30 20 5655 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ad96e7830d8d8b84cf3bd18a8359e70d.pdf 2b920a0e34d5147147da71ffabf0262d PDF Text Text Cultural Institutions, Theatre, and Humanistic Liberal Arts Education: Where Do We Go from Here? J. Scott Lee, Executive Director, Association for Core Texts and Courses Recent education conferences tend to illustrate a sense of an impending loss of liberal education within a tide of cultural crisis. The call for this conference at St. John’s College on “What Is Liberal Education For?” “recogniz[es]” that the traditions of education at liberal arts colleges “have been put on the defensive.” The call finds an “emerging consensus” that “consumerism,” “new economic challenges,” and “the fragmentation of general studies” caused by specialization were “symptomatic” of “a crisis of uncertainty and disorientation affecting every field of human endeavor.” The call asserts liberal education “can reaffirm its relevance and [humane] purposes” in response to this broad crisis. St. John’s College is not alone in formulating a crisis that liberal education faces. Phi Beta Kappa and the American Council of Academic Deans and the Working Group of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University are only some of the most notable bodies that have discussed the stress liberal education faces. The 2013 PBK/ACAD conference call was hardly less sweeping than the SJC call, stating that higher education is “undergoing … transformations” of economic necessity, and that education is being “driven by technology” or by demographic stresses on class rigidity for millions of families who aspire for a better life. The call seemed to say that the transformations have put the “structure and character of higher education” along with the entire democratic premises of American society at risk, and that these transformations not only have subjected higher education to the winds and change of fortune, but that more than any other branch of higher education, liberal arts and sciences are suffering “scrutiny” more than ever. �A recent spate of defenses of the humanities and humanism, the college, and the purpose of education -- by Martha Nussbaum, Tony Kronman, Andrew Delbanco, Patrick Deneen, and Reinhard Hütter -- adumbrate a destruction of liberal education correlated to the economic, scientific, and technological conditions under which we live. i ii Each author attempts to revive traditions of liberal education by linking it to sustaining democracy, spiritual needs of cultures, or understandings of faith. All find the soul of our students and our citizens is at stake, though, of course, the constitution of that soul and the education designed to nurture it are at issue amongst them. Collectively, they might be called ‘the whole person defense’ of liberal education. A common concern among our authors is whether our cultural assumption that we can transform almost anything, particularly through the technology of science, is good for our souls, good for liberal education, and good for our species. For Nussbaum, technology appears as the competing, attractive image of students in the lab, instead of pictures of students “thinking,” that administrators use to lure students to universities. iii Delbanco notes that the advantage that sciences have over the humanities in public evaluations is landmarks which technological advances provide, though an occasional historical or philosophic “breakthrough” be acknowledged. iv For Kronman and Deneen, technology is the differential gear which imparts varying force to science, culture, and education. Further, Kronman and Deneen come very close to each other in noting the meretricious effects upon our character, upon our sense of limits, which technological achievement unleashes in the form of pleonexia. The humanities currently fail to address it (Kronman), or education encourages it through a philosophy of transformation, of creating original knowledge and innovations through research (Deneen). v Hütter suggests that the humanities cannot address “dire” transformational issues involving both the university and �society because the kind of soul that the humanities might try to produce through education, the imaginative faculty, is inadequate to examine the whole realm of knowledge and conduct the metaphysical search for truth Hütter believes would not only ground a liberal education, but, possibly, turn the sciences toward a self-examination of ends. vi Finally, most seem to be convinced that the products of arts are essential to any revival and while they are skilled fashioners of argument in areas where no single discipline can claim accepted precedence, the discussion of fine or liberal arts and their products is not in terms of art, but in the terms of the political, cultural, or religious end sought. For example, Nussbaum devotes large portions of her book exploring arts and a whole chapter to “Cultivating the Imagination: Literature and the Arts.” In the latter, we learn that “in order to be stably linked to democratic values [the artistic cultivation of ‘capacities for play and empathy in a general way, and (the) address (of) particular cultural blind spots’] requires a normative view of how human beings ought to relate to one another… and, therefore, requires selectivity regarding the artworks used.” vii A catalog follows of the failures of artworks, of “defective forms of ‘literature,” to cultivate the sympathy that Nussbaum desires. Undoubtedly, Kronman’s understanding of the search for meaning and his discussion of civilizational “conversation” depends on art; Delbanco’s distinction between research and reading instances canonical works from ancient to modern times; and Deneen’s argument is concerned with a residium of teachings that earlier great books leave us. Aside from promoting the cultivation of the imagination, Hütter seems nearly indifferent to art works selected. Whether by disinterest, by concentration on ends mostly external to liberal education, or through contempt for ‘know-how’ wrought by real misgivings over modern technology, these discussions tend to obscure and ignore the importance of the arts – broadly, the technē -- of the liberal arts. viii In sum, all mention liberal arts education; most �defend the fine or liberal arts, but none of these authors ground their defenses of liberal arts education in art per se. Thus, in these social-moral defenses, an entire line of argument concerning the arts is, for the most part, relegated to an instrumental, supporting, or ancillary role in a discussion that might be titled: “social conditions, educational institutions, and individual capacities: wither liberal education?” ix Notwithstanding the good will of many scientists, it is largely humanists and political philosophers who have inherited the liberal education traditions of practice and defense in today’s universities and colleges. A problem exists now: as a defense of liberal education, these political/cultural arguments have not worked and there are signs that their appeal is really flagging. Robert Ferrall, Jr, former President of Beloit College, has extensively documented the actual decline in the demographics and finances of colleges in his book Liberal Arts at the Brink. He calls for ‘collective action on the part of liberal arts colleges’ in order that ‘high school seniors [counselors and parents will see] the value of a liberal arts education [because] the entire community, that is, society as a whole, will [have been so] persuaded.’ (158-160). This particular paper agrees with that view and argues that a pervasive discussion of liberal arts, beginning in the academy and extending to the public is necessary as part of that much larger effort. While I think there are challenges, the purported crisis in liberal education can be approached in a way not usually developed in current discussions at any length: I mean we could speak of an education in liberal arts. In the terms of today’s discussions, liberal arts education is always secondary, a servant to some other larger concern. Further, as far as I can tell, there has been no discussion of what a renewed interest in the arts might do in universities and colleges when set in the context of other types of institutions which employ the arts. When the �question arises about the articulation and persuasive power of a liberal arts education defense, it seems beneficial to consider similar institutions and their problems and successes with the arts. I’ll continue, then, with why we might want to discuss art, and how I’m using the term. Then, I’ll look at a cluster of institutions that employ the arts: these include orchestras, museums, churches, humanistic liberal arts education, and the theatre. We’ll examine some of the troubles four of these institutions currently face, and we will see that theatre offers a model of cooperative, public arts which humanistic liberal arts education might consider in addressing its current problems. Finally, I’ll develop a possible renewal of the liberal arts which might both address current problems in colleges and help to change public perceptions of liberal arts education. Thereby, we would enrich the ecology of our defense and, I think, make perceptible what it is our students are capable of. Forty to fifty years ago when one went to college, one chose to get a B.A. or a B.S. Notwithstanding a plethora of alternatives, the same choice is still available and nobody doubts that students graduating, today, with a B.S. possess a science. I’ve been wondering, what art or arts do those graduating with a B.A. possess? The question seems relevant, for while undoubtedly exempla of the fine arts are discussed in courses taken by bachelor-of-arts candidates, it is not at all clear that bachelor-of-arts degrees are aimed at exploration of arts. Nor is it clear that traditions of education in the liberal arts, more than two thousand years of development of the trivium, quadrivium and other arts which have staked a claim to liberal arts education, are a component part of a bachelor of arts. Finally, while most bachelor-of-science students would probably self-describe their capacities and courses of instruction in scientific terms, it seems doubtful that those educated in the humanities or, possibly, political philosophy, would self-describe in artistic terms. Maybe the term, �‘bachelor-of-arts’ should be dropped altogether, but we would simply be further reducing our argumentative ecology by eliminating a widely recognized, if not well understood, distinguishing mark of the education we support. More probingly, the word, “art,” like the word “science,” has many associations and, therefore, implies the question, “what is art?” and, thus, the question “what would a ‘bachelor-ofarts’ indicate?” The range of Aristotle’s discussion of art provides, I think, a suitable scope for viewing the problems of humanistic liberal education in this light, because the range of Aristotle’s discussions suggests the almost vast territory arts in an education could explore. For Aristotle art means the capacity to make, the activity of making, and the object made that is separated from a maker. Thereby, the generic term, “art,” comprehends these three specific, correlative relations. For Aristotle art runs from the intellectual virtue of techne, (N.E. VI, iv) which is the etymological root of our modern terms, technique and technology, through formulations of specific arts as capacities or powers (dynamis) humans exercise – particularly those concerned with thought, for example, the arts of dialectic and rhetoric (Rhet I, 2 1355b), to the objects of human production (dynamis: Poetics 1, 1447a) x such as lyrics, comedies, tragedies or epics, instrumental music, choirs, painting, sculpture, architecture, mechanical arts, medicinal treatment, indeed, almost any made thing that usually happens and is not spontaneous, a product of chance or of nature (Phys II, 5). Thus, for Aristotle, art is a cause of things coming into being in this world that, otherwise, would not exist without active human agency (N.E., VI, 4). It touches our deepest natures and desires, exercises our minds and passions to a degree of inventiveness that our imaginations struggle to keep up with, incorporates almost anything that the universe has to offer, and results in a changed world that, without art, would be barren or, at best, no more than a garden of Eden. Art partakes of the characteristics of our modern �disciplines; knowledge is an important mark of the arts for Aristotle. Indeed, at points where knowledge of arts converges with experience, Aristotle’s view on art begins to approach the modern view of the necessity of knowledge to be empirical. (Meta I i) For Aristotle, the teaching of art, as a sign of the possession of knowledge, refers not only to the ordering of experience but the causes of what exists and how it is produced – again, a position not that distant from modernity. (Meta I i) Aristotle repeatedly identifies arts as origins of invention and as often ties these origins to the development of knowledge as well as the invention of new products and capacities (Soph Encl end, Poetics 4, Meta I i). Indeed, the arts may lay the foundation for the purely speculative sciences, not only because some of the arts do not aim at utility, but because even useful arts may involve a component associated with the speculative sciences – contemplation (Rhet, def). Moreover, art, faculties, and thought are all described by Aristotle (MetaphysicsVII, 7) as producers of makings, so that when a faculty or thought itself becomes subject to reflection or theorizing about the causes of thought in respect of specific ends, it is possible to speak of an art which contemplates and artistically produces thought. This is precisely what happens in the definition of rhetoric. xi The thoughts reflected on are pistoi, persuasives, and Aristotle writes extensively in the introduction to the treatise that Dialectic and Rhetoric, as arts, are counterparts and share many, not all, of the same concerns with inference, enthymemes and examples in rhetoric, syllogisms and induction in dialectic. The prefatory matter of the Topics is much more restricted, but dialectic concerns the opinions, doxa – of all or the majority or the wise – and it aims at methodical conversations and the examination, reasonings, about the bases of the sciences and problems susceptible of address by opinion. (I. 1, 100a 18-25). So, particularly in their critical and poetic functions, the arts frequently stand outside the normative conventions of disciplinary thought while retaining an artistic character �(Parts of Animals I, 1, 639 and Poetics 25 1460a14-1461a8). The combination of criticism, poetic production, and technological development wrought by art means that art, in Aristotle, is foundational to invention and freedom; we make, for ourselves, the possibilities that we experience. Thus, artistic invention and freedom pervasively influence institutions: Aristotle’s thinking on art is adept enough to conduct something like thought experiments about institutions, not only about liberal arts education, but about public debate and critical evaluation of the arts and sciences, as well as the audience for them. All of these artistic concerns deeply affect humanistic liberal education for they situate in a paideia the four concerns of the humanities: transmission, interpretation, judgment, and invention, and they suggest, thus, what might lie behind a ‘bachelor-of-arts’ degree. While it would be a mistake, I think, for a bachelor-of-arts degree to be subsumed under or defined by any one particular artistic concern, so that it became simply another disciplinary endeavor, it is not a mistake to see whether particular arts in an institutional context might suggest some help for liberal education. Not only liberal education, but many other older cultural institutions are facing uncertain, perhaps disoriented, futures, as newer technologies and fashionable art forms seem to be supplanting them. The New Republic has noted unsuccessful attempts by orchestras, seeking to maintain support, to substitute social outreach programs, audience participation, and adoptions of more popular music forms in place of the studied appreciation of the classical repertory, an appreciation acquired more or less over a lifetime. The New York Times recently noted the decline of space allotted to contemplation within museums in favor of installations offering “experience.” xii Establishment and fundamentalist churches, a third great