Jeffrey Brenzel: The Essential Value of a Classic Education | Big Think

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  • Опубликовано: 24 дек 2024

Комментарии • 1,4 тыс.

  • @bigthink
    @bigthink  4 года назад +50

    Want to get Smarter, Faster?
    Subscribe for DAILY videos: bigth.ink/GetSmarter

    • @jonathanjollimore7156
      @jonathanjollimore7156 3 года назад +3

      It teaches you to be a better thinker and being a better thinker is more important then raw knowledge. I don't care how many fact you can remember if you have no clue how to apply then in a practical way in the real world

    • @ericanderson7346
      @ericanderson7346 3 года назад

      The sound effects in these videos are lame, distracting, and annoying.

    • @carolineleiden
      @carolineleiden 3 года назад

      @@ericanderson7346 Yes, lets bring in every Tom Dick and Harry from all over the world who wants a free house and a free pass here on our expense. It's the civilized thing to do. We' ll be bankrupt in one generation.

    • @kamisduaempat9423
      @kamisduaempat9423 3 года назад

      BigThink editor, i hope you can add Indonesian subtitle

    • @robertm.vaccato1334
      @robertm.vaccato1334 3 года назад

      Education system has nothing to do with intelligence! If anything it makes people stupid and gives them a false sense of security! Standardized testing is a joke just like the education system is! It's completely biased and inaccurate. Intelligence is genetic and no matter how much people study your intelligence will never change! Most people just parrot information that's a huge problem. Because you need to understand information not parrot it! Most people with degrees are parrots with zero problem solving skills? So if that's what you want to be then go to college!

  • @CptDangernoodle
    @CptDangernoodle 10 лет назад +589

    Mentioned in the video:
    5th Century B.C. The Theban Plays (Oedipus Rex) - Sophocles
    4th Century B.C. Dialogues of Socrates
    380 B.C. Republic - Plato
    350 B.C. Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle
    426. City of God - St. Augustine of Hippo
    1274. Summa Theologica - St. Thomas Aquinas
    1315. The Divine Comedy (Inferno) - Dante
    1606. King Lear - Shakespeare
    1651. Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes
    1667. Paradise Lost - John Milton
    1798. An Essay On The Principle Of Population - Thomas Malthus
    1869. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
    1813. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
    and Emily Dickinson.

    • @EyeLean5280
      @EyeLean5280 9 лет назад +22

      ***** To this list, I would definitely add Euripides to balance out Sophocles as the latter traded in idealism while the former was a master of naturalism.

    • @MaisieDaisyUpsadaisy
      @MaisieDaisyUpsadaisy 7 лет назад +25

      LowryderKid I would add Marcus Aurelius, Machiavelli and Clausewitz.

    • @burntgod7165
      @burntgod7165 6 лет назад +15

      Bible. Dostoyevsky. It's all subjective.

    • @burntgod7165
      @burntgod7165 6 лет назад +6

      @LokiRudder How so? Everyone's list is different. The epitome of subjectivity.

    • @thomervin7450
      @thomervin7450 4 года назад +3

      @Universalis Ted lol. No they're not. Either way, if you're going the classical education route you're not necessarily reading these books for entertainment value, you're reading them to learn from them.

  • @artistradio
    @artistradio 6 лет назад +729

    "You don't build muscles by wrestling weaklings"
    You don't build mental muscle by arguing with random people on social media either. ;-)

    • @Thewhiteboyulovewaree
      @Thewhiteboyulovewaree 6 лет назад +2

      Brown Wolf so true

    • @benmathewson1826
      @benmathewson1826 4 года назад +39

      Yes you do. Your mum is fat. 😛

    •  4 года назад

      But,

    • @jordanchristman144
      @jordanchristman144 4 года назад +23

      @@benmathewson1826 got em!

    • @nickwhite7891
      @nickwhite7891 4 года назад +22

      To assume everyone you're debating with is beneath you is a great way to stunt your own growth.

  • @ArcaneWorkshop
    @ArcaneWorkshop 11 лет назад +572

    Engaged from start to finish, excellent speaker.

    • @NodakBro
      @NodakBro 4 года назад +12

      I totally agree, it led me to r/ClassicalEducation to start my own reading plan!

    • @mihirbendre5049
      @mihirbendre5049 3 года назад +5

      I agree

    • @fuckyoutubengoogle2
      @fuckyoutubengoogle2 3 года назад +5

      I watched the whole thing too. So fucking lame.

    • @Ek70R
      @Ek70R 3 года назад +8

      what an amazing speaker, I am totally inspired by this guy.

    • @alexdiaz1492
      @alexdiaz1492 3 года назад +3

      Agreeeed

  • @beth8775
    @beth8775 6 лет назад +300

    The more time you spend reading great works, the more discerning you will be about what else you want to read. You will come to expect quality.

    • @NodakBro
      @NodakBro 3 года назад +7

      r/classicaleducation

    • @jamesfrancese6091
      @jamesfrancese6091 3 года назад +6

      Although, falling into line with canonical readings is not exactly a way of developing one’s own intellectual or aesthetical originality either. A commitment to the Great Books is something of a stultifying task, producing exquisitely cultured and predictable people who see much to admire in each other. In short, those who look to tradition will be comforted by it. That’s what it’s there for! Jeffery Brenzel knows this, and hints at the issue at 11:15. And who’s to say there’s not plenty to enjoy?

