I attended St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM for two semesters and I am presently attending a Great books/Liberal Arts program at Faulkner University. A “Great Books” program has some very good and positive aspects to them. One is that one gets to read and discuss the “great books “of western civilization. One of the things that surprised me about the underclass students at SJC is that many of them ended up graduating as Nihilists. One of the reasons for this is that they lacked a good grounding in poetic knowledge. This is why I am recommending James Taylor’s wonderful book on this subject which is must reading for anyone interested in a classical or “Great Books” education. The sad part is that I do not know where one could go to get the needed “poetic knowledge” for a well rounded classical education.
Poetic Knowledge:The Recovery of Education by James Taylor
The book rediscovers a traditional mode of knowledge that remains viable today. Contrast to the academic and cultural fads often based on the scientific methodology of the Cartesian legacy, or any other number of trendy experiments in education, Poetic Knowledge returns to the freshness and importance of first knowledge, a knowledge of the senses and the passions.”
“Poetic knowledge” is not the knowledge of poetry nor is it even the knowledge in the sense that we often think of today, that is, the mastery of scientific, technological, or business information. Rather, it is an intuitive, obscure, mysterious way of knowing reality, not always able to account for itself, but absolutely essential if one is ever to advance properly to the higher degrees of certainty. From Socrates to the Middle Ages, even into the twentieth century, the case for poetic knowledge is revealed with the care of philosophical archeology.Taylor demonstrates the effectiveness of the poetic mode of education through his own observations as a teacher, and two experimental ‘poetic schools in the twentieth century. -(From the back cover of the book)
“There are relatively few persons who can analyze as clearly and as lucidly the writings of Aristotle, Plato and Aquinas as does this author. Like taylor’s educational philosophy, he seeks to move the readers’ affections and will as well as the intellects, and he does this successfully.”- Richard Harp, University of Nevada
