Nature and Culture

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

I believe that some time ago I made the connection between Derrida’s “supplement at the origin,” tragedy, and conceptions of the relation of nature and culture. In some systems of thought, culture is a “supplement” to nature and participates in all the problems that Derrida brings out with supplementarity. That connection comes out quite explicitly in some Roman poets of the Augustan age, Horace and Virgil. In his 16th Epode, Horace speaks of the “Blessed Fields and Wealthy Isles” where... Read more

Arthur Miller on Tragedy

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:46 pm By Peter Leithart

Exum quotes Arthur Miller on tragedy, and Miller I think gets things quite right: “It matters not at all whether a hero falls from a great height or a small one, whether he is highly conscious or only dimly aware of what is happening, whether his pride brings the fall or an unseen pattern written behind the clouds; if the intensity, the human passion to surpass the given bounds, the fanatic insistence upon his self-conceived role ?Eif these are not... Read more

Tragedy and Biblical Narrative

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:51 pm By Peter Leithart

Cheryl Exum’s Tragedy and Biblical Narrative (Cambridge, 1992) argues that there is a “tragic” dimension to the Bible, but in offering her initial explorations she actually seems to be supporting something like the opposite conclusion. 1) She stresses the importance of struggle against fate/gods/God as a key element of tragedy: “Tragic heroes have the HUBRIS ?Esometimes in authentic greatness, sometimes in delusion ?Eto defy the universe, not in a stoic defiance but in an insistence on their moral integrity (justified... Read more

Hafeman on Future and Present Justification

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:43 pm By Peter Leithart

As I’ve considered Hafeman’s take on future and present justification (summarized in an earlier post), I’ve come to have some important reservations. First, as I noted at the time, Hafeman’s construction leaves me uncertain about the role of union with Christ. This problem is fixable, I think: Our union with Christ is not just a matter of status but a matter of power and has (to use a Gaffinesque turn of phrase) an existential dimension ?Ewe no longer live but... Read more

How Children Learn

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:44 pm By Peter Leithart

The November 15 Science News has a brief review of a multi-author book entitled Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less . The review states that the authors “encourage parents to allow children to learn problem solving and creativity through play rather than through scheduled activities, organized classes, and other structured events. The authors cite a wealth of research indicating that children who learn through play also... Read more

Pawan Sinha

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:05 am By Peter Leithart

The November 22 Science News reports on the work of Pawan Sinha, a neuroscientist at MIT who has observed the effects of cataract surgery on youngsters born blind. One of the interesting findings is that correcting the cataracts does not immediately mean that the children are capable of what we think of as normal sight: “Researchers are just beginning to piece together how the brain responds to blindness early in life and then how it reacts to the sudden unleashing... Read more

Sir Gawain and Courtly Love

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Another student on Sir Gawain suggests that it represents a sort of Platonized protest against courtly love. Gawain lies passively in bed while the woman tries to seduce him, yielding only a chaste kiss. And his great fault was his love of physical, earthly life. A very plausible thesis. Read more

Sir Gawain’s Three Temptations

Last updated on: December 1, 2003 at 2:16 pm By Peter Leithart

Another student suggests that the three temptations at the center of Sir Gawain show that Gawain is a Christ figure, tempted in bed as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Perhaps the analogies could be pressed, but it looks doubtful. Gawain as a Christ figure is less obvious than Gawain as a fallen (and later forgiven) Adam. Read more

Sir Gawain’s Three Temptations

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

Sir Gawain and the Green Girdle

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:00 am By Peter Leithart

A student paper on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight suggests that in accepting the green girdle from the lady of the castle, Sir Gawain is changing his “lady” from the Virgin Mary to the green lady. That works at several levels: Sir Gawain has Mary’s portrait on the inside of his shield, so that he gazes at her when he goes into battle. He also is shown praying to Mary at several crucial points in the story. His fall... Read more