    • @khadimndiaye7730
      @khadimndiaye7730 2 года назад +1

      @@jamesfrancese6091 what books, would you say, step out of line of „predictability“? I would argue that most, if not all books have the classics as the cornerstone, and, unless you don’t read at all, it becomes difficult to walk another path…

    • @zr0ll99
      @zr0ll99 2 года назад

      @@jamesfrancese6091, It's crazy how stupid you are

    • @zr0ll99
      @zr0ll99 2 года назад +1

      @@khadimndiaye7730, He is probably the kind of guy who read only self-help books

  • @elias1579
    @elias1579 6 лет назад +217

    I have no education, I’m a high school drop out. Yet I continue to study epistemology and now interested in the trivium. I hope this thirst is not in vain.

    • @mudrakumar
      @mudrakumar 3 года назад +4

      Hey...how are you studying trivium? Please give some insight.

    • @rexdalit3504
      @rexdalit3504 3 года назад +10

      Hi Elias. Admit it, your thirst for knowledge is almost *certainly* "in vain", but this is no reason at all to stop.

    • @flecha213
      @flecha213 3 года назад +10

      Of course it isn't. Life enrichment can't be quantified, it can be felt through experience

    • @zenwarrior3603
      @zenwarrior3603 3 года назад +8

      Knowledge is never a waste. Read on!

    • @mikedaniels3009
      @mikedaniels3009 3 года назад +1

      You're possibly a self-made millionaire, while all college "lecturers" are pussies & losers who hide in there & behind their man-made paper trails because they can't hack it in the real world.

  • @lifecloud2
    @lifecloud2 3 года назад +15

    Someone giving a lecture was once asked, "Why does a dog love to stick his head out of the window of a moving car where he's hit by bugs and debris that get in his eyes and on his tongue? Why does he wag his tail the entire time and can't wait to do this again?" The answer was simple: "Because it's worth it." I just loved that.

  • @MikeClohset
    @MikeClohset 7 лет назад +32

    So glad I found this on minds and best teacher I've seen in a very long time. His influence on me is instead of being depressed everyday for watching press on TV will get uplifting by reading those books. Even at age 55, still can learn and improve my train of thought.

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +5

      So your 59 now buddy. How goes the train these days?

  • @charlie4696
    @charlie4696 4 года назад +199

    I'm currently 31 years old and having a hard time to choose what I want to do with myself for the next 40+ years (hopefully), while there's some people that have already found their passion and have all their college education on their area, there're people like me who are still looking for their spark. Watching this, I have renew hope. I find it very insightful and inspirational. Time to read some books and stop wrestling with weaklings. The view! Thanks!

    • @myhatmygandhi6217
      @myhatmygandhi6217 3 года назад +11

      "Learn as though you'll live tomorrow, but live as though you'll die forever"

    • @Conn30Mtenor
      @Conn30Mtenor 3 года назад +7

      Have you tried focusing on what you're good at?

    • @apricotcomputers3943
      @apricotcomputers3943 3 года назад +7

      don't worry about the next 40 years.. worry about your relationship with Christ

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +17

      @@apricotcomputers3943 Good grief. Would Christ want anyone to worry about him?

    • @apricotcomputers3943
      @apricotcomputers3943 3 года назад +4

      @@liammurphy2725 no, he's the lord of lord, king of kings

  • @surrealistidealist
    @surrealistidealist 3 года назад +70

    One of my life goals is to study all of this in detail. I may never be able to afford to enroll in a college or university for a degree in Classics, but I'm at least going to get all the use I can out of my libraries and book stores! ❤

    • @noobieexplorer4697
      @noobieexplorer4697 2 года назад +2

      Good luck on your journey

    • @misha4626
      @misha4626 2 года назад +1

      You’re a amazing.. you can do anything you put your mind to! I wish you the best !!! ❤️

    • @surrealistidealist
      @surrealistidealist 2 года назад +1

      @@misha4626 Thank you so much! That means a lot to me! I'm giving it all I've got! 🙏 ❤️

    • @jamesbarlow6423
      @jamesbarlow6423 2 года назад +2

      Don't waste your time listening to these guys. Just read the books. And LIVE

    • @Sarah-re7cg
      @Sarah-re7cg Год назад +1

      A great resource is the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Make sure to get your information from professional and credited sources. There are so many confusing and flat out wrong hot takes.

  • @PaulMacklinAmazing
    @PaulMacklinAmazing 2 года назад +5

    Brilliant!!! I’m discovering literature for the first time at 67 years old. This is gold.

  • @guitarfreak1333
    @guitarfreak1333 10 лет назад +90

    ...and now I've read The Republic. Might just have saved my ability to critical thinking. I read on some website, that Jeffrey Benzel is a huge fan of "How to read a book" by Mortimer Adler. I bought it and i can recommend it as a trustworthy companion to the intellectual journey :)
    I would argue though, that it is useful to be selective in the use of Mortimer Adlers techniques. Time is finite, after all :)
    With regards to The Republic, i found Allan Bloom's literal translation (the one including an interpretative essay) to be brilliant. Focused, contemporary and readable.
    Thank you, Jeffrey Brenzel, for convincing me to read the classics.

