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
I hadn’t heard of that book before coming across this blog post, but “Poetic knowledge” as described here sounds similar to the ideas Michael Schneider put forward in A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe.
Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds great!
It’s too bad about the Nihilism among Johnnies. I suppose the days are past when St John’s consisted of ‘Jews teaching Protestants how to be good Catholics’.
Ha. One of my favorite tutors at SJC was a convert from the Episcopal Church to Orthodox Judaism. There are still some who are led to Catholicism or Orthodoxy through their reading of the Great Books at St. John’s. Fr. Moses Berry’s son attended St. John’s and I know many other Johnnies who have become Orthodox. I know of at least three Orthodox tutors at the Santa Fe campus. One of these tutors used to teach at Rose Hill College. SJC is an interesting place and if one is rooted in the Church one can still receive a good education there.
Thanks Joseph, that’s reassuring! When were you at SJC? Annapolis or Santa Fe?
I attended the Santa Fe campus in the summer and fall of 2007.
Oh, okay. One of my best friends, Philip Navarro, was at SJC Santa Fe some years ago. He graduated in 2001, and Fr John Bethancourt at Holy Trinity is still his spiritual father.
Yes, we attended Holy Trinity and Fr. John is a great priest. I had heard of Phillip and he actually visited Holy Trinity while I was there, but I didn’t get a chance to meet him because he always seemed to be talking to someone on his cell phone (maybe you).
That’s too bad that you didn’t meet him! He is a riot. Well, I apologise if I was keeping him on the phone!
By the way, he spells it ‘Philip’. ‘Phil-ippos’ means ‘lover of horses’, while ‘Phil-lipos’ means ‘lover of fat’.
Sorry,I insulted Philip without meaning to.Yes, better to be a lover of horses rather than a lover of fat.
I’d give anything if I could start a school like the one in the French countryside that is mentioned in the book.