in the 21st century we simply assume as first principles. Jonathan and Ryan take a look at Eliot’s chapter on education from his book Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, and they try to square Eliot with the egalitarian promises of the American Dream.T.S. Eliot’s Notes Towards the Definition of Culture: https://amzn.to/3fkKCLJAlan Jacobs’ The Year of Our Lord 1943: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780190864651New Humanists episode on Jacobs’ book (Part I): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transhumanism-in-the-year-of-our-lord-2021-pt-1-episode-ii/id1570296135?i=1000525644529New Humanists episode on Jacobs’ book (Part II): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transhumanism-in-the-year-of-our-lord-pt-2-episode-iii/id1570296135?i=1000527530441Richard M. Gamble’s The Great Tradition: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781935191568Scott Newman’s The Liar’s Club: Looking Back on Princeton: https://quillette.com/2021/12/09/ivy-league-liars-club/Peter Hitchens’ A Church That Was: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2016/05/a-church-that-wasThomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44299/elegy-written-in-a-country-churchyardAnthony Esolen’s The Boy Genius: https://www.touchstonemag.com/touchstone-conference/2018/the-boy-genius-esolen.phpKurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House (contains the Harrison Bergeron story): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780385333504T.S. Eliot’s Usk: https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/uskNew Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textAthanasius the Great, Athanasius contra mundum, the Hammer of the Arians. The great defender of orthodox Christology is no mere rigorist or martinet; he possesses a “classical simplicity” in his writing and a subtle theological mind. ALI Latin Fellow Calvin Goligher joins to discuss the great church father and his book On the Incarnation.Athanasius’ On the Incarnation with C.S. Lewis’ preface (Greek-English): https://amzn.to/3zagHyRAthanasius’ Life of Anthony: https://amzn.to/3mQqrcUAthanasius’ Orations Against the Arians (Greek): https://amzn.to/3zoHVSDAthanasius’ Orations Against the Arians (free in English): https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2816.htmCharles Kingsley’s Hypatia (free): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6308/6308-h/6308-h.htmCharles Kingsley’s Hypatia (hard copy): https://amzn.to/3zkr57qLecture on the Insufficiency of Creedal Hermeneutics: https://calvinistinternational.com/2014/11/18/the-insufficiency-of-creedal-hermeneutics/Learn to read Xenophon and Athanasius in Greek with the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/attic-greek/New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textAt the same time that he was delivering the Mere Christianity radio addresses to a war-torn England, C.S. Lewis penned a now-famous preface to an edition of On the Incarnation by Saint Athanasius. In this short preface, Lewis makes a memorable defense of reading old books, while also revealing some of his thoughts behind the concept of “mere Christianity.”C.S. Lewis’ “On the Reading of Old Books” (free): https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/christina.hemati/phil1301/readings/lewis-on-the-reading-of-old-books/viewAthanasius’ On the Incarnation with C.S. Lewis’ preface (Greek-English): https://amzn.to/3zagHyRC.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780060652920Michael Ward’s After Humanity: https://amzn.to/3pMzsFPPlato’s The Last Days of Socrates: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780140449280A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad XL: https://poets.org/poem/shropshire-lad-xlC.S. Lewis’ The Pilgrim’s Regress: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780802872173Alan Jacobs’ The Year of Our Lord 1943: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780190864651Learn to read Xenophon and Athanasius in Greek with the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/attic-greek/New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Send us a textRather than trying to pull the mask off the Hebrew Bible to reveal something (a monster?) hidden underneath, what if you attended to the actual narrative of the Bible? What would you learn? Robert Alter’s groundbreaking The Art of Biblical Narrative attempts to do just that. Dr. Dru Johnson of The King’s College in NYC and ALI’s own Greek and Hebrew Fellow Tyler Foster join Jonathan and Ryan as we discuss how to read the Bible, Alter-style.Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780465022557Robert Alter’s The Five Books of Moses: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780393333930Dru Johnson’s Biblical Philosophy: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9781108932691The Center for Hebraic Thought: https://hebraicthought.org/The Biblical Mind: https://thebiblicalmind.org/Learn Biblical Hebrew with Tyler and the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/biblical-hebrew/New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/Links may have referral codes, which earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. We encourage you, when possible, to use Bookshop.org for your book purchases, an online bookstore which supports local bookstores.Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com