    • @fated8
      @fated8 5 лет назад +5

      Just now reading Karen Swallow Prior's On Reading Well. I'm guessing if you haven't read it you likely would.

    • @jamesfrancese6091
      @jamesfrancese6091 3 года назад

      @John Steven I’m sorry you’re having a hard time keeping up

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад

      I guess I suffer the same as many of us, who fail to find great authors because they write in another culture. London England here. Never heard of Mortimer Adler before viewing this. Will I have to read that book before I read that book?

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +1

      @@fated8 As a lifelong reader I found invaluable a book entitled 'Elements of Style" co-authors Strunk and White. It's about writing well and has been most useful to me. It was written a good few decades ago and is as relevant today as it's ever been.

    • @albertplumer
      @albertplumer 2 года назад

      Yada yada yada. Proles
      As myself should be warned ,since we are Cannon fodder , did the wealthy go to battle looking into a rearview mirror? The rich in western countries begrudge even the taxes required to pay for it. Memory of this still exists decades after. But eat well as you can. All do die .birth,life,death ; that's all a good life is.

  • @clemdane
    @clemdane 10 лет назад +358

    I wish I were 18 again and could start over with a classical education. Well, I can stsrt over at my age, too.

    • @EyeLean5280
      @EyeLean5280 9 лет назад +19

      Clemdane Of course you can :)

    • @maxdominate2481
      @maxdominate2481 6 лет назад +23

      Buy and read 'The Great Books of Western Civilization' and you'll have what you seek.

    • @valerierawlins1298
      @valerierawlins1298 6 лет назад +11

      It's what I am doing, and I am having a lovely time discovering new things, while stretching my mind. My grandchildren are also benefitting from this.

    • @maxdominate2481
      @maxdominate2481 6 лет назад +5

      Glad to learn that you are working through the 'Great Books of Western Civilization".
      I would also recommend the nine paperback volumes of "A History of Philosphy" by Frederick Copleston. Absolutely amazing as you work through the philosophers represented in the GBWC.

    • @valerierawlins1298
      @valerierawlins1298 6 лет назад +3

      @@maxdominate2481 will you recommend Will Durant?? I have enjoyed reading, but I want to have a greater and wider understanding. Thank you for the recommendation.

  • @nanjappa42
    @nanjappa42 5 лет назад +7

    Very absorbing talk. I have been actually following these ideas for over 50 years. I do not read newspapers, or watch TV or go to movies. I have not read a new novel in the last 40 years. I have found that the old true Classics make us better, wiser. As a student of Indian thought and philosophy, I find in Socrates and Plato kindred spirits. A true Classical work addresses universal human issues, there is neither East nor West. Socrates dealt with philosophy as a way of life, not a mere system of abstract thought. He lived his philosophy. This accords well with our own philosophy.
    Reading a classic has a therapeutic effect- it heals us in unseen ways. This is a matter of personal experience.
    I am happy about and thankful for this talk.

  • @alaakela
    @alaakela 8 месяцев назад +2

    It's 2024. Thank you. This was fantastic. I have wanted to read the classics but didn't know where to start. Your lecture was an essential first step toward my goal. Thank you.

  • @QFbGrEdut
    @QFbGrEdut 3 года назад +21

    I love this man's style. He goes straight to the point and that's something I value a lot. Thank you a lot for sharing this content!

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +3

      I agree with you 100%. Not a wasted or useless word anywhere. Brilliant and engaging speaker.

  • @elysium619
    @elysium619 3 года назад +19

    Such a well stated, compelling argument! And true! I took a year long survey course at university called Classic Literature, from ancient Greece to modern times. Everything Brenzel states is spot on. In spades. It was truly a profound experience in so many ways, so many lessons, insights and takeaways that informed and strengthened my hand. Takeaways which I referenced throughout my life. It's nothing short of tragic that universities have been, for some time, gutting liberal arts studies in favor of STEM to the effect of essentially turning universities into sites for vocational training.

  • @stndsure7275
    @stndsure7275 7 лет назад +59

    Every College student and 99% of those over 40 should watch this - we live in trivial culture in a distracted age. As if there is not enough choice - there is also an incredible list of translated Indo-Tibetan and Sino-Japanese texts now available.

    • @TheSpecialJ11
      @TheSpecialJ11 3 года назад +2

      It truly is an amazing but peculiar time to be alive. Never have we had more access to the heights of human aspirations, never have we had as many paths to be led astray on.

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +1

      @@TheSpecialJ11 Follow the Stoics.

  • @Oleander410
    @Oleander410 6 лет назад +46

    Kids, if you're seeing this and want to go to college (or if you're interested in doing graduate work on these books), check out the curriculum at St. John's College. They're still doing education the old-school way.

    • @CandidDate
      @CandidDate 3 года назад +2

      Could that be because they're an old-school?

    • @Templar112299
      @Templar112299 3 года назад +3

      Or Hillsdale

    • @georgewenberg3265
      @georgewenberg3265 3 года назад +2

      Good point. SJC's curriculum was changed ca early 1950's and based on the U of Chicago's Great Books. It's often called the Great Books school with a hands-on approach to learning the great ideas of the "Western world" and now "Eastern" studies have been added. -Class of '90 SF

    • @samaraisnt
      @samaraisnt 3 года назад

      Depends on what year you went there, curriculum changes year over year now, let alone over decades!