cultural institution, have suffered increasing disaffections of attendance regardless of denomination. xiii Humanistic, liberal arts university and college programs, since the recession, �are widely reported to be suffering cutbacks, much lower student application and humanities major rates, as well as loss of financial private giving. xiv In other words, a cluster of some of our most important cultural institutions appear unmoored from their traditional grounds of acceptance and support. The one exception is the theatre. To cut a long story short, on the whole its audiences are not disaffected, its non-profit theatres recovered well and quickly from the recession, its audience attendance is much better than comparative trends in cinema, it is filled with authors that might be considered ‘disorienting,’ but the theatre knows and goes about a relatively successful business. Why is that and what lessons are there for the humanities and liberal arts? Granted that the theatre has experimented broadly with “happenings” and “audience experiences” for the last forty to fifty years, still its mainstay – one that draws audiences – remains “classic works” or works that, at least, seem aware of the potentials of the dramatic and theatrical inheritance. The theatre is simply filled with people who are immersed in these two complementary traditions. Also, theatre people know that they are “live.” In Hume’s terms, they are vivacious. The audience, because it is assembled, is live; the actors have voices and gestures whose timbre and sweep are, by and large, authentic and inescapable. The theatre can assemble its considerable range of artists, its stage, with its focus of audience attention, and its vivid here and now-ness to achieve – what? It is, of course, true to think that theatre is entertainment. But to “entertain” is to consider and, potentially, when you go to a theatre, you could be asked to use your heart and mind for a wide range of forms stretching over the spectacle of props and choreography, the music of an orchestra to the whistle of a lonely character exiting the stage, the language of the streets or Shakespeare, arguments ranging from physics and philosophy to persuasions of a lover, human character choices and suffering that make a difference to how we �feel about those characters, and conceptual or actional frameworks where we have a minisystem, mini-world or mini-verse before us. Theatre people seem, by and large, not to conceive of accessibility to this range as a dumbing down or as too plebian to warrant attention. The problem is not Shakespeare’s because he was great in his Elizabethan vocabulary and iambs or complex in his plots, nor the audience’s because it simply isn’t expert enough or intellectually rigorous enough to appreciate technical nuance, but the production company’s – how will they make the language convey what Shakespeare was using it for? Presentation in the theatre isn’t a matter of democracy – it is a matter of availability. Presentation is a matter of welcoming in a controlled, focused manner so that those who are drawn to theatre (or any other art form) are helped to partake of what it has to offer. Availability, then, is the use of the theatrical arts to make intelligible the dramas presented. There’s an attractive orientation, here, that perhaps churches, museums, orchestras and the humanities could all take a lesson from, and the orientation’s attractiveness rests in art. Art and artistic structure is the phenomenon that is shared by museums, orchestras, to some degree churches, and certainly the humanities. We recognize this phenomenon in two different ways: obviously, so-called fine arts products and activities are central, but equally important and just as nuanced are the argumentative and symbolic arts, exemplified by the liberal arts, that are used to apprehend and appreciate the fine arts. For the humanities, whatever completion the historical draw of politics and culture (as a substitute for politics) may offer, the fact is that art is quintessential, since the humanities would cease to exist and would have no history whatsoever if art did not exist. �And the same is true of liberal education. Humanities departments and, through them, colleges are far more aligned to theatre, museums, and orchestras than they are to the physical or social science departments or research facilities. The recent, much discussed, Harvard white paper on the humanities wants the history of the humanities to begin, more or less, with the rise of universities, which, in turn, become the home of scientific and humanistic disciplines after the Enlightenment. But, before the rise of universities and, then, a humanism separated from the sciences, the arts and humanities were intertwined by the liberal arts of the Greco-Roman and, to a more limited extent, the early Christian and Middle-Ages worlds. Foundational to humanistic study is not discrete disciplinarity, but artistic capacity, scope, and performance. Put differently, liberal education without art is simply not liberal education, for, without it, liberal education’s “freedom” has little room for invention, its examinations of disciplines will be confined to stock rehearsals of accepted postulates, and, as it has, it will lose a position, largely aesthetic, from which to criticize current political debate of any stripe. In recognizing the centrality of arts, for the humanities what is at stake is what constitutes the fields of the humanities; for liberal education the claim that colleges offer a liberal arts education is at stake. The vivacity of the theatre can be captured in the humanistic classroom, but not through technological gee-whiz nor some sort of ‘theatrical’ staging effects. Nor is it likely to be captured in lectures. Notwithstanding the times all academics have marveled in remembering the lecture a professor gave, lectures are not “made to be performed” in the way dramas are. Put differently, if a professor cannot figure out how to “perform” an idea, then she or he will have to resort to other means. The seeming absence of performance instruction has important implications for focusing the thought of humanities students through pedagogy. The arts of grammar, rhetoric and logic, dialectic, interrogation and conversation, arts of interpretation, of �meaning, and of a specific artistic appreciation (e.g. knowing scales in music, perspective in the visual arts, prosody in literature, specific differentiated forms of imitative and inquiry literatures) take on enormous importance. Such arts suggest a partnership of artists in the classroom, not unlike that of playwright and performers in the theatre. Not only must the professors generally employ these arts in the (relative) absence of stage props, choreography, performed musical scores, oral interpretation, and, especially, acting, but the students themselves will have to learn to employ them because there is little or no staging that they can rely on. Some canaries in the cage of higher education are chirping loudly that no arts like these are any longer being learned on today’s campuses. Verlyn Klinkeborg, member of the editorial board of the New York Times, has taught at many top flight colleges and universities. In an essay on the “Decline and Fall of the English Major,” he notes that the “kind of writing – clear, direct, humane – and the reading on which it is based are the very root of the humanities,” but that students, today, cannot produce clear writing. He adds, brutally, “the humanities do a bad job of teaching the humanities” largely because “writing well used to be a fundamental principle of the humanities…” [my emphasis] Of course, the problems of the humanities are more general than problems of the English major. And here is where the shoe really begins to pinch. Arum and Roksa’s Academically Adrift found in national samplings that “three semesters of college education … have a barely noticeable impact on students’ skills in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing.” xv Controlling for socio-economic background doesn’t improve the picture. Worse, Blaich and Pascarella found in a national study of 11 liberal arts colleges and 6 universities where the kind of practices that tend to be recommended to improve scores are employed – e.g., discussion groups, peer groups, working across disciplines, imagining an argument from someone else’s point of view – the capacities of students for moral reasoning and �critical thinking on average “increased only a small amount” over four years. xvi Positive attitude toward literacy declined in 53% of all students, two-thirds of students during four years reported declines in academic motivation, and interest in “contribut[ing]” to both the arts and sciences declined for twice as many students as those that experienced growth in interest. One might think that college can only affect such measures marginally, but, no, it turns out that practically the same measures indicated large advances by undergraduate students in the 1980s. As Arum and Roksa put it, “low gains…are…not simply an artifact of our measurement strategy, but a disconcerting reality.” (37) Let’s be clear. The data doesn’t say that no students improve significantly in moral and critical reasoning or writing ability. Some do, but not nearly enough. Upon graduation, apparently few students want to make contributions to the arts and sciences, but some do. Some are still academically motivated. Still, the data does say that by our own lights there is both a problem and an opportunity for the humanities and liberal arts education. Arum and Roksa make it very clear that, generally, time on the task of studying, and specifically far more reading and writing than is the usual practice in our colleges and universities, improves student learning (131 and 132). So what might students take time to read or artfully produce? As Executive Director of ACTC, I am a strong proponent of using classical works, but I have come to believe, especially with regard to questions of students working across disciplines or inventing arguments, that a more capacious view of what counts in classical works would reward our students. After reviewing more than 50 general education programs, including many core text, great books programs, and after having approved over 2000 paper proposals for our ACTC conferences over 20 years, I find it disturbing that philosophical or theoretical -- in the Greek sense -- discussions �of art and appreciation of some of the technical development entailed have virtually disappeared from coherent general education curricula and discussions at ACTC. There is the Platonic exception, but works of Aristotle, Isocrates, Cicero, Augustine, Priscian, or, moving forward, Bruni, Petrarch, or Erasmus, on grammar, rhetoric and logic are largely absent from core text, general liberal education programs. Nor is it better when we get to the moderns: no Saussure, Burke, Austin, Smullyan, and so forth. Sure, there are courses with these texts and authors, and there are professors who teach these arts in isolated courses, but we don’t teach across the curriculum these liberal arts texts that contain the questions and techniques that would make the liberal arts truly available to all. Great or Big Questions may be asked in general education programs, but I can assure you that “What is Art?” is rarely among these in any systematic way. xvii Since we offer bachelor-ofarts degrees, the chance meeting of this question seems particularly disturbing because it comprehends other fascinating questions that the liberal arts raise and that scholarship has pointed out. Questions of perception, aesthetics, imitation, elements of speech, separations and relations of language to the physical, psychological and conventional worlds, available modes of interpretation, the relations of the origin of language to the divine and civilizational origins of our humanity, not to mention questions of equity, justice, the nature of truth and the determination or freedom of thought are not only pointed out by scholars, but directly observable in such liberal arts texts by our undergraduate students. xviii Indeed, taken very seriously, the liberal arts question, “what is art,” will lead to examinations and reformulations of whole disciplines, as Henry Adams illustrated in The Education of Henry Adams. xix But we don’t teach across the curriculum the liberal arts texts that I indicated that contain the questions and techniques that would make the liberal arts truly available to all. xx Again, I repeat, in isolated �courses all of the arts, questions, and texts can be found. In some isolated institutions, the bachelor-of-arts degree is more artistic. But, comprehensively, in the current structural situation of the university and collegiate education, the humanities are probably our chief source of hope for an education in the arts which reaches all students systematically. The question is whether a humanistic liberal arts education is desirable. I think it is. Teaching distinguishable liberal arts are to the vivacity of human achievements as the arts of the stage are to the liveliness and intelligibility of drama. That is, what arts are used and the proportions of their use, the recognition that art in its largest sense is the object of study, is central to focusing the mind of students in the humanities. Conversely, the proper production by students from the humanistic point of view is conversation with fellow students and teachers, the essay, formal speeches and debates, video, audio, and web productions, musical performance, stage performance, oral interpretations, original translations, poems, stories, and conversational defenses or explanations of one’s work. And these artful productions suggest that the term “undergraduate research” does not necessarily point to, inculcate, require or comprehend the pedagogy or use of any of these other arts. At stake in the classroom interaction between books, essays, works of fine arts and the corresponding liberal arts students employ is the realization of the possibilities, the intellectual freedom, which humans make for themselves, not only in the past but for a future. That is, we can no more know the truth about human existence or beyond without examining the possibilities found in products and performances of art, than we can know the possibilities of human existence or beyond simply by possessing the truth. We must work out both and get better or worse in doing so. �The argument above seems to preclude the scholarly nature of book and article publishing in the humanities – the artifact of research that many humanists hold most dear. But not really. Literate audiences were small in ancient times. As literacy has spread, generally, products of art such as play scripts, and their cinematic versions, became widely distributed – think of the motivation for the publication of Shakespeare’s folio -- whereas humanistic publication has shrunk and sunk into academic libraries and tiny, specialized audiences. This is a mistake we are paying for. We need, instead, a vigorous public scholarship. If time permitted, I would elaborate three examples of public scholarship. Here, I’ll simply allude to the specifics they offer. They involve transmission, interpretation, criticism, and invention – four functions basic to liberal arts efforts to inculcate freedom. Their order marks increasingly wider freedom in liberal education. Our first example is a recent article in the New Republic by Helen Vendler. xxi She argues that the recent digitalization of Emily Dickenson manuscripts has revealed that “perhaps, for Dickinson, the principal unit of thought in poetic composition was sometimes not the stanza, not even the line, but the individual word.” Her liberal-arted, scholarly defense of Dickenson’s poetry within the traditions of grammar has real consequences, because she raises for our students the pedagogical question, “can you think of a better word, here?” She makes clear the intellectual, emotive and formal advantages of such an education in artistic making, but we can add that such repeated exercises would move in the direction of building precision in vocabulary and perception, as well as a sense of reasoned choice, while appreciatively reading a great core text author. That’s a lot of bang for your buck. The second example belongs to Roland Barthes. He originally published “The World of Wrestling” in 1957 in Espirit, a literary magazine founded in the 30’s. xxii In “Wrestling” Barthes �invokes a knowledge of Greek philosophy and