Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher EducationYale University Press, 01.10.2008 - 286 Seiten 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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Seite 16
... universe in Genesis through the escape from Egypt , the reception of the Law on Sinai , various wanderings and military campaigns , and ends with the epic death of Moses as he views the Promised Land across the Jordan River . The ...
... universe in Genesis through the escape from Egypt , the reception of the Law on Sinai , various wanderings and military campaigns , and ends with the epic death of Moses as he views the Promised Land across the Jordan River . The ...
Seite 21
... universe . This is not as mysterious as it might sound . We can imagine that every " thing " is trying to be the best " thing " of its kind — whether that " thing " is a cat , a tree , or a wave of the sea . Of course , some " things ...
... universe . This is not as mysterious as it might sound . We can imagine that every " thing " is trying to be the best " thing " of its kind — whether that " thing " is a cat , a tree , or a wave of the sea . Of course , some " things ...
Seite 24
... universe . Milton even gives him a great shield , like that of Achilles . It also seems likely that Milton's Adam had red ( “ hya- cinthine " ) hair because Achilles also did . Although Homer's gods and goddesses are immortals , they ...
... universe . Milton even gives him a great shield , like that of Achilles . It also seems likely that Milton's Adam had red ( “ hya- cinthine " ) hair because Achilles also did . Although Homer's gods and goddesses are immortals , they ...
Seite 30
... universe . Almost certainly , Hector , with his civilized restraints , would have been incapable of reaching this nadir . Hector is not " godlike . " The recovery of Achilles is not altogether complete , though to a considerable extent ...
... universe . Almost certainly , Hector , with his civilized restraints , would have been incapable of reaching this nadir . Hector is not " godlike . " The recovery of Achilles is not altogether complete , though to a considerable extent ...
Seite 36
... there had to be a first book , about the beginning of the beginning , entitled Genesis , which is about Creation — about the original creation of the universe and , derivatively throughout , about 336 THE GREAT NARRATIVE.
... there had to be a first book , about the beginning of the beginning , entitled Genesis , which is about Creation — about the original creation of the universe and , derivatively throughout , about 336 THE GREAT NARRATIVE.
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education Jeffrey Hart Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2008 |
Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education Jeffrey Peter Hart Keine Leseprobe verfügbar - 2001 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
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