  • @kjekelle96
    @kjekelle96 6 лет назад +6

    "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." - T. S. Eliot
    In other words, the journey will prepare you to appreciate the destination.
    “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” - Bruce Lee

  • @ByronWoolley-x7t
    @ByronWoolley-x7t Год назад

    Outstanding presentation. Thank you from a 74 years old. I have been reading them (all 54) for over 50 years.

  • @willsabol8391
    @willsabol8391 3 года назад +83

    If only this stuff was presented this way from the beginning, I may have actually read all those books in high school.

    • @liammurphy2725
      @liammurphy2725 3 года назад +5

      Sadly we all need some basic level of attainment regarding experience, that precludes children being seen as suitable recipients of this knowledge. But if their teacher has seen the philosophical light then the kids are in good hands.

    • @feedermonkey7233
      @feedermonkey7233 2 года назад +7

      It's not too late!

    • @willd.8040
      @willd.8040 2 года назад +2

      Totally agree. I feel cheated, to be honest. I don't know how I am the same human being now at age 45, that I was when I was 16 or 17. But I still have time hopefully, and I'm going to choose one of the classics mentioned here, and order it. A lot of the blame lies with me, but I also feel that our schools also play a big role in not explaining these things the way the host of this video does. Maybe if they had explained it this way, I would have been more willing to read them. Better late than never, I guess.

    • @SevenFootPelican
      @SevenFootPelican 2 года назад

      It’s hard in high school, I’ll be honest. It’s just something that comes with age, honestly. One thing leads to the next and you want to read all of the great works somewhere starting in your 20’s

    • @sanjayshetty1533
      @sanjayshetty1533 2 года назад

      Stop looking for excuses😅

  • @persona-user
    @persona-user 8 лет назад +6

    Thanks, Mr. Brenzel. Amazing lecture on the Classics. I started to get interested in classic education by myself after tumbling with Dante on a library and now I am discovering a new world by reading classic poetry and philosophy. The arguments and book tips in this video are really great.

  • @alisonarmstrong8421
    @alisonarmstrong8421 3 года назад +5

    Thank you! Your sane attitude and well organized information are more than ever of value now in 2021, 9+ years after your talk. I told a granddaughter that this is 2 years of college in 57 minutes...if only we will do the reading...

  • @liammurphy2725
    @liammurphy2725 3 года назад

    5 months since my first view of this most engaging presentation. Very happy to see this again. Thank you to Big Think and The RUclips algorithm.

  • @zhangvict1
    @zhangvict1 12 лет назад +11

    The Apology, Crito, Meno, Symposium, Republic, Nicomacean Ethics, Antigone, Odeipus Rex, The Illiad, Genesis, Exodus, The Inferno, Confessions, City of God, Arabian Nights, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Leviathan, Les Miserables, War and Peace, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, The Borthers Karmazkov, Anarchy, State and Utopia, The Glass Bead Game, The Stranger, Ulysses and everything else I cannot think of that is amazing

  • @losthero0
    @losthero0 3 года назад +1

    Answering specific burning question I've had for years in a comprehensive format. Good man

  • @TheGodlessGuitarist
    @TheGodlessGuitarist 3 года назад +13

    I remember reading Thomas Paine's 'The Age of Reason' and being absolutely capitivated by it. Not so much for the arguments he was making but because of the language of the day and the sense that I was reading the words off the page as he wrote them. It was like someone in the 1700s was talking directly into my head through a wormhole.

  • @vapeangel2953
    @vapeangel2953 2 года назад +9

    The best decision I have ever made in my life was reading the 7 novels written by Jane Austen. Never have I understood myself as a young woman so well, I wish I could relive the first time I’ve read each one of those novels

    • @ObsoleteTutorials
      @ObsoleteTutorials 2 года назад +3

      Well now I must read these 7 novels. I do hope also to understand myself as a young woman as a man.

  • @HuwenArnone
    @HuwenArnone 3 года назад +9

    Writing down references... everything changes when someone takes the time to even explain the chronology of thought and great thinkers/writers/philosophers. Thank you, Jeffrey.

  • @heatherfryling3453
    @heatherfryling3453 10 лет назад +6

    This is precisely why I've always worked to read and understand as many classics as I can.

  • @micheallewele3130
    @micheallewele3130 9 лет назад +24

    this is Beautiful, well crafted , Genius and what we need, Thank You.

  • @jcardenas48292
    @jcardenas48292 3 года назад +2

    I love the way the man speaks-many pauses and plenty of opportunities to take in his reason and logic.

  • @ze_chooch
    @ze_chooch 8 лет назад +101

    This always pumps me up before I read a classic. Like the speech given at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Theoden, King of Rohan.

    • @kylereasterson5934
      @kylereasterson5934 7 лет назад

      ok

    • @TheGearPeddler
      @TheGearPeddler 7 лет назад

      You should do some reading and less posting.

    • @fmafan123456789
      @fmafan123456789 6 лет назад +3

      it was a shitpost dude lol. Have you guys not read LOTR? Chill.

    • @johndough6225
      @johndough6225 6 лет назад +14

      Everyone who responded negatively to this comment needs to get laid.

    • @julianblake8385
      @julianblake8385 4 года назад +3

      Arise, Arise, Readers of Théoden!
      BTW, all the negative comments are just resentful hunts (H=C) who have never read TLOTR.

  • @2Oldcoots
    @2Oldcoots 3 года назад +2

    This is the most informative video I have ever watched on RUclips. Thank you Dr. Brenzel!!! I have taken notes from the entire presentation and will read some of these classics.

  • @amazingheroart
    @amazingheroart 2 года назад +13

    You’re a wonderful presenter. Wish I was a Yale student with you as my professor. Im a Disney Artist, always looking for inspiration while I paint, and this is so well done. Thank you

  • @danchiappe
    @danchiappe 3 года назад +62

    I think it is essential to include Homer’s “The Odyssey” and “The Iliad” on any list of essential reads. Few books have been more influential and it is impossible not to run into allusions to these books in many of the works that followed.

    • @TeaParty1776
      @TeaParty1776 3 года назад +4

      I read both in 7th grade, immensely enjoyed them and knew that they were importantly different than Shakespeare and Silas Marner because they presented life as good and heroic. But the teacher was as dumb as a doorknob, with no wide perspective on art and life. We were required to memorize isolated facts with no organizing principles. Years later I read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead and The Romantic Manifesto, her philosophy of art. My 7th grade self was right.

    • @leeroberts4850
      @leeroberts4850 3 года назад +3

      @@TeaParty1776 know if you read it anything and ran row and you thought that you were right when you were smarter than an adult before you hit puberty then you never actually learned how to be an intellectual you're still an idiot with confirmation bias

    • @TeaParty1776
      @TeaParty1776 3 года назад +1

      @@leeroberts4850 You evade judging my idea as true or false. Look out at reality, not inward. Focus your mind. The passive mind is the Devil's playground.

    • @TeaParty1776
      @TeaParty1776 3 года назад

      @@leeroberts4850 My ideas are factually true. Your ideas are...oh, wait, you have no ideas.

    • @TeaParty1776
      @TeaParty1776 3 года назад

      @@leeroberts4850 Thanks for confirming my bias.

  • @ThinkBigAnimation
    @ThinkBigAnimation 5 лет назад +8

    I love how this video brought all its points together in the end

  • @ennediend2865
    @ennediend2865 3 года назад

    Excellent very clear accent 😊👍
    and speed , for non native speakers.
    Thank you very very much Monsieur Brenzel ! God bless you for the respect...

  • @starwbh1
    @starwbh1 12 лет назад +8

    This was very inspirational! All of the academic reading I've had to do for classes had dried up my interest in reading. However, this reminded me of why I used to love to read the classics.

  • @daheikkinen
    @daheikkinen 4 года назад +16

    I went to Hillsdale College. They have a rigorous Great Books program. It was a great educational experience overall. They have a lot of courses available online for free.

  • @Ldj8395jebr4
    @Ldj8395jebr4 12 лет назад +15

    I was inspired until I read the comments section; now I just feel despair. Thanks Prof. for the motivating lecture! Especially the points on theology...

  • @Tipoconsuguitarra
    @Tipoconsuguitarra 12 лет назад +2

    This channel is just brilliant. To the people who came up with the idea, and put it all together, I thank you!!

  • @language.wanderer
    @language.wanderer 3 года назад +8

    This lesson made me so much more motivated to seek for knowledge. I am a bit stuck in life these days. I have free time and a whole new world to explore but I am not using it properly as I wanted when I was busy, rushing to delivery work on time, rushing to not disappoint my boss and do not get fired. PS I left my job 3 years ago to go in endless voyage around the world in a seek for knowledge and adventure.

  • @bradchristy5002
    @bradchristy5002 10 месяцев назад

    Exceptional “find” for me and my search into the classics. You encapsulated everything into your presentation to clear the trees so that I may ultimately see the forest! Thank you so much

  • @maxdominate2481
    @maxdominate2481 6 лет назад +15

    Most of the books you'll need to follow Mr. Brenzel's advise have been collected for you already:
    'The Great Books of Western Civilization'

  • @cheetengho7876
    @cheetengho7876 3 года назад +1

    This video itself is a great classic for everyone who is remotely even curious about the question of life.
    My father was an intellectual and often read many great classics as mentioned. After watching this video, I can’t help but feel that I should start reading The Republic right away even it’s it’s tomorrow while waiting in line for my vaccination.

  • @StavroginNikolai
    @StavroginNikolai 12 лет назад +5

    Agreed, I'm a programmer and also enjoy astrophysics and similar branches of science, pushing forward doesn't necessitate a disregard for the past, in fact a good understanding of the past makes imagining the future both more accurate and more fun.

  • @NS-wo6ze
    @NS-wo6ze 6 лет назад +1

    Thank you, sir from Oxford. Your words resonate a truth which is timeless and inspiring.

  • @noticias6111
    @noticias6111 9 лет назад +24

    The part where he says how you kind of have to be picky given the amount of ground possible to cover in a lifetime makes me thankful for channels like Wisecrack.

    • @EmperorOab
      @EmperorOab 6 лет назад +3

      Thug Notes all the way!

  • @julieann1522
    @julieann1522 4 года назад +1

    Thank you for the talk Prof Brenzel. I really enjoyed listening to it.

