Take a listen to Mere Fidelity and a discussion of The Constantine Strategy!
I argue for a Trollopian conservatism with a progressive vision and my betters harass me deservedly. I worry that too much of “classical” education has become a product disconnected to classism. After all, if you are going to teach Plato, somebody should have some Greek.
Second, the dialectic is key. There is no curriculum to purchase to make a school or college classical. Classical education begins in wonder and ends in God. God is love, so the beauty of the divine nature stirs love in us and this produces further questions, passions, and wonder. There is no end to learning, only greater joy.
Classical education is not tied to a particular reading list. One could, and should, develop a reading list centered in Estonian, Georgian, Russian, Chinese, Indian, or another culture or sub-culture. I am intrigued by the notion of the dialectic in non-literary cultures such as that we find in Homer.
Third, education is human. One cannot run education “for profit,” but only for people. There is something deeply disturbing about usury intruding into the relationship between Socrates and Glaucon or Jesus and John. Can we do better? We can.
Listen here.
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