Wisdom Matters: Reading Literature for a Wiser World

Toni-Morrison-1993.jpg
Erdrich
McEwan 2
rs-243008-lin.jpg
Le Guin
Ozeki
Unknown
Adichie 2
Chris_Marker

Photos: Brittanica (Morrison), Rolling Stone (Miranda), Wikipedia (Bechdel), Brittanica (Erdrich), Massive Science (Le Guin), Harvard Crimson (Adichie), Alan Elkann Interviews (McEwan), Penguin Random House (Ozeki), Wikipedia (Marker)

The arc of human history cycles between eras of relative wisdom and others where wisdom is in short supply. In politics, as in our social life more generally, ours is an era of striking unwisdom.

Continue reading “Wisdom Matters: Reading Literature for a Wiser World”

Rethinking Liberal Education

Photo: Raphael, The School of Athens (detail), antigonejournal.com

Narrative imagination is an essential preparation for moral interaction. Habits of empathy and conjecture conduce to a certain type of citizenship and a certain form of community: one that cultivates a sympathetic responsiveness to another’s needs, and understands the way circumstances shape those needs, while respecting separateness and privacy.

Martha Nussbaum, Cultivating Humanity

Continue reading “Rethinking Liberal Education”