  • @CptDangernoodle
    @CptDangernoodle 2 года назад +11

    Here are some other literary works that could be added to this list:
    The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2000 B.C.), an ancient Mesopotamian poem that is considered to be one of the earliest surviving works of literature.
    The Bhagavad Gita (c. 400-200 B.C.), a Hindu religious text that is an important part of Indian literature.
    The Book of Psalms (c. 1000-400 B.C.), a collection of religious poems from the Hebrew Bible.
    The Canterbury Tales (c. 1387), a collection of stories by the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer.
    Don Quixote (1605-1615), a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes that is considered to be one of the greatest works of fiction ever written.
    Moby-Dick (1851), a novel by the American author Herman Melville that is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novels.
    Ulysses (1922), a novel by the Irish author James Joyce that is considered to be one of the most important works of modernist literature.
    One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), a novel by the Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.
    These works were chosen because they are considered to be classics of literature, and they are widely regarded as being important, influential, and enduring works of art. They are also notable for their literary achievements, and many of them are considered to be masterpieces of their respective genres.

    • @andrewdorie4010
      @andrewdorie4010 Год назад +1

      It’s a good thing you mentioned these obscure works. People tend to overlook them.

    • @CptDangernoodle
      @CptDangernoodle Год назад +1

      @@andrewdorie4010 Haha sarcasm noted.

  • @SK-le1gm
    @SK-le1gm 3 года назад

    You answered the question with an *ontology.* All questions can be addressed well with an ontology. This is one of the universal concepts of Aristotle. Makes life better to be able to start to answer any question at all properly. Thanks for a fantastic video.

  • @wibblegorm
    @wibblegorm 12 лет назад +6

    Utterly awesome lecture... I would love to take a college class with Brenzel as my tutor!

  • @JRF1366
    @JRF1366 3 года назад

    Best hour I have spent in my life. This lecture will pay with interest.

  • @muanamuluba6684
    @muanamuluba6684 8 лет назад +11

    I really enjoyed watching this great video on Classical Education. I have read some of those books.

  • @harmansingh3533
    @harmansingh3533 2 года назад

    This video just played randomly but he is such a great speaker that I had to listen to it till end plus it’s so full of knowledge.
    Thank you so much for making this kind of videos that internet really needs.

  • @user-qb3jg8ep9t
    @user-qb3jg8ep9t 7 лет назад +8

    Thank you, Big Think. This has really activated my almonds.

  • @minoslau6754
    @minoslau6754 11 месяцев назад +1

    Best RUclips video I’ve seen in the last 5 years

  • @kricketbx
    @kricketbx 7 лет назад +8

    I appreciated my "ways of knowing" philosophy course, but while reading some of the works-I became so anxious and a bit confused... Although the professor is great at explaining much of the elements-you really helped me to comprehend it all even more. Thank you-from the Bronx!

  • @agnomotuh
    @agnomotuh 2 года назад

    46:31 "So here are the giants - master the skills that it takes to get up on their shoulders, and you're going to see quite a distance."
    Perfectly said

  • @Ears324
    @Ears324 4 года назад +3

    As much as there is some things I disagree with, that was a sincere delight to watch, thank you, very much!

  • @mgregory22
    @mgregory22 2 года назад

    That camping story got me all choked up. Beautiful story and a beautiful talk!

  • @wibblegorm
    @wibblegorm 11 лет назад +2

    I read Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost while at school and they taught me the value of viewing the world with a sceptical eye. I have those titans of philosophy: Dante and Milton, to thank for making up a a part of who I am today. I definitely plan to read the rest of this list throughout my life!

    • @TeaParty1776
      @TeaParty1776 3 года назад

      Classically educated, '60s rock singer, Marianne Faithfull, reads from Dante on, I believe, Blazing Away. An actress, too, she reads with profound meaning. "Midway thru life, I found myself lost in a wood."

  • @tontsar91
    @tontsar91 3 года назад +1

    So glad I came across this video.

  • @hanscastorp66
    @hanscastorp66 10 лет назад +4

    These "old" books don't make you smarter, they make you more open-minded. How mich do we need them!

  • @alonsosoto8883
    @alonsosoto8883 3 года назад

    Good morning Dr Jeffrey great expect sunrise and leasten your speech .Never late to learn.
    Thank you

  • @rith5
    @rith5 11 лет назад +4

    Questions like what is the best life for a human presuppose there's 1 answer. There may be many equally fantastic ways to live.

  • @patagon6305
    @patagon6305 2 года назад

    A Highly compelling and envigorating exposition, Jeffrey. Thank you!

  • @SaturnElena
    @SaturnElena 10 лет назад +10

    this was beautiful, ty, I will start with plato

  • @drdavid62
    @drdavid62 2 года назад +1

    Great lecture! So happy I discovered this series from Big Think! Thank you Dr Brenzel for an enlightening affirmation of the incredibly valuable and often uplifting source of wisdom the Classics can be! This reminds me a bit of the ‘Great Courses’ series now available through Wi-Fi streaming services (for a modest subscription fee). Thank you Big Think as well for a great production!/

  • @mariavq452
    @mariavq452 10 лет назад +7

    Very didactic lecture. It enlightens and clarifies important ideas. Thank you!

