On the Great Books of the World
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Alexander Arguelles: • The Rejected Heritage ...
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Hey Drake,
Have you read Nietzsche's essay "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" and if so, what are your thoughts on it? I'd love to hear your opinion on it, as you are someone whose historical interest and knowledge I greatly admire and it would be interesting to see how someone who is as dedicated to the pursuit of historical knowledge as you are would react to Nietzsche's scathing and, admittedly, sometimes polemic critique of it. Love your content!
Greetings from Germany
Hi, Drake. I'm jumping in at around the 15-minute mark to give you a little pep talk. Unless you live on a diet of donuts, chips, sugary drinks, and alcohol, you're probably going to retain the use of your faculties for a long, long time. Certainly well beyond age 59. Trust me. I'm a few months shy of 71 and my mind has never been sharper. That's based on more than just self-assessment.
So, keep pluggin' away, kid. I love your dedication to learning.
Very similar feelings I myself have… thx for sharing all these precious thoughts. I really like to have the list of those 264 authors.
@@sadragolshan I'll be sure to share it when it's in a finished state - thanks for the kind words.
Another great video.
I like that you brought up Erasmus because I've also been interested in him lately and wish to read 'in praise of folly' soon.
He seems a wiser fellow compared to his contemporary Martin Luther.
@@waffle.23 One interesting aspect of the interaction between Erasmus and Luther is that Luther was nearly 30 years younger than Erasmus and explains some of their difference in personality I think.
@@Orpheuslament Well more like 17 years I believe but still, Luther was definitely the more hot-headed one haha.
John Scottish Erigena!!!
Never thought someone from RUclips will utter his name! And that too a 29 year old!
You could also check out Jakob Böhme and Nisargadatta Maharaj. Both uneducated. But their works bear such striking similarity with John and the neoplatonists. Also these uneducated people were more clear and simple in their expressions.
(English is not my mother tongue, sorry for errors)
@@xdfckt2564 Boehme has been on my list ever since I read Blood Meridian but it seems difficult to get a reliable translatioj of his work. Do you have any recommendations?
@@Orpheuslament I read in German, one of the many languages I know but English isn't one. The subject matter is presented the best by Algis Uzdavinys and in the most effective, efficient and simplest ways by Nisargadatta Maharaj, a man who sold tobacco and cigarettes on the streets of Mumbai. An engineering genius from Poland who escaped Polands Jewish genocide when an Indian king took them as refugees who then introduced him to Gandhi whose legendary yarn spinner he designed to free the country from the textile imports the empire had imposed on them who was then attracted to J Krishnamurti and translated him to polish and was then redirected by him to influence the Indian govt to save the Tibetian Buddhists who were genocided by the Marxist Chinese effectively saving an entire religion who then found this guy on the street talking some really deep stuff, got interested and translated it all to widespread acclaim.
I got to know of him through Somerset Maugham (his essay The Saint) which led me on to Aldous Huxley who led me on to all this.
It's all the same thing actually, just differs in the complexity of expression.
Sorry for long writing
@@Orpheuslament Deirdre Carabine (the unknown God). Algis Uzdavinys. Nisargadatta Maharaj. I read in German and other asian languages, not much English. These 3 will clarify a lot more on this subject.
If you're shopping around for a copy of Thomas More's Utopia, check out the translation by Clarence H. Miller. I had a good experience with it. I like his explanations of his translation decisions.
ach so nice to think again about erasmus...i loved "in praise of folly," it's hilarious, and so much better than the stuff in its tradition like "ship of fools" which is like trying to read "pilgrim's progress" after "tristram shandy." i read the chaloner translation by the wonderful "early english text" guys, so i don't know how accurate it is but boy it's got a great sound. i want to read the "colloquies" which look like genuinely conversational dialogues, like having erasmus table-talk...and a super-intriguing book "on copia" which is a writer's guide on how to achieve "anatomy of melancholy"-levels of pouring forth--how to create variations on your idea, how to enlarge, amplify, be copious! incredible, i bet burton read it, and john lyly, and melville...
@@k2doggo Erasmus's Adages has really taken my imagination and after skimming some online I've decided to look for them in my book rummaging. It's crazy how 'discoveries' of these classics happen - just now getting back to reading Petrarch and realizing everything I missed on the first pass...
Have you ever thought of doing the MALA program at St. John's College? It's intriguing to me. Luckily, I went to a college that opened my eyes to literature, especially the great books (though i majored in physics). Maddeningly, my alma mater discontinued their great books program a year after I graduated. SJC seems to be a kind of a final standard bearer, the last diamond in the rough. And i know they market their MALA program to secondary ed professionals.
@@maxb7731 It's a good idea and I've certainly thought about doing it before but the cost is totally prohibitive even with the grants and scholarships on offer. In the end my only choice is self-study but that works perfectly fine for me.
Interesting as always. Studying to become a teacher myself, so it’s intriguing to hear your thoughts on classical education and the canon and whatnot, from this perspective.
If we’re talking about a non-western canon of sorts, do you have a process of prioritizing what to read? We’ve talked a little about it before I guess, but I feel a bit lost half the time I’m deviating from Europe (apart from stuff like the Baghavad Gita, which of course is commonly referenced in Western thought), and I mean lost, not as in not knowing what books to read, but in how to contextualize and understand them as part of some sort of continuity.
@@octamedicin It's a good question you ask - I suppose that I imagine as clearly as I can each tradition on its own when I first get into the fold so to say. I take each language's canon and learn as much as possible and then I try to sort what I've learned in a categorical way with the other various traditions I've already done this for - add each tradition to a universal timeline - and also be sure to learn the history of the period in which the work was written. I see it as an accretionary process where each detail adds depth to the whole.
@@Orpheuslament Thanks for the reply. Very interesting. A bit of intercanonical hermeneutical cycling almost.
Do you enjoy Montaigne, Drake? I think you'll like him a lot, considering your thoughts on Erasmus. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
@@tomaswolf4777 I love Montaigne - to remedy my unforgivable gap in my shelves I have since gotten ahold of the complete Florio translation of Montaigne and I love it.
Have you read Nassim Taleb?
@@xdfckt2564 Haven't been interested in him.
@@Orpheuslament Ignore the guy, but please do read his books! it will be like a shot of vodka from time to time.. 👍 a lot of insight.. a little too raw and scattered but makes you think