drama, as well as French classical theatre. Still, this comic, ironic essay is intelligible to any student, now, because the modern, media-promoted versions of American wrestling have enough in common with the French wrestling hall of 1957 to allow for understanding that, ultimately, reaches back to earlier art forms. Barthes’ careful extraction of devices of meaning via the staging of matches -- devices such as the utterly catastrophic “forearm smash” against the chest of the opponent – indicates how the audience is led to experience a match, a “spectacle of Suffering, Defeat, and Justice,” as a “Natur[al]…understanding of things,” rather than the constructed understanding it is. Given sufficient examples in a curriculum of liberal arts texts, students would see that mark of humanistic liberal arts – recurrent use – and, thereby a range of intellectual choices open to them. For the analytic construction and deconstruction of art by critics of the 20th Century recovered that movement of Greek arts between the development of a poetics of whole works and the rhetorical handbooks of separable topics, extracted from works, designed to lead to future compositions. Finally, J. L. Austin delivered, at university and on BBC radio, lectures which became the work, How To Do Things with Words. Born out of philosophical work with descriptive sentences which could be subjected to scrutiny on questions of truth or falsity as logical statements (1-2), Austin’s concern is to distinguish and elaborate a class of utterances which are performative, not descriptive, xxiii where we can say accurately and truthfully that someone is “doing...an action” (5-7, 13). I will not state the analysis of his six conditions for recognizing performative statements that leads me to the conclusion that in his own terms to perform a play, to read a poem or any literate text is “doing an action.” xxiv But I would point out that play scripts are instructions for performance to a director, actor, and the entire company – and if those �artists don’t act as fully as they can with their own arts, you know that production has failed. In this sense, Austin’s work is germane to knowing, perhaps even assessing, when we are acting in a liberal-arted fashion, for the theatrical point is generalizable to all works of art: each of them are potentially instructions on how to read a work, but only the unusually gifted are likely to read a work well without actualizing liberal arts to guide them, any more than one is likely to sing or speak well on stage without having had phonetic and interpretive voice training. That is, in choosing to examine and use, or not use, the liberal arts, we choose performatively to read a work well, artfully, habitually, spontaneously, or badly. If our students do well, artfully, what then would persons who hold a bachelor-of-arts look like – independently from a major? First, they would have the character of an artist, a free, liberal one at that. They would think about art and be able to demonstrate such thought by exercising a capacity for generating works of the intellect and imagination, ranging between truth and possibility, which captured their own and others’ souls. They would know how to listen, look and read with an attention and respect for the work and voices of others. They would properly believe, because the belief belonged to their experience, that contributing to and making artistic productions would involve cooperation, planning, foresight, reasoned choice, and their own plain, disciplined hard work with others. They would have at their command a ready technology of production, appeals, reasoning and expression which could be put at the service of themselves, their families, corporations, non-profits and associations, governments, and international organizations, and they would also possess a technology of the mind which they could summon to think about ideas and ideals, now and in the future. They would have the experience of their own immediate culture and the reasoned possession of traditions of the West and other major cultures over a range of disciplines and formed works, and their experience and �possession of tradition would be a resource for them to draw upon in almost any contingency. They would have ways to analyze, translate, communicate, analogize, question, and invent experience for themselves and others. They would be able to examine science, art, politics, business and economic affairs, religion, culture, communities, neighborhoods, families and friends with an eye to human passions and the confidence, charity, faith and hope that belongs to those who hold the future. They would be able to discriminate when to make, to act, and to contemplate, and when each was best and when it was not. Finally, they would know how to look out upon the achievements of humanity to discover, with wonder and appreciation, not only how to bring their vision of a liberal arts education to a wider public, but what a precious thing our humanity is. No one discipline can build either such a character or offer such a degree, but a humanistic liberal arts education can. xxv The humanities have one primary job: to make available, by focusing the mind of students in and out of the university, works of art and intellect that a crafted, intellectual heritage of the West and other traditions of the world have transmitted. The liberal arts are the most substantive way by which to make these inheritances available for inquiry and examination. Philosophy, Religion, Politics, Economics, Culture, Science and everything else follows, sometimes simultaneously, after that. A core text core which includes examination of the liberal arts as such does all this. If the humanities really pay attention to art, then they will look to the artistic reasons why theatre is not failing in a world where cultural institutions seem on the verge of crumbling. If they do, not only the humanities, but liberal arts education will be better off. �i Versions of this paper have been delivered at the Transylvania Seminar (summer 2015) and at St. John’s College, Santa Fe, as part of its conference on What Are the Liberal Arts For? (fall 2015). This version incorporates, here, a modified version of the opening paragraphs of “Enriching Liberal Education’s Defense in Universities and Colleges: Liberal Arts, Innovation, and Technē,” appearing in St. John’s Review, fall 2015. ii Andrew Delbanco hardily approves of Tony Kronman’s great books curriculum for the ideas it raises, and he cites the artes liberales ideal of education that Bruce Kimball has extensively documented as a tradition of aristocratic European liberal learning that opens the mind, but America’s “attempt to democratize” that through its collegiate educations is what interests him (College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be. Princeton University Press, 2012, 33.) “Working to keep the ideal of democratic education alive,” Delbanco, in an extensive analysis of the past and present social conditions of colleges as institutions, ultimately locates the “universal value of a liberal education” in the belief, derived from the 19th Century religious college, that “no outward mark – wealth or poverty, high or low social position, credentials or lack thereof – tells anything about the inward condition of the soul” (171). He transmutes this belief, today, into a liberal education which in its “saving power… ignites in one another a sense of the possibilities of democratic community” through “the intellectual and imaginative enlargement [college] makes possible” (172). He concludes, “we owe it to posterity to preserve and protect this institution. Democracy depends on it.” Martha Nussbaum begins her “manifesto” in defense of the humanities and arts with a crisis in which “the humanities and the arts are being cut away in both primary/secondary and college/university education, in virtually every nation in the world.” This entails “discarding of skills that are needed to keep democracies alive.” In the survival of the humanities and arts within educational institutions “the future of the world’s democracies” is said to “hang in the balance” (Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Hunamanities. Princeton University Press, 2010, 1-2). Notwithstanding a very serious concern with “ideals of freedom,” Tony Kronman is less focused on the links between democracy and liberal education, than on the links between the humanities and our culture (Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. Caravan, copyright Anthony Kronman, 2007.) He focuses particularly on the humanities’ abandonment, within colleges and universities, of a search for meaning in our individual lives and our scientific culture’s way of aggrandizing our technical powers without placing them within human limits, human finitude. The combination, he believes, yields a kind of spiritual desiccation. Oddly similar to Kronman notwithstanding published differences with him, Patrick Deneen indicates that since the Enlightenment, greatness seems to rest in transformation, whereas before the rise of the New Sciences, whose advocates wrote “modern” books battling ancient books, greatness rested in a “predominant understanding” of cultivated endurance, an acceptance of natural or created limits to human powers, knowledge, and ambitions. The modern great book program contains many scientific, political and economic works which support the idea of transformation. So Deneen asks, might there be an alternative way to think about the core texts of the ancient to medieval Western tradition, ultimately as a way of restraining our scientifically-released pleonexia in mastering, in transforming our world? He suggests great books might be justified by recovering this earlier understanding’s humility (In First Things, “Against Great Books,” January 2013, 35.) Reinhard Hütter, sharing many of Deneen’s concerns with technological (Baconian) transformations, argues for Newman’s understanding of enlargement of the mind by liberal education as an end for its own sake. The modern state has provided pseudo-ends for the university and defenses of it share the common conviction that management of the scientific enterprise toward ‘progress’ will solve political/cultural problems; the current university is that organ for management (1019). Liberal education, based on a search for ultimate truths, is set in opposition to a “techne” knowledge gained in the late modern university…” (1022). Two arguments demand reformulation via a theological search for the truth: (1) almost all of the research functions of this techne could be relocated to other institutional organs (businesses, medical labs, and military-industrial complexes; 1022) and (2) even if the machinery keeps going it threatens to subject to production the nature of humans and, possibly, the existence of the whole human species (1040). Liberal education provides, at least, a check, “a critical examination of its own operative beliefs and a vision of the whole.” “University Education, the Unity of Knowledge— and (Natural) Theology: John Henry Newman’s Provocative Vision,” in Nova et Vetera 11, 4, 2014. iii Not for Profit, 133. iv Op cit. (95). Apparently, literature does not rise to “breakthroughs.” v At one point, Kronman and Deneen come very close to saying, and meaning, the same thing. Kronman’s case for the humanities in large part rests on controlling technology through a recognition of human limits: “We have a desire for control that can never be satisfied by any degree of control we actually achieve. We always want more…. This is the human condition, which is characterized by our subjection to fateful limits that we can neither tolerate nor do without…. The most important thing about technology is not what it does but what it aspires to do. … �Technology encourages us to believe that the abolition of fate should be our goal… Technology discourages the thought that our finitude is a condition of the meaningfulness of our lives… It makes the effort to recall our limits and to reflect upon them seem less valuable and important.” (230-233) For Kronman, the research ideal is, of course, partly justified in the sciences by the “fruit” – both in discovery and in technology – that it produces: “The research ideal is today the organizing principle of work in every academic discipline…In the natural sciences, the research ideal has proved remarkably fruitful. The new discoveries that pour from our college and university laboratories every and the clear sense of progressive movement toward an objective understanding of the structure and mechanisms of the natural world testify to the productive fit between the natural sciences and the modern research ideal…” Whereas in the humanities “understanding,” not discovery or production, but not a productive technology characterizes research results: “In the humanities…the benefits of research are less uniform or certain” (130-133). “…research in the humanities has produced results of lasting value. It has added importantly to our understanding of the historical, literary, artistic, and philosophical subjects with which the humanities deal…” The demands for specialization and for teaching to that specialization ought to be less insistently felt in the humanities: “What must be resisted is the imperial sprawl of the research ideal, its expansive tendency to fill every corner of each discipline in which it takes hold and to color the expectations and judgments of teachers in these disciplines regarding what they do. Admittedly this is asking a lot…But…it is merely asking for a somewhat greater degree of humility on the part of those in the humanities who first allegiance is to this ideal…” (248-249). For Deneen, the (current) point of a philosophy of education is not to admire the world, or suffer its limits, but to change it, to transform it. That is, since the Enlightenment, greatness seems to rest in transformation. So Deneen asks, might there be an alternative way to think about and assign terms to the core texts of the Western tradition, ultimately as a way of restraining our excesses in transforming our world? Deneen begins by accepting a stasis in the political, moral, religious, and poetic inheritance of books that extends from the ancients through the first stirrings of modernity: “Great books such as Paradise Lost sought to inculcate a sense of limits,… we could look at a dominant understanding of a long succession of great books from antiquity to the Middle Ages…to conform human behavior and aspirations to the natural or created order” (35). By way of Baconian, Cartesian and Hobbesian repudiation of books, Deneen elaborates the argument which he finds undermines the “human limits” understanding by turning to discriminate two kinds of liberty. The first, associated with great books, is a “liberty …of hard-won self-control through the discipline of virtue” which, often, folds into defenses of great books as matters of preparation for citizenship. The second is a liberty with “the stress …upon the research, creative activity, scholarly inquiry and the development of new knowledge” (37). The former constrains our desires, the latter endlessly satisfies them through “the human project of mastery.” The latter pursuits were justified by the arguments of Bacon, Descartes, and Hobbes, reinforced by Dewey, which depended on the idea “’that a larger number of natural forces and objects [could be or] have been transformed into instrumentalities of action’” in the West than in cultures which did not exploit the natural resources available through scientific technology (36). Deneen concludes that we do need to teach these two competing notions of liberty through the great books, but defenders should exchange the notion of “greatness” for a notion of “humility” derived from the earlier works of the intellectual tradition represented in the West (38). Humility might, then, restrain our excesses of transformation. For Hütter the humanities provides no hope since there are unbridgeable epistemic disagreements within the humanities that would forestall a move toward a unified curriculum, and with their reliance on promoting the imagination, in preference to the abstraction by the intellect, were the cultivation of the imagination to form a unified end, this would be necessary but insufficient for a full operation of the intellect. It is here that Hütter comes closest to discussing the arts in so far as these are material aids to asking “life questions.” But the consequence of such questioning is a pluralism of views with no way to reconcile them (1050-1051). A conflicted, not unified, self is all that is produced. vi Huetter’s program is based on an epistemic ‘enlargement of the mind’ as prescribed by Newman. vii Op. cit. 109. viii Delbanco, in a discussion that contrasts the sciences to the humanities, lands upon the mimicry that the humanities have had of the sciences for over 200 years in formulating the fields (e.g., ‘scientific linguistics’ or ‘searching for historical laws’) and, more recently, in adopting computerized ‘distant reading programs’ that, as research, have little to do with reasons undergraduates attend colleges. Most interesting, here, is that Delbanco offers no humanistic liberal education technē, that is techniques, as a part of the contrast. Instead, ‘preserving truth,’ denying ‘the very idea of truth,’ or answering the questions “how to shape a life or how to face death” are the contrasted to technology. If there is any elaboration of a humanistic technē or art, here, it is an attempt ‘to �state the value of such an education’ in its component abilities to ‘contract space and time’ or to ‘speak to us in a subversive whisper that makes us wonder whether the idea of progress might be a sham.” (93-101). ix Hütter, it should be acknowledged, seems to have an end in view for the university which is derived, in part, from its historical and functional search for truth. But this is still a ‘practical’ argument because (a) he wants to reform an institution and (b) he grounds his justifications (in part) on the threat that technology provides. It is the latter which provide urgency for the former, even if his solution is or appears to be epistemic or theological. x An important set of terms and argument connects technē to the equally important and differential term, mimesis, and thus power and poetics. “… a bed or a coat and anything else of that sort, qua receiving these designations – i.e. in so far as they are products of art – have no innate impulse to change” (Phys. II 1, 192b 18) And, “Where a series has a completion, all the preceding steps are for the sake of that…and generally art partly completes what nature cannot bring to a finish, and partly imitates her” (8, 199a 15). Imitation differentiates the arts, particularly as products, but so do the steps, incorporating means, materials and manner of use, anyone one of which might be natural, completing the products which don’t exist in nature as a result of these processes. This implies spectra of arts and imitation. The scope of imitation is confined to the arts in Aristotle (unlike Plato) (see R. P. McKeon, “The Concept of Imitation in Antiquity,” in R.S. Crane, Critics and Criticism, U. Chicago Press, 1952. The article, in respect of Aristotle, has long informed this writer’s thinking, but its purpose was, perhaps, informed by a concern, at the time, to differentiate the modern study of literature (and art) from historical and concurrent studies in terms of ethics, religion, civilizations. Following Aristotle, questions of particular form(s) and matter(s) become important within this section of McKeon’s article. The net effect of the section on Aristotle is to differentiate him from Plato by showing two things: how relatively restricted the concept of imitation was (essentially to things made by humans) and how Aristotelian distinctions in the arts actually made considerations of the arts, qua arts, as something that Plato could not do. Changes in critical and cultural fashion have turned the appreciative situation on its head; now, in order not to reduce art (and liberal arts education) to some other more important function, it becomes desirable to think of the range and scope of Aristotelian arts and artistic terms as a way to expand what liberal arts education can do and can articulate. xi This contemplation of thought in the Rhetoric seems to partake of the wider possibilities of the soul reflecting on its own thought that appears in the De Anima: III, 4 of his De Anima (430a2–9): “Thought is itself thinkable in exactly the same way as its objects are. For in the case of objects which involve no matter, what thinks and what is thought are identical; for speculative knowledge and its object are identical.” Cited in “University Education, the Unity of Knowledge—and (Natural) Theology: John Henry Newman’s Provocative Vision” by REINHARD HÜTTER. In Nova et Vetera, 11, 4, 2013; 1050. xii Judith H. Dobrznski, “High Culture Goes Hands-On,” New York Times, August 10, 2013. This particular article included the ‘installation’ of a slide between floors of a museum. Obviously, some installations, whether contemplative or not, are serious works of art. See for example, Darby English, How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness. Philip Kennicott, “America’s Orchestras are in Crisis: How an effort to popularize classical music threatens to undermine what makes orchestras great.” New Republic, August 25, 2013. The latter position was rebutted in an August 30th reply by Jesse Rosen, but for purposes of this article, what mattered was the apparent agreement by these two authors that artistic works were central to recovery. Roxanna Popescu, “Letter from San Diego: Endangered Opera.” Paris Review, May 12, 2014. This article laments the closing of opera – that hybrid of theatre and orchestras – in San Diego, and Orange County, Baltimore, Cleveland and New York City and makes some of the linkages between the failure of the arts and the failure of the humanities made in this paper. xiii Laurie Goldstein, “Francis Has Changed American Catholic’s Attitudes, but Not Their Behavior, a Poll Finds.” NYTimes, 12/15/2012. “The poll showed that church attendance had not shifted in the past year, with 40 percent saying they had attended Mass at least weekly”; Ross Douthat, “Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?” NYTimes, 7/14/2012. “Yet instead of attracting a younger more open-minded demographic..., the Episcopal Church’s dying has proceeded apace… In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw a churchgoing increase”; http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/documents/ASA_by_ProvinceDiocese2000-2010.pdf; John S. Dickerson, “The Decline of Evangelical America.” NYTimes, 12/15/2012, “In 2011 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life polled church leaders from around the world. Evangelical ministers from the United States reported a greater loss of influence than church leaders from any other country… Studies from established evangelical polling organizations – LifeWay Research,… and the Barna Group – have found that a majority of young people raised as evangelicals are quitting the church, and often the faith, entirely.” Self-reported attendance probably masks further disaffection: Michael Paulson, “Americans Claim to Attend Church Much More Than They Do.” NYTimes, 3/6/2014. Different polling methods, designed to detect ‘social desirability bias,’ suggest that as much as 43 percent of people “acknowledged rare attendance” at church, a higher percentage than is usually suggested by customary self-reporting methods. �Reported drops in humanities majors (see the Harvard report, below) at prominent universities, cut backs of programs at public universities, steep declines in giving to baccalaureate private institutions, and long-term declines in the number of private liberal arts colleges (see Kimball, below), have produced a question about the health of humanistic liberal arts education in the last three to four years. What might be at stake in questioning that health is the subject of this paper. Jinjoo Lee, “Concerns About Job Market Lead Students to STEM Majors,” The Cornell Daily Sun, 2/25/2014, reports that in 2011 “the percentage of students with a humanities major” dropped 10% and has only recovered 1% point since then. Gordon Hutner and Feisal G. Mohamed, “The Real Humanities Crisis Is Happening at Public Universities.” The New Republic, 9/6/2013. This article analyzes the new models of education, whether found in universities or in the federal government, that work against sustaining the humanities: “Under this new business model, humanities programs suffer in general and small departments, like classics and philosophy, find themselves perpetually under threat, no matter what their historical significance to higher learning.” Daniel de Vise, Washing Post, 5/ 13/2011, “At St. John’s, a Defender of the Liberal Arts.” Though St. John’s later successfully reversed its application totals, the economic crises saw a decline in applications “from 460 in 2008 to 357 in 2010.” Scott Jaschik, “Contributions to Colleges Drop 12%.” Inside Higher Ed, 2/3/2010. Declines in giving to private colleges were the most severe, except for community colleges (which derive a much higher percentage of their income from governments). “John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, said he wasn't surprised that the numbers were down, but that the depth of the decline was a surprise. ‘We're in unprecedented territory,’ he said, both because of the severity of the economic difficulties and the volatility of campus conditions.” xv Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. University of Chicago Press, 2011, 35. xvi Charles Blaich and Ernest Pascarella. http://www.liberalarts.wabash.edu/storage/4-year-change-summary-website.pdf, p. 3. These are 2006 results but the authors seem to find a continuum between Arum and Roska’s 2011 work and their original study. xvii We are dealing in generalities. Yale’s Directed Studies program has an explicit (fine) arts program; Concordia University— Irvine’s new core program does raise the question with students, “What is art?” xviii E.g., Richard P. McKeon, “Criticism and the Liberal Arts: The Chicago School of Criticism,” Profession, 1982, 1-17. Howard Bloch, Etymologies and Genealogies, 1983. Kathy Eden, Hermeneutics and the Rhetorical Tradition: Chapters in the Ancient Legacy and Its Humanist Reception. 1997. xix On Adams: see particularly the chapters of the book which begin after 1890. It is important to note that a disguised comic reversal in Adams’ intellectual interest appears earlier in the book, when he discusses his work for his father in England during the Civil War. The period was one of great tension and it appeared as if Great Britain would side with the South. Adams discovers the real motives of the government in publications around 1890, and this changes his view of what history is. His first step (after the reversal) is to begin to consider the new technologies of science in relation to the figure of the Virgin Mary in the 12th Century. In a real liberal arts “move,” he begins to think of her as a symbol drawing human “energy” toward her. The story of his own development, then, becomes the culmination of his “Education,” a liberal arts reconsideration of history. xx Thus, most of the texts mentioned above are great, or at least, important; their conceptions and operations of art are essential to any understanding of the works, including those of science, that are read in liberal arts education or, frankly, an understanding of the way the world really operates. Yet, the smaller the liberal arts, core text program, the more direct discussion of liberal arts and their formulations are forced out, and the curricular situation resembles that described by Aristotle at the end of On Sophistical Refutations: “For the training given by paid professors…was like the treatment of the matter by Gorgias. For they used to hand out speeches to be learned by heart…supposing that [the] arguments on either side generally fell among them.” Thus, fine art works, in liberal arts programs, become not examples of art, but vehicles to questions and issues while it is supposed that students learn to read and write in this way. There is a quasi-exception to the statement above excluding teaching of liberal arts to all students. Concordia University—Irvine has a Core Philosophy I course in which “elementary statement logic” is taught. Unpublished manuscript, “The Core Logic Unit: An Imaginative Approach to Reasoning,” Susan Buchanan. ACTC 20th Annual Conference, April 11, 2014. xxi Helen Vendler, “Vision and Revision: How Emily Dickinson Actually Wrote Her Poems.” New Republic, March 24, 2014, p. 48. For a skeptical view on the value of the digital collection, see Angie Mlinko, “Infamy or Urn?” The Nation, Jan. 27, 2014, 31-32. xiv xxii Collected into his 1957 publication, Mythologies. Or, better, “constative.” xxiv (a) use of conventional procedures; (b) appropriate of persons and circumstances for invoking the procedure; (c and d) correct and complete execution of the procedure; (e) the corresponding feelings and thoughts that the convention invokes, intentionally used in the conduct indicated by the utterance; and (f) the appropriate conduct. xxv The arts have a history of being woven into the fabric of education for over 2000 years, in both the West and the East. One of the marks of arts, particularly one that came to be seen as one of the liberal arts, rhetoric, for both Plato and Aristotle was that it should be able to give an account of itself, to offer systematic reasons for its operations, both how and why they work. (Gorgias, 465d, 504d, Rhetoric 1. I, 1354. 10). An added, serious account of a liberal arts education, as an arts education rather xxiii �than a political or quasi-spiritual education, would enrich our own accounts to ourselves and to the outside world of what it is we know, do and make. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "What is Liberal Education For?" 2014 Conference Papers Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make these items available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cultural institutions, theatre, and humanistic liberal arts education : where do we go from here? Description An account of the resource Paper presented on October 17, 2014 by J. Scott Lee at What is Liberal Education For? : a conference at St. John's College on the 50th Anniversary of the Santa Fe campus. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lee, J. Scott, 1948- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-10-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24004538 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/754cd9eea4bd4431de57de442bebcfaf.pdf 2bbdd522e6b3de3eecd646fdd3a99354 PDF Text Text BRUEGEL’S VIA CRUCIS: (VISUAL) EXPERIENCE AND THE PROBLEM OF INTERPRETATION Geoff Lehman Conference: What is Liberal Education For? St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico October 18, 2014 Introduction: Visual Pedagogy This talk will focus on the close reading of a painting, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Via Crucis, or, Carrying of the Cross (figure 1), with the idea of suggesting how such sustained engagement with a single work of art over the course of one or several class sessions in a seminar, or even as the basis for an entire course, poses similar challenges and has a similar pedagogical value as the close reading of texts. I will also briefly indicate the rich dialogue between Bruegel’s picture and a number of major Renaissance texts. My simple mention of these texts can in no way do justice to them, but I merely hope to suggest ways that a work of visual art can function meaningfully as part of an interdisciplinary course built around close reading and discussion of texts. In addition, as an image that is self-reflexive in a characteristically Renaissance fashion, the picture explicitly directs the viewer towards the problem of interpretation and suggests the framework within which that interpretive process operates. In other words, I would like to argue that the picture itself teaches. And I will mainly do this (due to lack of time) simply by going through some of the problems of interpretation to which the picture calls our attention. This interpretative problem, as Bruegel’s Via Crucis presents it, is �2 effectively that of finding a middle way between absolute truth and complete absence of determinate meaning; it is an understanding of the interpretive act as directed by, and actively responsive to, its object, in a way that for that very reason is also open and multivalent in its mode of address. Furthermore, this mode if address implicates another kind of “middle way” as a defining characteristic of interpretation: the dialectical relationship between reflective detachment and experiential embeddedness, both of which play an important role in the interpretation of Bruegel’s painting. In both senses, I would argue, this interpretive mode is particularly relevant to the goals and values of liberal education. I. Pictorial Structure as Meaning Bruegel’s Via Crucis, painted in 1564, probably on commission for his frequent patron Nicolaas Jonghelinck,1 stands not only at a crucial point in Bruegel’s mature oeuvre but also near the end of a long tradition of similar Netherlandish pictures of the subject that stretches back to Jan Van Eyck (figure 2). The uniqueness of Bruegel’s picture, however, lies in the degree to which the narrative is embedded within a field structured and articulated by juxtaposed signifying elements and, even more importantly, divergent but coordinated (geometricallydefined) points of view. Furthermore, this pictorial structure presents itself, on the level of expression, as a unified and atmospheric landscape, such that the structural principles and affective power specific to landscape become the principal means through which the semantic dimension of the work is articulated and the problem of interpretation itself brought to the fore. The picture is characterized first and foremost by the horizon and the literal and metaphorical breadth of vision it provides, even if the horizon itself is only glimpsed at the 1 A Via Crucis by Bruegel is mentioned in Jonghelinck’s inventory of 21 February 1565. �3 center of the picture. Far from being a destination for receding orthogonals, it is rather more of an emblem for the picture’s spatial generation and expansion: a radical alternative to the recession of architectural units toward a center of vision that is the norm for perspectival representation (figure 3). Just as the horizon indicates a notional infinity that is simultaneously a mathematical concept and a visual intuition (the limit of vision), in the Via Crucis one senses that the structure of pictorial space shapes the narrative and guides its interpretation not only in a geometric but also in an intuitive sense: the experience of landscape as a lived environment is not only evoked for the viewer of the picture but also shapes the experiences of the principal figures in the narrative as well; that is, their apparent relationships with and experiences of the place they inhabit play a decisive role, in the narrative itself and the interpretation of that narrative.2 Once this experiential dimension is taken into account, pictorial space grows from a means of telling a story into a means to suggest and to multiply the possibilities for its interpretation into, ultimately, a means to reflect upon knowledge itself and, on the other hand, to empathetically share in a range of experiences.3 Indeed, the notion of point of view, grounded in the modality of perspective, carries with it not only a literal visual sense and a metaphorical, interpretive one in relation to the given subject matter, but also an epistemic one with respect to the world at large. 2 Numerous scholars have commented on the sense that Bruegel’s pictures provide commentary on the interdependence of humanity and nature: see for instance Max Dvorák, “Pieter Bruegel der Ältere” (1920), in Kunstgeschichte als Geistgeschichte: Studien zur Abendländischen Kunstentwicklung (Berlin, 1995), p. 236; Walter Gibson, “Mirror of the Earth”: The World Landscape in Sixteenth-Century Flemish Painting (Princeton, 1989), p. xxiii; and Justus Hofstede, “Zur Interpretation von Pieter Bruegels Landschaft: Aesthetischer Landschaftsbegriff und Stoische Weltbetrachtung,” in Pieter Bruegel und seine Welt, ed. O. von Simson and M. Winner (Berlin, 1979), pp. 140-41, with its comparison of the Via Crucis to Reanaissance Stoicism. 3 Cf. Nils Büttner, Die Erfindung der Landschaft; Kosmographie und Landschaftskunst im Zeitalter Bruegels (Göttingen, 2000), and the argument for landscape’s role in the rise of cosmography and geography as sciences in the modern sense. �4 In other words, the doubling of the literal and the cognitive in the reading of pictorial space mirrors the doubling of literal and cognitive implicit in the horizon line itself, and indeed in the theoretical foundations of perspective. In this sense the acts of viewing/painting and of thinking are inseparable.4 Furthermore, I would argue, there is also an affective sense to the perspectival depiction of viewpoint, as the geometrical-defined subjectivity of perspective theory (the viewing eye as mathematical point) implicates a more broadly-based subjectivity when one is looking at actual, physical paintings. The procession to Calvary moves in a gradual helix from Jerusalem in the left background, around the well-trodden tract of semi-barren landscape, to the desolate hilltop of Golgotha, whose edge is framed by the calm domesticated space of a village. At the same time, the curving trajectory with its predominantly festive crowd scene, continues past a bleak, seemingly unending series of gallows (figure 4; compare: Goya, Disasters of War, number 36) that carries with it both contemporary social commentary (these means of execution were currently, and commonly, in use in the sixteenth century), and, beyond this, empathetically produces a powerful emotional effect, even a sense of despair. The trajectory continues toward the open sea and the infinity of the horizon, and thus charges that infinity with an affective power (as both the implied extension of the foreground suffering, and a sense of calm and perhaps release from it). The picture’s turning produces a harmony between, on the one hand, the coordinated movements of hundreds of otherwise heterogeneously dispersed and individually motivated, and characterized, figures and, on the other hand, the great meteorological shifts in the sky. This change in weather from sunny to stormy also reflects the narrative itself, the 4 Cf. Edward Snow’s characterization of Bruegel as “a thinker, a Renaissance artist whose range and penetration rival Shakespeare’s” (E. Snow, Inside Bruegel : The Play of Images in Children’s Games [New York, 1997], p. 160). �5 passage from life and Jerusalem to death on Golgotha, and builds toward the darkening of the sky described in Matthew, chapter 27.5 The small strip of maritime horizon visible around the picture’s central vertical axis seems just as much a possible origin of this vast turning articulation of space as a destination, while the forces that guide pictorial exploration emphasize neither alternative, but rather the wholeness of the turning universe depicted here. The open character of landscape thus conditions the interpretation of the image as a whole, and the combination of an interdependent unity and the lack of a simple focus informs the character of this world and its inhabitants at the microcosmic level as well (as we will see). At the same time, the sense of a holistic vision given by all of these aspects of the picture emphasizes the viewer’s cognitively elevated and, at least initially, emotionally detached position, from which the narrative as a whole appears within a global context, literally and metaphorically. At the literal center of the panel we find Christ (figure 5), embedded unobtrusively in the narrative while marked as the focal point by the semiotics of the pictorial field, a fact that has often been noted.6 Likewise, the small scale of the principal figures and the coordination of multiply-dispersed foci of attention among the largely indifferent crowd hide iconographic and theological significance, and appear at first glance to subvert it. This coordination of apparent contradictions functions both structurally (in terms of the relationship of surface to space) and narratively (in terms of the relationship of Christian iconography to contemporary genre), and is 5 6 Matthew 27: 45. See Robert Genaille, “La Montée au Calvaire de Bruegel l’Ancien,” Jaarboek Antwerpen (1979), p. 160; also Joseph F. Gregory, “Toward the Contextualization of Pieter Bruegel’s Procession to Calvary; Constructing the Beholder from Within the Eyckian Tradition,” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 1996, p. 216. �6 one of the means by which the problem of interpretation is self-reflexively indicated.7 Furthermore, this particular view, defined perspectivally by horizon and frame, determines a privileged access to the Christian meaning of the narrative—that is, to revealed truth. This knowledge is itself far from an absolute point of reference, however, circumscribed as it is by its own perspectivally relativized horizon. Indeed, the uncertainty of central, or at least unquestioned, subject matter remains, something true of an entire category of Renaissance religious pictures in the Netherlands known as Andachtsbilder (figure 6; compare: Brunswick Monogrammist, Via Crucis), where the act of thought, contemplation, or prayer before the image is understood to involve sustained reflection upon the subject matter and its significance as opposed to mere recognition.8 II. Coordinated Viewpoints: Perspectival Epistemology While other Netherlandish depictions of the subject include a ring of spectators within the work, implying a relationship of viewer (with a high vantage level) to surrogate viewer (lower and nearer vantage level) to earthbound narrative scene, in Bruegel’s picture the varieties of spectatorship are both more varied and more coordinated, ranging from passionately engaged to indifferent and including numerous pockets of localized attention or self-absorption (figure 7). Here the use of commensurable horizons, with the metaphorical implications (particularly cognitive ones, i.e., viewing as knowing) of the range of vantage points they coordinate, 7 Cf. Pierre Francastel, Bruegel (1969; reprinted Paris, 1995), p. 144; Mark A. Meadow, “Bruegel’s Procession to Calvary: Aemulatio and the Space of Vernacular Style,” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (1996), p. 188; and Gregory, “Toward the Contextualization,” p. 216. 8 See Gregory, “Toward the Contextualization,” p. 210. On intentional ambiguity as an invitation to contemplation of religious meaning, see Reindert Falkenburg, “Pieter Bruegels Kruisdraginig: een proeve van ‘close-reading,’” Oud Holland 107 (1993), pp. 17-33. See also Ethan Matt Kavaler, Pieter Bruegel: Parables of Order and Enterprise (Cambridge, 1999), esp. pp. 5-7. �7 becomes a foundation for interpretation of the subject matter. The representation of multiple responses to the Christian narrative in terms of viewers whose points of view are different in ways that are measurable, proportional, analogous in the original Greek sense of the word, frames interpretation as a problem of knowledge, or more precisely, frames vision as an epistemic position and an interpretive act. 9 In Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, the allegorical figure of Folly imagines the perspective of a viewer observing the vanity of human activity from high above and gives expression to a longfamiliar literary trope: the high vantage point as a position of epistemic superiority.10 Indeed, Erasmus invokes similar passages from the Iliad in which Zeus or Poseidon gaze at the battle from the clouds above,11 with the difference that in Erasmus the bird’s-eye view primarily serves the function of moral commentary and social criticism.12 In the case of Bruegel’s Via Crucis, however, the high vantage point engenders juxtapositions that are much more complex: for Bruegel’s picture is a perspectival view, situating the viewer in a particular spot with a spatial relationship to objects not only below but also above, and to the vantage points, themselves differentiated, of numerous central and marginal figures within the narrative. Perspective makes 9 Cf. Francastel, Bruegel, p. 130, discussing the paintings of 1559-60: “L’universe de la connaissance et celui de la representation coincident, toutfois à travers l’image, qui est ton signe.” 10 Erasmus, Praise of Folly, 15 (trans. H. H. Hudson, Ware, Hertfordshire, 1998]), p. 31: “Come, then, and suppose a man could look from a high tower, as the poets say Jove is in the habit of doing. To how many calamities would he see the life of man subject!” 11 12 See especially Iliad XI, 80-83; XI, 353-54; and XIII, 11-18. The parallel between Erasmus and Bruegel is especially striking in the paintings of 15591560—the Netherlandish Proverbs, Carnival and Lent, and Children’s Games—with their at least partially satirical character. See Gibson, Bruegel (London and New York, 1977), p. 78. �8 these viewpoints commensurable even if their relationships remain enigmatic,13 since in a perspective image the metaphorical viewpoint is always necessarily doubled by a literal, geometrically-defined one. For instance, the pair of foreshortened circles seen one from below and one from above near the right edge of the picture are not only thematically related as two sites of execution, they also calibrate our vantage point as lying between them, and consequently between that of the crowd below and the blackbird above. (It is also worth noting here that the numerous birds in the picture, including notably a flock of starlings flying near the windmill, also serve to invoke the imaginary flight of pictorial exploration. Thus the painting evokes not only fixed vantage points but also moving ones, with all the implications that holds for the experience of viewing pictures.) We are indeed elevated above the crowd—we see more, we know more—it is for us, only us, that perspectival vision pins Christ at the crux of the picture’s central horizontal and vertical axes. Perhaps only we recognize the divine incarnation amidst the contemporary crowd, and significantly, it is only from our vantage point that the anachronistically rendered group of holy figures, facing toward us, appears in meaningful juxtaposition with the rest of the scene.14 Yet at the same time we perceive vantage points above ours, we are aware of the limits of our vision. The miller leaning by the side of the windmill and observing the scene (figure 8) sees farther than we, and also differently: through him we can imagine a vantage point at the center of a circle of which Christ moves along the circumference. The procession turns around the axis of his viewpoint, a continuous motion like that of the sails of the windmill beside him, further echoed in the circular base of the mill that itself seems designed to rotate—a turning suggestive 13 Cf. Michael Gibson, The Mill and the Cross: Pieter Bruegel’s ‘Way to Calvary, author’s trans., Lausanne, 2000, esp. p. 76. 14 See Meadow, “Bruegel’s Procession to Calvary,” p. 189. �9 of a conflation of the passion cycle and the cycles of nature: changing weather, the seasons, processes of growth and decay, death and life. In fact, our vantage point is calibrated between an opposing pair of viewers on a vertical axis, for directly below sits a peddler, independently absorbed in his own thoughts and perhaps even unaware of the procession before him (figure 9).15 Between self-enclosure and breadth of vision, the immediacy of presence and the detachment of knowledge, runs the alley toward Christ that Simon of Cyrene, aware of Christ’s presence but not his significance, resists taking (figure 10).16 This epistemic coordination doubles an affective one: the dialogue among a range of emotional responses to the shared experience of the central event. Bruegel indicate the varieties of response at ground level in the juxtaposition of spectators within the crowd —most indifferent or preoccupied with their own activities, some carried along exuberantly with the procession (culminating in the fool sounding a horn), some curious, a few sympathetic or grieving—and this reaches a focused intensity in the pair at far right: one sorrowfully leans on a tree and another, sometimes taken to be the artist’s self-portrait, gazes out perpendicular to our line of vision, with both intellectual detachment and sincere interest (figure 11; compare: the possible self-portrait in Bruegel’s Peasant Wedding).17 There’s even a sense that the epistemologically-charged axis 15 M. Gibson offers as one possible reading of the juxtaposition of miller and peddler a symbolic opposition between Catholicism and Protestantism (The Mill and the Cross, pp. 62-64). The problem with iconographic and contextualizing readings such as these is that, in my view, they don’t take adequate account of the visual and structural specificity of pictures, especially in the case of such a striking and idiosyncratic depiction as that of the windmill atop its rocky pinnacle in this painting. Commentary on the relationship of the Protestant Reformation to Catholicism may or may not be implied here, but in any case, I would argue, it would be subsidiary to the larger epistemological issues raised by the picture in the terms specific to its idiom as visual representation. 