Tag Archives: Dante

Dante Alighieri, Aspiring Bilderberger

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Dr. J

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to say farewell to Sigmund Freud for a while, so it’s a good thing this week’s Great Books readings include the conclusion of The Interpretation of Dreams. Here are the readings … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fiddling While Rome Burned?

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Dr. J

Now that we’ve finished Dante’s epic, we can read commentary on it from one of the 20th century’s great minds. It’s a nice way to pass our 4,000th page of Imaginative Literature this week. Here are the readings for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“I Smile at Your Childish Thought”

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Dr. J

Welcome to a very tardy Great Books post. This week we take a break from Epictetus in order to read a short treatise by Aristotle (yes, such a thing does exist). Here are the readings for the coming week: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How Many Psychoanalysts Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Dr. J

How many do you think it takes? (Get it?) Here are the readings for the coming week: The Divine Comedy: Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, Cantos I-XVI (GBWW Vol. 19, pp. 90-111) “In How Many Ways Appearances Exist” by Epictetus (GBWW … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If the World Stinks, It’s Not God’s Fault

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Dr. J

This week we pass 13,000 pages in the Great Books Project. And I don’t care who you are; you have to admit that a program where you read Dante, Freud, and Plato all in the same week is at least … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

It Only Counts If Others Are Watching

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Dr. J

This week we are closing in on 13,000 pages of total reading in the Great Books Project. Simply typing that makes me tired. Here are the readings for the coming week: The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, Cantos I-XVI … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Midway in the Journey of Our Life I Found Myself in a Dark Wood

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Dr. J

Have you noticed that reading the Great Books inevitably affects other areas of your life?For example, the most pressing question I’m dealing with after beginning Dante last week is whether this thing deserves my attention. (OK, actually that’s not the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What is “The Great Refusal”?

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Dr. J

With all the comparisons between Popes Benedict XVI and Celestine V that have been floating around recently, I couldn’t help but take special note of a particular passage from Dante’s “Inferno,” which I’m reading this week as part of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Interview: Why Christians Should Read the Great Books

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dr. J

A recent post here resulted in an invitation to appear on the Research on Religion podcast. Host Tony Gill was intrigued by my applying lessons from Plato to dining at Applebee’s in the 21st century. We recorded the interview last … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dante Was Manly

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Dr. J

I don’t want you to choke on a surfeit of links to the Art of Manliness website, but there is another recent post there that dovetails perfectly with the Western Tradition: Andrew Ratelle’s “Lessons in Manliness from Dante.” Ratelle’s main … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment