Athenian Stranger

I teach the Great Books of our tradition ||Excellence in education: Intro through PhD level || SubStack @AthensCorner

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

You’re going to really enjoy this one — link in comment

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

Here I introduce the thought of Plutarch and how what we refer to today as “history” initially had a much richer understanding, both theoretically and practically

It’s from my forthcoming sequel on the thought of Nietzsche, but it can stand on its own

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@SperglerAcolyte (Although there’s no such thing as any “best translation” because all translation is interpretation)

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@SperglerAcolyte Yes, the Nichols translation is the best in English, and his footnotes throughout explaining his choices for translating various words and differences in various manuscripts are invaluable

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@nyktophilos @SperglerAcolyte @dominbydigdug It’s always helpful to have a couple translations for comparison, especially if your knowledge of Greek is like most students (ie only at the beginning/intermediate level)

I prefer the Nichols translation for the reasons I mentioned above.

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

Nietzsche’s Poetry: Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle

—Nietzsche on “interpretation” and History

—The “old quarrel” of poetry and philosophy in Plato: “Theology” as “the Ancients and Moderns”

—Greatness of Soul and Poetry in Aristotle

—The Sicilian expedition in Thucydides

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

I’ve made this free because I think the topic is so relevant for the problems we face today and, unfortunately, far too few people read Thucydides

I think you will enjoy it:

—War
—What is “education”?
—What is “technology”?
—What is man?
—How should we even read “great books”?

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

Here I introduce the virtue of greatness of soul for better understanding the depths of:

— Aristotle’s entire Nicomachean Ethics
— Thucydides
— Plato
— Shakespeare
— Nietzsche
— Ourselves (!)

I also discuss the enormity of its problems for even being a virtue in Christianity

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@PierreBalinski … for instance, Hankins is effectively illiterate from literally everything I’ve seen him say about Plato, Aristotle etc

And even his historicism is of the facile kind that would get an undergrad failed in a survey course

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

He is simply wrong

Everything depends upon whether:

— You accept Lucretius’s claim that the beautiful is (merely) incidental, or

— You agree with Thucydides, Plato/Aristotle that the most significant beauty is not subject to temporality but, rather, it is sempiternal

[eburke @JamesWHankins1]

There is no great book that did not begin without the author being alarmed by what was happening around him and wanting to change or reform his world. The idea that you can understand Aquinas in his full richness for example, without understanding the 3rd Lateran Council or the history of Aristotle’ reception is an impoverishment of understanding, not an enhancement.

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@PierreBalinski Once I see someone who takes seriously the reading of the thought of a text before they jump to “contextualize” it historically I will consider such questions. But as things stand presently I’ve not encountered such a person in this discussion

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

… and you only come to know that by studying the “great books,” not their historical context

The problem with historians is that they’re mere (ideological) simplifiers when not outright reductionists even and especially *despite* their endless appeals to minutia

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@GCarpetPernman I had forgotten about that thread — thanks for reminding me of it!

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@doordashbliccy Wittgenstein knew how to milk philosophical problems for all they’re worth!

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@IMPERATORAUS I do, yes

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@FischerKing64 A friend of mine was offered a full-ride scholarship to play football at Yale and wanted to go but ultimately turned it down because he said the kitchen in the frat houses he visited on campus were too disgusting

He accepted Columbia’s offer to play there instead

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@cheebsontoast 😞

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

The funniest thing about the result of that conflation for us today — seen in the effeminate passive aggression motivating the pedantry of so many academics — is how the claims of “impartiality” in writing history etc initially arose *from* the manly virtue of honor

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

It’s a huge mistake to conflate “truth” with “objectivity,” where what’s typically meant by “objectivity” is “unbiased,” “dispassionate,” etc

That conflation invites pettiness, smallness of soul, and outright unmanliness — all disguised as scholarship! — more than anything else

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

It’s a huge mistake to conflate “truth” with “objectivity,” where what’s typically meant by “objectivity” is “unbiased,” “dispassionate,” etc

That conflation invites pettiness, smallness of soul, and outright unmanliness — all disguised as scholarship! — more than anything else

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@philo_islamica @FirstDoctor Yes I thought about taking that direct approach, but notice that the approach I chose instead says the same thing:

The purpose of intoxication is to show how well (or poorly) one’s education has become a new first nature

[Athenian Stranger @Athens_Stranger]

@PhilipDBunn But keep in mind few readers realize “the best city in speech”/ “the city one would pray for” are very explicitly limited in size

For example, these two below are so hasty in wanting to make Plato/Aristotle say what they want them to say that they’re effectively illiterate