16 17 Cf. Matthew 27: 32. On the identification of the self-portrait, see Michael Auner, “Pieter Bruegel—Umrisse eines Lebensbildes,” in Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien 52 (1956), pp. 107-09. �10 discussed above—peddlar and windmill, with the Simon group in the center—is paralleled on the right by an axis of compassion, or affect, defined by the mournful Marian group below and the gallows above, with the wretched and suffering condemned prisoners in the center (figure 12). Although the picture’s structure of coordinated and respectively limited viewpoints and experiences may imply the possibility of relativizing Christian meaning, nevertheless it does not allow us to rest comfortably with that reading, or any other that would purport to claim absolute authority, guiding us rather to the middle ground of a carefully calibrated interpretive pluralism. The vantage point given by the windmill suggests at once a perspective higher and more godlike than ours, one that more fully brings narrative and theological interpretation into harmony with a larger vision of nature, but it is also, in the mathematical terms of perspective, necessarily also an arbitrary and contingent viewpoint, just as ours is. Consider, by contrast, the central pane of Hieronymous Bosch’s Haywain, or a miniature painting of The Baptism of Christ from the margins of a page in the Turin-Milan Book of Hours, probably by Jan van Eyck (figure 13): each indicated the possibility of a divine, i.e., absolute, vantage point, something absent in Bruegel’s picture. The dialectic between the power of vision and its necessary limits is played out in the Via Crucis, through the coordination of different but necessarily limited viewpoints, as its own unending cycle, and one that carries with it the possibility of commentary on the very problem of knowledge. In the dedicatory letter to The Prince, Machiavelli signals that text’s participation in this discourse about knowledge created by perspective. To quote the relevant passage: “For just as those who sketch landscapes place themselves down in the plain to consider the nature of mountains and high places and to consider the nature of low places place themselves high atop mountains, similarly, to know well the nature of peoples one needs to be prince, and to know �11 well the nature of princes one needs to be of the people.”18 A third position, knowing both princes and people, and the relationship between them, may be the one the reader (like Machiavelli) actually occupies, though that point of view too of course has its necessary limits. Machiavelli’s use of this pictorial metaphor is far more than a rhetorical device, given its deep significance for the entire text, with its politics based on mutual perceptions of appearances from various distances (i.e., with various degrees of deception involved) that nevertheless constitutes, on the whole, a genuine form of knowledge. Indeed, The Prince may be one of the first nonpictorial works to use perspective as an epistemological metaphor, as the Via Crucis does.19 III. Towards a Perspectival Metaphysics Finally. to consider one additional Renaissance text, perhaps the most relevant of all for Bruegel: in his De docta ignorantia of 1440, Nicholas Cusanus presents the following thought experiment: “Accordingly, as it will always seem to the observer, whether he be on the earth, or on the sun or on another star, that he is in the quasi-motionless center and that all the other [things] are in motion, he will certainly determine the poles [of this motion] in relation to himself; and these poles will be different for the observer on the sun and for the one on the earth, and still different for those on the moon and Mars, and so on for the rest. Thus, the fabric of the world (machina mundi) will quasi have its center everywhere and its circumference nowhere, 18 19 Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. Mansfield, Chicago, 1985, p. 4. Cf. Claudio Guillén, “One the Concept and Metaphor of Perspective,” in Stephen G. Nichols, Jr., and Richard B. Vowles eds., Comparatists at Work (Waltham, Mass., and London, 1968), pp. 28-91. Guillén, however, discusses the origins of perspective’s metaphorization in both epistemological and metaphysical terms within the philosophical and literary traditions of the seventeenth century, apparently not taking into account Renaissance pictures, and to some extent texts (e.g., Machiavelli’s Prince), that evidently use perspective in these metaphorical senses one or two centuries earlier. �12 because the circumference and the center are God, who is everywhere and nowhere.”20 This cosmological interpretation of perspective, part of Cusanus’s notion of a physical universe that is both centerless and unbounded (interminatus is Cusanus’s word in the Latin21), would later inspire Giordano Bruno, maybe the first thinker to unequivocally assert the absolute, mathematical infinity of the physical universe.22 In the Via Crucis, the central vertical axis not only governs the depiction, via perspective, of a centerless and unbounded universe but also suggests the metaphysical problem of physical infinity as a contraction of the divine infinite, as Cusanus describes it at various points in De docta ignorantia, and as his analogy between physical universe as infinite sphere and God as infinite sphere in the passage quoted above implies. On that pictorial axis Christ, God made man, appears, midway between the rocky outcropping where we presumably stand and the marine horizon. The central vertical axis on the picture’s surface thus also constitutes an axis of depth leading to the horizon, articulating the relationship between subject and object, between the viewer and the physical infinity of nature. In other words, the image of Christ appears in the center of perspective’s foundational orthogonal axis, between the viewer and the horizon, collinear with the vertical axis on the panel, of which he also occupies the center. In this sense the image of infinite physical space is juxtaposed with the image of God, of the metaphysical 20 Cusanus, De docta ignorantia, II, cap.xii, 21v. 21 See Alexandre Koryé, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Baltimore and London, 1957), pp. 6-8 and 11-13. 22 See Bruno, La cena de le ceneri (1584), in Opere Italiane, ed. G. Gentile, vol.1 (Bari, 1907), p. 73, and Bruno, De l’infinito universo e mondi (1584), in Opere Italiane, vol.1, p. 309. Bruno presents this conception of an infinite universe specifically in terms of the horizon: see esp. Bruno, De l’infinito universo e mondi (1584), in Opere Italiane, vol.1, p. 309; English trans. from D. Waley Singer, Giordano Bruno, his Life and Work [New York, 1950], p. 280. �13 infinite. The shift from infinity as God to infinity as Cartesian space,23 a shift for which, historically speaking, the development of perspective plays the decisive role, could thus be said to find visual expression on the central vertical axis of Bruegel’s picture. Indeed, this axis becomes emblematic of the broader shift in the notion of infinity from metaphysical to physical that is central to Cusanus’s theology: namely, the relationship of the absolute infinite (God) to the contracted infinite (the physical universe). And in fact, there is another pair of viewers in dialectical opposition that emblematize these alternatives and their coexistence: the miller looks down at Christ, God incarnate within the physical world, from the windmill’s rocky outcropping, while beside him and turning in counterpoint to his turning, a blackbird in a tree looks out towards the horizon, the indication of the mathematical infinity proper to that physical world itself (figure 14; compare this detail with the related dialectic of paired gazes in Bruegel’s Two Monkeys). Conclusion: Modes of Experience A consideration of pictorial structure, and more significantly still, of perspectival space as a coordination of analogous viewpoints, is crucial in that it allows the process of interpretation to grow from a direct response to the painting qua visual representation, that it gives the object itself and its pictorial idiom its due—and furthermore, in that it allows one to remain sensitive to the picture’s own “thought processes,” its internal interpretive self-reflexivity.24 However, it is in the specific character of organic unity and experiential immediacy—the experiential dimension 23 24 See Koryé, Closed World to Infinite Universe, pp. 18-19. Cf. Gregory, “Toward the Contextualization,” p. 210, n. 7, speaking of the inverted narrative compositions of the Via Crucis: “Insofar as the form of the image assumes an epistemological function here, insofar as it is not reducible to a determinate, iconographical meaning, it subverts the traditional dependency of images upon determinate and extrinsic textual relations.” �14 through which the Via Crucis is in the deepest, phenomenological sense a landscape—that much of its peculiar power, semantic and expressive, ultimately resides. And thus the best interpretations are those that emerge from close attention to the full experience the painting offers to a viewer. With this in mind, I would like to close with a brief consideration of some experiences depicted in a small area of the painting in the lower right (figure 15), with the suggestion that in returning to the microcosmic aspects of the picture (the experiences of the individual figures), the viewer’s experience of the picture as a whole and the problems of knowledge, attention and emotional response that it raises are the surest guide. For it is this macrocosmic interpretive mode itself, raising as it does the question of the necessary incompleteness of any interpretive act, that encourages us to consider more deeply precisely those figures who might otherwise seem marginal but whose cognitive or emotional states seem particularly perplexing. Near the foreground group of holy figures, in addition to the figures expressing astonishment or grief at the sight of the condemned criminals passing by, and in addition to the one mourning in empathy with the Virgin, oblivious to the imminent passing of Christ himself (to which two figures attempt to direct her attention), there are two other typically Bruegelian figures whose experiences of the event are harder to account for. One is a very young child looking at the viewer, the face mask-like, with a combination of innocent curiosity and disturbing proximity to dangerous or troubling events encountered so often in the figures of chidren elsewhere in Bruegel’s work, including elsewhere in the Via Crucis (figure 16). Another figure, also a child, crosses the river, or more likely pauses, and extends his hand. Perhaps he is reaching to his companion across the river, though it is not clear that this gesture actually expresses such a desire for effective action or communication. Perhaps he is preoccupied with �15 something he holds in his hand but that we can’t quite see. There’s something more enigmatic than mere focused attention here: an immediacy of ordinary, momentary experience that is not clearly directed to any end, or, as a state of attention, that is multiply directed. It suggests a kind of being in the world that involves active effort without obvious purpose, of a type that is very much a part of everyday life, though often unobserved (figure 17; compare this with a detail from Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow, where the varieties of work and leisure activity depicted there include one figure whose engagement with the world suggests such non-goal-oriented yet earnest negotiation, viz., the man grappling with a small tree by the riverbank). In a picture which addresses various modes of knowing and feeling and that raises the problem of attention in the highly charged context of divine immanence within ordinary life, there is always a remainder that escapes meaning, that is irreducible to any coordinated system of alternatives, however exhaustive. And for me it is in the character of those experiences, both ordinary and strange (strange because they are usually unobserved in actual life) that much of the continuing fascination of Bruegel’s painting lies. The abiding strangeness and ordinariness of the world as re-presented in directly visual terms, if one does the work required to be able to begin seeing it, provides, I think, the best support for the interpretive and responsive activity that constitutes the shared encounter with a work of art in the context of a discussion seminar. �16 Figure 1: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Via Crucis (Carrying of the Cross), oil on wood panel, 1564 �17 Figure 2: Copy after Jan (and/or Hubert) van Eyck (artist unknown), Via Crucis, oil on wood panel, early 16th century Figure 3: Bruegel, Via Crucis; Perspective diagram from Leon Battista Alberti, Della pittura, 1435-36 �18 Figure 4: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis; Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Disasters of War, number 36, etching with aquatint, c. 1810-20 (published 1863) Figure 5: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis �19 Figure 6: Brunswick Monogrammist (Jan van Amstel?), Via Crucis, oil on wood panel, 1530s? (Paris, Louvre) Figure 7: Details from Bruegel, Via Crucis �20 Figure 8: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis Figure 9: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis �21 Figure 10: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis Figure 11: Details from Bruegel, Via Crucis; Detail from Bruegel, Peasant Wedding, oil on wood panel, c. 1567-68 �22 Figure 12: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis Figure 13: Hieronymus Bosch, The Haywain, central panel, oil on wood, 1500-02; Hand G (Jan van Eyck?), Baptism of Christ, manuscript illumination from the Turin-Milan Hours, c. 1417-30 �23 Figure 14: Details from Bruegel, Via Crucis; Bruegel, Two Monkeys, oil on wood panel, 1562 Figure 15: Detail from Bruegel, Via Crucis �24 Figure 16: Detail from the following pictures by Bruegel, all oil on wood panel: Children’s Games (1560); Hunters in the Snow (1565); The Census at Bethlehem (1566); Via Crucis; Children’s Games; The Adoration of the Magi in the Snow (1567); Via Crucis Figure 17: Details from Bruegel, Via Crucis; Detail from Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "What is Liberal Education For?" 2014 Conference Papers Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make these items available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 24 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bruegel's Via crucis : (visual) experience and the problem of interpretation Description An account of the resource Paper presented on October 18, 2014 by Geoff Lehman at What is Liberal Education For? : a conference at St. John's College on the 50th Anniversary of the Santa Fe campus. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lehman, Geoff Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10-18 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Bruegel, Pieter, approximately 1525-1569. Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24004539 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/c9458352823068697fb0948515fb1f98.pdf 0cfbcdeb2b728d759abed144d591da13 PDF Text Text Servile Spartans: The problems of liberal education in Aristotle’s Politics Presented at What is Liberal Education For? St. John’s College (Santa Fe), October 18, 2014 Thornton Lockwood Quinnipiac University ABSTRACT: In the last two books of the Politics, Aristotle articulates a vision of education for his best regime in contrast to what he takes to be the goal and practices of the educational system of Sparta’s famous agôgê. Although Aristotle never refers to his program as liberal education, clearly he takes its goal to be the production of free citizens (hoi eleutheroi), which includes both males and females in his best regime. By contrast, in several places Aristotle characterizes the results of the Spartan system as “crude” (phortikos), “slavish” (andrapodôdes), and “servile” (banauson). I argue that Aristotle’s criticism of Spartan education both elucidates his general understanding of Sparta but also serves as a foil which can elucidate his own notion of liberal education. Further, I argue that Aristotle’s characterization of Spartan education as “slavish” and “servile” calls into question the claim that his notion of what is banausic is simply an expression of class prejudice. I conclude the paper by identifying some inconsistencies between liberal education in the Politics and elsewhere in Aristotle’s corpus. KEYWORDS: Aristotle, Politics, Sparta, liberal education, freedom Although there are places in Aristotle’s writings where he is appreciative of Spartan social and political institutions, his account of their famed educational system—the agôgê which Xenophon and Plutarch lavish with praise—is not one of them.1 Within the space of a half-dozen chapters in the last two books of the Politics, Aristotle describes the aims and results of the Spartan education system as “crude” (phortikos), “slavish” (andrapodôdes), and “servile” 1 See Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus (Lyc.), 14.1-3, 16-24 and Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians (Lak. Pol.), 2-5. Pol 7.14.1333b11-12 (husteron tines) may be a reference to Xenophon. Unless otherwise noted, parenthetical references within my paper refer to book, chapter, and Bekker page numbers of the Politics. Translations are my own, based on Ross 1957 but are significantly informed by the translations of Reeve 1998 and Kraut 1997. In several places I have drawn upon passages from two of my previously unpublished papers, “Double Standards? Aristotle’s critique of Plato’s Republic and the Spartan Constitution” and “Is there a Poetics in Aristotle’s Politics?” �2 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft (banauson), terms one usually associates in Aristotle’s writings with manual laborers or slaves rather than the virtuous elite of an aristocratic regime.2 Although Aristotle praises Sparta as one of the first and only cities to take seriously the problem of educating its citizens in a communal setting (something very rare throughout the archaic and classical periods), he thinks both the goals of that education and the means by which those goals were implemented were deeply and historically flawed.3 Examining Aristotle’s critique of Spartan education elucidates our understanding of its institutions and rounds out Aristotle’s own position on one of the most controversial societies ever.4 Aristotle uses Sparta as a foil to elucidate his own account of the kind of virtue which education should produce in his account of the “city of one’s prayers” in the last two books of the Politics. Aristotle underscores repeatedly that such a form of education aims at producing “free persons” (hoi eleutheroi). An examination of his criticisms of Spartan education is thus 2 Pol 7.14.1333b8-10, 7.15.1334a38-40, 8.4.1338b25-39. What Aristotle means by the term banauson, I will argue, is a matter of dispute. Most English translators (e.g., Reeve 1998, Kraut 1997, Lord 2013, Barker 1958) use the term “vulgar” to render the term in English (Simpson 1997 uses “vulgar mechanic”). I will translate the term consistently as “servile” and examine it at length in part II of my paper. 3 Whereas Xenophon blames Sparta’s decline in the 4th century on departures from the constitution of Lycurgus, Aristotle traces the problems all the way back to the Spartan Constitution’s quasi-mythical founder. See Lak. Pol. 14; cf. Pol 2.9.1270a6-8, 1271a2, 1271a41, 7.14.1333b24-25. 4 Aristotle devotes a chapter to the criticisms of Sparta in his review of purportedly best constitutions in Politics 2.9; Politics 7.2, 7.14, 7.15 critique Sparta’s aim of domination (kratein) and the effects that aim has on its educational system; and Politics 8.4 and 8.5 critique Spartan physical and musical education. Although De Laix 1974, George 1982, Schütrumpf 1994, and Rubin 2012 focus on Aristotle’s criticism in Pol 2.9 (especially the question of whether Aristotle’s criticisms distinguish between Lycurgan Sparta and the Sparta of his own time), there is no comprehensive recent account of Aristotle’s political, social, and educational critiques of Sparta. �3 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft also an excellent way to unpack what Aristotle intends by the notion of a free or liberal person, the corresponding notion of a free person’s or liberal education.5 Although some have argued that Aristotle’s notion of liberal education is perniciously elitist—and dare I say, the bad sort of elitism predicated solely on socio-economic status—I will argue that the problems Aristotle finds with Spartan education transcend class-based elitism precisely because they are aimed at the upper classes of an oligarchic society.6 No doubt, Aristotle is hardly an egalitarian. But when Aristotle claims that Spartan education produces individuals who are “banausic” or servile in the true sense of the term (8.4.1338b34), his criticism transcends a class-based disdain for manual or wage labor.7 To make that case that Aristotle’s notion of liberal education is more than just an elitist prejudice, I first articulate Aristotle’s understanding and major criticisms of Spartan education. Since Aristotle claims that Spartan education produces servile citizens, the second part of my paper analyzes the notion of servility (banauson) in the Politics more generally. In the third part 5 Aristotle draws distinctions between eleutheros (a free person), eleutherios (what is characteristic of a free person) and the character trait of eleutheriotês; further he draws distinctions within each use of the term. Nonetheless, in my paper I will use the phrase a “free person” (and its cognates) in place of all three terms for convenience of exposition. For a detailed discussion of the terms eleutheria and eleutheros, see Hansen 2010; for that of eleutheriotês, see Hare 1988. 6 See further Nightingale 1996 and Nightingale 2001. 7 Aristotle’s claim that Spartan education is banausic is especially sharp given Spartan disdain for and apparent prohibitions against the practice of artesian trades in Sparta. Aristotle points out that the Spartan habit of wearing long hair is the mark of a free man, since the performance of servile tasks (ergon thêtikon) is difficult for one so adorned (Rhetoric 1.9.1367a28-33). Herodotus reports that 5th C. Spartans were most contemptuous of the manual crafts (Hist. 2.167); Xenophon and Aristotle imply, and Plutarch reports, that the Lycurgan constitution forbade Spartans from participating in the arts and money-making (Lak. Pol. 7.1-6, cf. 13.5, 14.1-3; Pol 3.6.1278a18-20; Lyc. 9.3-5, 24.2). See further Cartledge 1976. �4 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft of my paper, I articulate Aristotle’s notions of both a free person and the nature of education in the best regime in order to arrive at what I would characterize as his notion of liberal education. Although my argument rebuts the claim that Aristotle’s notion of liberal education is perniciously elitist, the fourth and final part of my paper identifies tensions between the account of liberal education in the Politics and how education is usually construed in the Nicomachean Ethics. Part I: The problematic goal and practices of Spartan education Aristotle’s general evaluation of Spartan education is that although their legislator deserves praise for taking seriously the ethical formation of its citizens—what Aristotle calls paideia—both the aims and the execution of Spartan paideia are deeply flawed. 4th century education in the polis world was generally a “private” matter, namely one conducted within one’s own household—with hired tutors or educators in the case of wealthy families—which was organized around literacy (both reading and writing), physical or gymnastic training, and music.8 Spartan education was thus unusual in being a public, communal matter—which is a major source of Aristotle’s praise.9 Nonetheless, the bulk of his criticism is negative. First and foremost, Spartan education is fundamentally misdirected towards the goal of domination and the inculcation of solely martial virtues such as courage and endurance. But further, he is also 8 EN 10.9.1179b30-1180b16, Pol 8.3.1337b21-33. See further Marrou 1956: 14-25, 36-45, Cartledge 2001a, Kennel 1995, and Ducat 2006. 9 A point Aristotle makes repeatedly: EN 10.9.1180a25-29, Pol 7.2.1324b5-9, 8.1.1337a30-32; it is also a point which he inherits most immediately from Plato’s Laws (ref.). �5 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft explicitly critical of the practices of Sparta’s gymnastic and musical education10 and its apparent neglect of female education.11 On Aristotle’s reading, the aim of the Spartan constitution is military domination (kratein [2.9.1271b3, 7.2.1324b7, 7.14.1333b14, b30]) and the quality which it sought to inculcate in support of that aim is the martial virtue of endurance (karteria [2.9.1269b20, 7.15.1334a22]).12 Aristotle is critical of both the Spartan aim and its elevation of endurance as the highest virtue. With respect to the Spartan aim of domination: in Politics 7.14 Aristotle reasons from the claim that happiness is the aim of the best constitution to the claims that work (ascholia) is pursued for the sake of leisure (scholê) and that war is pursued for the sake of peace (1333a30-b5). To elucidate his point, he considers the case of “those Greeks who are currently held (dokountes) to be best governed,” namely the Spartans, whose constitution aims at conquest and war (7.14.1333b5-6). Aristotle characterizes such an aim as “crude” (phortikôs [1333b9]) and more conducive to acquisition (pleonektikôteras [1333b10]). Those who praise 10 Aristotle makes no reference to Spartan education concerning literacy, quite possibly because it was neglected in Spartan education. See Cartledge 2001b. 11 Pol 2.9.1269b12 ff. The accuracy of Aristotle’s remarks about Spartan women is a source of disagreement. Plutarch contested the accuracy of Aristotle’s remarks about the education of Spartan women (Lyc., 26.2-30). Amongst modern scholars, one end of the spectrum is Cartledge’s claim that Aristotle’s remarks are the “map and compass” on the subject (2001c, p. 86). At the other end is Pomeroy’s claim that for Aristotle, household hierarchy “existed by nature and any perversion of it was monstrous. That Spartan women enjoyed authority in the oikos and owned and managed property appeared to him outrageous” (2002, p. 151). 12 In several places, Aristotle invokes the distinction between the “fundamental principle” (hypothesis) or “aim” (skopos, telos) of a constitution and the fit between such an aim and the constitution’s institutions. Pol 2.9.1269b30-34, 7.13.1331b25-32a8. For example, one can examine whether democracies are correct to make freedom the ordering principle of their societies but one can also examine whether a specific social or political institution is consistent with the democratic principle. I elaborate on this point in “Double Standards? Aristotle’s critique of Plato’s Republic and the Spartan Constitution.” �6 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft such a constitution fail to see both that in the 4th century Sparta underwent a serious decline13—which made them “not a happy people” (1334a22-23)—and that there is nothing especially fine in despotically ruling over other people. Rather, according to Aristotle it is ruling a free people—namely, by incorporating ruling and being ruled amongst the citizenry—that is fine or noble. With respect to the Spartan elevation of endurance as the highest virtue: in Politics 7.15 Aristotle discusses those virtues which education ought to inculcate and again turns to Sparta as a foil for his own educational program. Since the human end consists in the excellent exercise of leisure, Aristotle claims that education should inculcate those virtues useful for leisure—both those activated during leisurely pursuit (diagôgê) and those involved in the work (ascholia) to secure leisure (scholê). Thus, he writes that Courage and endurance (karteria) are required for work (ascholia), philosophy for leisure (scholê), and moderation for both, but particularly for peace and leisure. For war compels people to be just and moderate, but the enjoyment of good luck and the leisure that accompanies peace tends to make them arrogant. Much justice and moderation are needed, therefore, by those who are held to be doing best (tous arista dokountas [1334a29])…For they will be most in need of philosophy, moderation, and justice the more they live at leisure amidst an abundance of such goods. (7.15.1334a22-29, 31-34) 13 See further Cawkwall 1983. �7 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Although Aristotle certainly recognizes a place for the martial virtues of endurance and courage in his own account of education in the best regime, both virtues are oriented towards what he calls “necessity” rather than what is leisurely (7.15.1334a18). Sparta’s elevation of endurance as the highest virtue leaves them incapacitated to exercise the virtues of leisure and peace.14 It is especially shameful (aischron) to be unable to make use of goods at leisure. Sparta is in the predicament of having its men appear to be good men when working (ascholountas) and fighting but as slaves (andrapodôdeis) when at peace and being at leisure (scholazontas) (1334a36-40). Even if one grants that domination is the rightful goal of a polis and endurance the highest virtue, Aristotle believes that the practices which Sparta uses (or fails to use) to inculcate such a world view are deeply flawed. First, Aristotle claims that “the legislator, 15 wishing the whole city-state to have endurance (karterikên), makes his wish evident where the men are concerned, but has been negligent in the case of women. For being free from all constraint, the live in total intemperance and luxury” (2.9.1269b13-14, 19-23). Such neglect resulted in female licentiousness (anesis) which is detrimental to the “deliberately chosen aims 14 As Aristotle puts it in another context, “Like an iron sword, [the Spartans] lose their edge when they remain at peace” (7.14.1334a8-9). 15 In Politics 2.9, Aristotle makes reference to Lycurgus, Sparta’s apocryphal founder, and “the legislator” (for the use of the name “Lycurgus,” which is found usually outside Politics 2.9, see: 2.9.1270a7, 2.10.1271b25, 2.12.1273b33, 2.12.1274a29, 4.11.1296a20; for the use of the term “legislator,” which is ubiquitous inside 2.9, see: 2.9.1269b20, 1270a4, 1270b1, b19, 1271a13, a22, a41, 1271b15). De Laix suggests that Aristotle uses the name of Lycurgus when he praises Sparta and “the legislator” when he criticizes him (De Laix, 1974: xx). �8 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft of the constitution” (tên proairesin tês politeias).16 Lycurgus elevated a certain virile strength or military virtue above all other virtues, since such excellence makes domination possible.17 Female licentiousness undermines or is at odds with such a hypothesis in at least two ways. First, licentiousness inculcates intemperance and luxury in Spartan women, which in turn infects Spartan men with esteem for wealth or love of money (1269b24; cf, 1270a14-15, 1271a18).18 Second, the sexual obsession which warlike Spartan men have—as the pairing of Aphrodite and Ares in myth reminds us (1269b28-29)—empowers Spartan women to rule Sparta as gunaikokratoumenoi (1269b24-25).19 Aristotle notes, What difference is there between women rulers and rulers ruled by women? The result is the same. Audacity (thrasutêtos) is not useful in everyday matters, but only, if at all, in war. Yet Spartan women were very harmful even here. They showed this quite clearly during the Theban invasions [in 371].” (2.9.1269b3236). 16 Aristotle refers to the “choice” of the legislator or the “aim” (boulêmati [2.9.1270b32]) of the constitution in a way that is equivalent to his use of the term hypothesis. See 2.9.1269b13-14, 1271a32, 2.12.1274a12. 17 See 2.9.1271b1-7; cf. Lyc. 22.2 and Lac. Pol. 14.1-7. 18 For a survey of classical attitudes towards Spartan views about wealth, see S. Hodkinson 1994, which groups Plato and Aristotle together as critics who claim that Sparta’s covert love of money was deeply rooted in Lycurgan or traditional Spartan institutions—such as the neglect of women—rather than the result of the imperial successes following the Peloponnesian wars (201-207). Schütrumpf 1994 concurs, arguing against those who see Aristotle distinguishing between praiseworthy aspects of Sparta “in the good old days” and blameworthy aspects of Sparta in its 4th century decline. 