  • @OmniOak
    @OmniOak 12 лет назад +1

    Ha, so YOU'RE the one who turned down my application back in 2009. Hello!
    In all seriousness, excellent lecture. Definitely my favorite so far. It's evident that you care quite a bit - not just about the subject matter, but about your son, your students, and the state of education in the world. And yes, clearly all the other lecturers are deeply invested in those things, but somehow... you seem, to me, to show the most humanity. It's compelling. Thank you.

  • @littlehouseinthebigapple5716
    @littlehouseinthebigapple5716 4 года назад +9

    I rarely “thumbs up” any RUclips videos. OMG! I loved this so much! 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼I honestly want to watch more content from this guy. Any more vids from him out there?

  • @jimbeam4140
    @jimbeam4140 10 лет назад

    This man is one of the best lecturers I have ever heard. I have heard a LOT of lectures.

  • @damillionmalania
    @damillionmalania 9 лет назад +3

    Finding out what's worth reading is a difficult task, and a lot of the concepts hidden in the books mentioned are well worth taking with oneself. I could add a few thoughts about reading the classics, but I will make do with the most important one: Remember that not all those gifted with the mind are as gifted with the pen. Some geniuses are lousy writers. Case in point: I have yet to meet the man or woman who enjoyed reading Hobbes Leviathan, but once you read it and unpack Hobbes ideas you realize they are still relevant and intriguing. In other words: sometimes the reward of reading old classics doesn't lie in the literary prowess of the authors. Endure and often you will be rewarded.

    • @danielfrei6213
      @danielfrei6213 9 лет назад +1

      +damillionmalania similarly, 20 variants of the quran in translation begs where to begin. but what a great project that would be! discuss the translation style with muslims of all stripes and get a year's learning out of it. as you said... buried treasure.

  • @thespartanphysique
    @thespartanphysique 2 года назад

    Best 56:41 of my life...learned so much!!...I am watching this again. Thanks Professor!!

  • @spatterspatter
    @spatterspatter 10 лет назад +5

    No, Thrasymachus doesn't "stalk off." He stays to hear the rest of the talk, and in fact insists later (in Book V, at 450a-b) with the others in the party that Socrates complete his promise to describe the Beautiful City he has been building in speech in response to Thrasymachus' definition of justice. Mr. Brenzel makes the unfortunately common mistake in assuming Thrasymachus leaves. Thrasymachus blushes when Socrates catches him out in a contradiction, and stays quiet for a while, but he's too interested in the discussion to simply leave.

    • @georgewenberg3265
      @georgewenberg3265 3 года назад

      Exactly so, as the representative of Tyranny and advocating justice as the advantage of the stronger, it seems it would be self-negating to just leave.

  • @kd1s
    @kd1s 12 лет назад +2

    Part of why I burnt out on my first brush with college was the schooling from high school. We read a lot of the classics - The Canterbury Tales, Lord of the Rings, Brave New World, 1984, the Greek tragedies, etc. Yes, I got a neo-classical education in high school.

  • @nehemiacalixte3289
    @nehemiacalixte3289 4 года назад +7

    I'm going to college this year, majoring in civil engineering and planning on minoring in classics!

    • @NodakBro
      @NodakBro 4 года назад +1

      As a 35 year-old I have to say I’m pretty jealous of your next 4+ years!

    • @ObsoleteTutorials
      @ObsoleteTutorials 3 года назад

      As a 32 year-old I'd like to say the same. I wasted my college years being so self-conscious.

  • @Vyrall-nk2xd
    @Vyrall-nk2xd 3 года назад +1

    The most profound video I’ve seen in a very long time. I’m going to save this one and revisit it

  • @martinkragl9980
    @martinkragl9980 2 года назад

    My humble opinion: one of the greatest videos on youtube!

  • @Mursilia
    @Mursilia 10 лет назад +16

    A year ago i watched this video for the first time. Since then i've had some shaking existencional crysis (that isn't necessarily a bad thing). I thank Big Think for this video. Just one thing bothers me a bit watching it now: Crime & Punishment by Dostoiévski isn't on the list.

    • @KevinGoehler
      @KevinGoehler 10 лет назад

      Where is the list?? :) Thanks.

    • @Mursilia
      @Mursilia 10 лет назад +1

      Kevin Gøhler He mentions it further on the video. If i'm not mistaken it's something like this: Oedipus Rex, The Republic, a book from Aristotle (can't recall the name), City of God, Summa Theologica, Dante's Inferno (The Divine Comedy), Paradise Lost, King Lear, War and Peace (though i'd put Crime and Punishment here as well).

    • @daddyleon
      @daddyleon 10 лет назад

      How does "Crime & Punishment by Dostoiévski" bother you?

    • @ryoushinchan
      @ryoushinchan 10 лет назад +4

      daddyleon Bothers him that he doesn't mention it, not the literary work having an affect on his person.

    • @LastariOo
      @LastariOo 10 лет назад

      I agree, I'm surprised Crime & Punishment wasn't mentioned.

  • @mazendiab5695
    @mazendiab5695 7 лет назад

    Thank Dr JEFFREY BRENZEL for this great video .

  • @aysoodaagh3167
    @aysoodaagh3167 3 года назад +5

    This was inspiring. I'm going to make my friends Watch it (((((:

    • @bobdillaber1195
      @bobdillaber1195 3 года назад +1

      I just recommend it to my daughter today after viewing it. I'm 81 and she's 54. Never too late.

  • @solosamurai3365
    @solosamurai3365 2 года назад +1

    Thank you for this upload. I finished the entire video. It was worth it. When the professor said in his closing statement: "It's the view!"
    ...I couldn't help but smile.

  • @petrovikdejan
    @petrovikdejan 10 лет назад +4

    I like the video it's almost perfect. I have only one thing to add as comment - the professor doesn't mention the eastern christian theologians from late antiquity although their work is essential.

  • @BlueMonkeySky
    @BlueMonkeySky 3 года назад

    This is (by far) my most favourite video on RUclips!!!! I LOVE this. ❤️

  • @annaritarafaschieri7127
    @annaritarafaschieri7127 7 лет назад +6

    Speaking of women in philosophy:
    "Hypatia, often called Hypatia of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher in Egypt, then a part of the Byzantine Empire. She was the head of the Neoplatonic school at Alexandria, where she taught philosophy and astronomy. "
    From Wikipedia.
    Why doesn't she deserves to be quoted? -. - Especially as an example of intellectually realised women before and until Christianity struck to the core of equality destroying it!

    • @MagnumOpusYT
      @MagnumOpusYT 6 лет назад

      Anna Rita Rafaschieri Facinating

    • @Thewhiteboyulovewaree
      @Thewhiteboyulovewaree 6 лет назад +1

      Why does this involve Christianity many women are still known for example Jane Austen or Laura ingalls wilder? They were alive during Christianity and are still known for what they did and are known by many people.

    • @Thewhiteboyulovewaree
      @Thewhiteboyulovewaree 6 лет назад

      There is so many authors that you can’t quote all of them.

    • @knpstrr
      @knpstrr 6 лет назад +2

      I don't think she wasn't quoted because she is undeserving. Admittedly, I don't know much about her. However, did she contribute some novel ideas to these subjects? Just searching on Wikipedia it states: "Hypatia has been described as a universal genius, but she was probably more of a teacher and commentator than an innovator. No evidence has been found that Hypatia ever published any independent works on philosophy and she does not appear to have made any groundbreaking mathematical discoveries."
      It would be difficult to recommend reading greats works of a person who didn't create any said works.

    • @nickshel
      @nickshel 6 лет назад +1

      Your conceptualisation of Christianity is clearly very confused. It may be helpful if you were more specific. Are you referring to Roman Catholic Christianity? The irony here is that the Byzantine Empire was specifically Christian - indeed it was the principle it was founded on by Constantine.

  • @margueritedwyer4035
    @margueritedwyer4035 2 года назад

    What a wonderful teacher.

  • @delancyj67
    @delancyj67 7 лет назад +9

    I would add classics from other cultures. The Prince by Machievelli and the Art of War by Sun Tzu are far more practical as operating philisophies than some of the books mentioned.

    • @vodkatonyq
      @vodkatonyq 6 лет назад +3

      The Prince is already one of the central political texts of WESTERN culture.

  • @Cure_E_Osity
    @Cure_E_Osity 3 года назад +1

    Amazing from start to finish! Refreshing after spending too much time in the political comment sections. Thank you for reminding me about something that I had forgotten

  • @chescarino
    @chescarino 8 лет назад +49

    how do the kardashians fit in to all of this

    • @robreke
      @robreke 8 лет назад +40

      Essential watching. Reading the classics only after you've watched and studied all of the Kardashian TV shows. It's essential you get those fundamentals down first before tackling the less important classics.

    • @EnEvighet7
      @EnEvighet7 7 лет назад +5

      They are cancer, simply a distracting for the masses.

    • @Maranna95
      @Maranna95 4 года назад +1

      Hard to digest, but definitely giving us some different perspectives

  • @thientruong7349
    @thientruong7349 3 года назад

    Appreciate for this vid to be suddenly recommended on my RUclips. This is precious

  • @kjekelle96
    @kjekelle96 6 лет назад +5

    "It's the view!"

  • @k4piii
    @k4piii 3 года назад

    Play it at 1.5x to 1.75x, what a great talk!

  • @leec4185
    @leec4185 3 года назад +4

    One can’t get a quality education at Yale, unlesss you’re satisfied with one side of every story.

    • @rlkinnard
      @rlkinnard 3 года назад +1

      so you think that the students are cowed. that they have no spunk. I don't think so.

  • @fortwynt5607
    @fortwynt5607 2 года назад

    An extremely concise, common sense, and relatable explanation as to why you can only benefit from digesting the specific profound literary examples he gives.... and so much more.

  • @trenomas1
    @trenomas1 2 года назад +4

    Don't just read western works, guys. There's a whole world out there.

    • @tatsumakisempyukaku
      @tatsumakisempyukaku 3 месяца назад

      Listen Alan watts to get a sense of eastern thought like daoism, Buddhism and the like, but the metaphysics of these are found, implied in Plato, specifically Plato’s Parmenides-the latter half of

  • @JohnBullard
    @JohnBullard 3 года назад +1

    The Great Books list is in the last chapter of Adler's HOW TO READ A BOOK. At age 40 I found this book and list, and read my way forward through history, enjoying the Great Conversation between all those great minds. I know my place in time and the living river of humanity because of the great books.