19 For examples of testimony concerning Spartan women that support Aristotle’s claims, see Bradford 1986. He concludes that “We—in the light of modern feminism—might not agree that Spartan women ruled Spartan men, but we must concede to Aristotle that some Spartan women did have real power in the Spartan state” (18). �9 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Neglect of female education is at the heart of Sparta’s demise. Aristotle makes clear in the Politics that the education of half of the free population is an integral part of a constitution’s educational program (1.13.1260b13-20). Secondly, Aristotle criticizes the practice of Spartan musical education.20 In Politics 8.5 Aristotle takes up the question of whether musical education includes a performative element, and he casts the question in terms of a debate between Spartan musical education and that which Aristotle himself will ultimately advocate. In his dialectical consideration of whether and how one should participate in music, Aristotle notes that even if music is able to improve people’s character (ta êthê [1339a41]) Why should [children] learn [to perform music] themselves, rather than being like the Spartans, who enjoy the music of others in the right way and are able to judge it (dunasthai krinein [1339b1])? For the Spartans do not learn it themselves, but are still able, so they say (hos phasi [1339b3]), to judge rightly (krinein orthôs [1339b3]) which melodies are good and which are not. (8.5.1339a41-39b4) Politics 8.6 make clear that Aristotle does not endorse this endoxon concerning Spartan abilities. Instead, he claims “It is not difficult to see, of course, that if someone takes part in performance himself, it makes a great difference in the development of certain qualities, since 20 Although Aristotle does not mention it explicitly, I believe he would endorse Cartledge’s claim that “it took the Spartans to transform the joyous social activity of dancing into a paradeground endurance test, as they did in the annual festival of the Gymnopaidiai” (Cartledge 2001a: 86). For a survey of the surviving testimony of what Plato in the Laws characterizes as a test of endurance during strong heat (633c), see Pettersson 1992: 42-56. �10 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft it is difficult if not impossible to become excellent judges of performance (tôn ergôn kritas genesthai spoudaious [1340b25]) if they do not take part in it” (8.6.1340b22-25). Proper judgment of music requires some familiarity with the performance of music, and proper performance trains one to listen not only critically for musical education, but for education of any sort (8.6.1341a19-21). Although some—perhaps including the Spartans21—disdain performing music as inherently crude or servile, Aristotle rejects that position in Politics 8.6-7 (which I will return to in Part III of the paper). Finally, In Politics 8.4 Aristotle claims that Sparta’s gymnastic education—which aims at producing animal ferocity (thêriôdes [8.4.1338b12-13, 29]) rather than courage based in a sense of what is kalon or noble22—produces inferior combatants. In Aristotle’s eyes, it appears that the Spartan legislator thought that compelling youth to confront hardships or danger would train them to be brave in the face of battle (citations). But as we know from Aristotle’s own account of courage in the Nicomachean Ethics, animal ferocity is at best a weak approximation of real courage; it lacks any sense of what is fine or noble, which is the fundamental orientation of true courage.23 Aristotle also faults the Spartan “devotion to rigorous exertion” (philoponia 21 Aristotle leaves the identity of the objectors unknown: see tous phaskontas (1340b34) and tines (b40). 22 Anecdotes about the brutality of Spartan gymnastic education are legion, but perhaps that of the “hidden fox” is most indicative. Plutarch tells the story of a Spartan boy—encouraged to steal to feed himself (which the Spartan agôgê did generally to teach children cunning)—who carried around concealed under his cloak a young fox which he had stolen. The boy “suffered the animal to tear out his bowels with its teeth and claws, and died rather than have his theft detected” (Lyc. 18.1). 23 Nicomachean Ethics (EN) 3.8 claims that thumotic or natural courage resembles that of beasts (ta thêria) but lacks the notion of what is fine (to kalon), which Aristotle thinks is a defining element of true courage (EN 3.8.1116b23-1117a9; cf. EN 3.7.1115b11-13). �11 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft [1338b25]) which he thinks, in light of the Spartan military defeats in the 4 th century (such as at Leuctra in 371 and Mantinea in 362 BCE), was inferior to the gymnastic training of other cities. Spartan rigorous physical education produces people who are “truly servile (banausous…kata ge to alêthes). For they make them useful to statesmen for one task only, and one at which they are worse than other people” (8.4.1339b32-35). Determining what Aristotle means by calling such men banausic “in accord with the truth” requires a digression into the meaning of the term in Aristotle’s Politics. Part II: Servility (to banauson) in Aristotle’s Politics The claim that Spartan physical education produces “truly servile” men picks up on a theme running through many of Aristotle’s criticisms of Sparta and points towards the elucidation of what he also means by a free person’s education. Aristotle characterizes what is “banauson” or what I have chosen to translate as “servile” in several places.24 Certainly one sense of the term derives from the class of artisans to which the term banausos applies, namely those manual workers whom Aristotle thinks are a necessary part of any city, but whom he denies citizenship to generally, and especially in his best regime. In Politics 1.11, Aristotle identifies one class of wage-earners as “servile craftsmen” (tôn banausôn technitôn) who are distinct from unskilled labor; he goes on to say that they are more servile the more they damage their bodies (1258b25-29, 37-38). Aristotle claims that such artisans are an integral 24 In what follows, I focus upon Aristotle’s use of the term in the Politics. But it is worth bearing in mind that Aristotle in the EN also identifies the man who is the excess of the mean of megaloprepeia as ho banausos, who is described as one who spends lavishly at inappropriate times (the EE claims that there is no name for such a person). See further EN 4.2, EE 3.6. �12 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft part of the dêmos (4.3.1289b33-35, 4.4.1291a1-4) and make up the majority of citizens in democracies (6.1.1317a25, 6.4.1319a26-31). Nonetheless, he explicitly excludes them in his best regime (3.5.1277b33-78a25, 7.9.1328b39-29a3, 1329a20). Seizing upon such passages, Nightingale claims that In the most general terms, “banausoi” is the label for people who earn a living plying a trade or craft that involves the use of the hands. The word ‘artisan’ (in the broadest sense) is more accurate than ‘mechanic,’ though even this term is too limited. It is important to emphasize that the term banausos generally carries a pejorative sense, since it marks a person as mercantile and servile. In fact, the term is virtually monopolized by aristocratic writers, and it therefore carries with it the perspective and prejudices of the leisured class. (Nightingale 2001, p. 134; see also Nightingale 1996.) Certainly the term banauson picks out people identifiable by their relationship to a certain mode of production. But when Aristotle invokes the “true” sense of banauson in his critique of Spartan physical education in Politics 8.4, it seems far more plausible to elucidate the term by means of his discussion of it in Politics 8.2. In order to distinguish between liberal and illiberal education, Aristotle stipulates that Any task, craft, or branch of learning should be considered servile (banauson) if it renders the body or mind of free people useless for the practices and activities of virtue. That is why (dio) the crafts that put the body into a worse condition �13 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft and work done for wages are called servile; for they debase the mind and deprive it of leisure. (8.2.1337b8-11) The claim that Aristotle’s class prejudices bias his account of liberal education gets the cart before the horse. No doubt, wage labor that stunts one’s body or mind is banausic, but the reason is because it stunts the mind or body, not because it is based on wages.25 Certainly in Aristotle’s economic world, wage labor was a stultifying and feeble existence.26 But servility is not defined, as it were, in relationship to one’s labor. Rather, in Politics 8.2 servility is defined in terms of the effects of a practice upon an individual, which provides the explanation for why wage labor is called banausic. Spartan education also incapacities the mind and body for the exercise of virtue, but that education has nothing to do with wage labor. Aristotle’s contrast between liberal (eleutheron) or “free” leisure activity and what is illiberal (aneleutheron) further undermines defining servility by relationship to a sort of labor.27 Aristotle characterizes illiberality according to the reason why someone performs an action rather than on the basis of the action itself. For instance, in his discussion of how citizens in his best regime will learn to rule and be ruled, Aristotle notes that 25 As Stalley notes, “If we are to retrieve anything from Aristotle’s philosophy of education we need to challenge his pessimistic view of the occupations he calls ‘banausic’…Aristotle believes that, because certain occupations distort the character in ways which prevent people from living a truly good ife, those who follow those occupations cannot be citizens. We might reply that the cause of corruption is not the occupations themselves so much as their social context and the attitudes with which they are undertaken” (Stalley 2009: 575). My central argument is that Aristotle’s criticism of Sparta shows that this is not only “our” reply but his own. 26 At Politics I.13.1260a38-1260b1, Aristotle compares—unfavorable—the effects of wage labor and those of slavery. For the economic status of wage labors in antiquity, see Nagle xxxx: xxxxxx. 27 Aristotle seems to use banauson and aneleutheron interchangeably in Politics 7-8. [SUPPLY EVIDENCE.] �14 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft some commands differ not with respect to the tasks they assign but with respect to that for the sake of which they are done. That is why it is noble even for free young men to perform many of the tasks that are held to be appropriate for slaves. For the difference between noble and shameful actions does not lie so much in the acts themselves as in their ends, on that for the sake of which they are performed. (7.14.1333a6-10) Learning how to be ruled requires learning how to obey commands for the right reasons and education needs to prepare one to distinguish those reasons. Another passage later in Politics 8 articulates the same distinction more specifically. In seeking to classify what is liberal, Aristotle notes that “the sake for which one acts or learns also makes a big difference. For what one does for one’s own sake, for the sake of friends, or on account of virtue is not illiberal, but someone who does the same thing for others would often be held to be acting like a hired laborer or slave (thêtikon kai doulikon)” (Pol 8.2.1337b17-20). To use an example which Aristotle will provides subsequently: there is nothing intrinsically illiberal about performing music. But if one performs that music pandering to the boorish pleasure of an audience or for the sake of money rather than to develop virtue, then the musical performance is illiberal or servile (8.6.1341b8-18). Returning to Aristotle’s critique of Spartan education, we can see what Aristotle thinks is its central flaw. “The principle which determines all the rest” in the case of education is the ability to make fine use of leisurely activities (8.3.1337b31-32). Spartan education fails to inculcate such an ability. The Spartan constitution’s aim at domination is crude and acquisitive. �15 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Its elevation of endurance over other virtues produces citizens no different from slaves with respect to the activities of leisure. Its neglect of female education permits money-loving tendencies to grow amongst its people. Its musical education produces men incapable of judging what is fine. And its physical education produces mediocre combatants who are banausically unable to do anything except fight. The Spartan educational program seems to be the opposite of a liberal education. Part III: Aristotle’s notion of liberal education Reconstructing Aristotle’s notion of liberal education faces a challenge.28 Although he discusses in numerous places both what it means to be either “liberal” (either eleutheros— literally, a free man, or eleutherios, what is characteristic of a free person) or illiberal (aneleutheros) and the nature of paideia, or education, he never analyzes the notion of “liberal education” per se. Rather, what we find in his writings are the characterization of a free person’s science, rhythms, laughter, pleasures, bodily exercise, and even agora and the nature of a free person as such.29 Aristotle also distinguishes between curricular aspects of the main division of education, namely reading/writing, gymnastics, drawing, and music. In order to reconstruct the core characteristics of what we can call Aristotle’s “notion of liberal education,” 28 For other reconstructions of Aristotle’s educational program, see Lord 1982, Reeve 1998, and Stalley 2009. 29 See, for instance, science (8.2.1337b15), rhythms (8.5.1340b10), laughter (EN 4.8.1128a20), pleasures (EN 3.11.1118b5, 8.6.1158a21), bodily exercise (7.16.1335b11), and agora (7.12.1331a32). �16 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft I will first look at what he says is characteristic of a free person and then relate it to what he says about the various subdivisions of education. At first glance, one thinks of a free person in political terms—as one who participates as a citizen within a political community.30 Aristotle’s term eleutheros is cognate with the term eleutheria or “freedom” which is both a defining characteristic of a democracy and the nativeborn status which grounds a claim to share in the political process of a democratic constitution.31 Clearly the notion of a free person has important political significance, for Aristotle points out in numerous places that what he calls “political rule”—namely, the reciprocal rule in which rulers and the ruled take turns ruling—can only be exercised over people who are free.32 Furthermore, Aristotle explicitly notes that the educational program in 30 Hansen notes that the “oldest” and “most common” meaning of eleutheros is “being free” in opposition to “being a slave” (Hansen 2010: 2) and argues that “we must free ourselves of the anachronistic conviction that a political philosopher must have a positive conception of political freedom and that, consequently, Plato and Aristotle must have developed their own notions of eleutheria in order to replace or at least modify the democrats’ erroneous understanding of the concept” (Hansen 2010: 26). Aristotle uses the notion of eleutheros (a free man) primarily in the sense of what I will call one who is “ordered and measured”; by contrast, he uses the term eleutherios in two distinct senses, viz. in the general sense of one who is ordered or measured, but also in the narrow sense of one who possesses the character trait of eleutheriotês, namely one who is “generous” or observes the mean between wastefulness (asôtia) and illiberality (aneleutheria) with respect to the use of money (which is analyzed in EN 4.1, EE 3.4, and MM 24). For possible interrelations between the general and narrow senses of the term “liberality,” see Hare 1988. 31 For eleutheria as the “hypothesis” or horos of democracy, see 4.8.1294a11-20, 6.2.1317a40, 4.12.1296b18; for the term as native-born status as ground for participating in the constitution, see 3.8.1280a5, 3.9.1280124, 3.9.1281a6, 3.1283a6, 3.13.1283b20. 32 1.7.1255b22, 3.4.1277b8-17, 3.17.1288a11, 7.14.133a6, b18; cf. EN 5.6.1134a27. See further Mayhew 2009. Hansen claims that “Neither in the Eudemian nor in the Nicomachean Ethics is there any discussion whatsoever of the free person or the concept of freedom….Nor does Aristotle in the Politics betray any serious interest in the concept of political freedom” (Hansen 2010: 10, 11). Hansen’s argument is partially that Aristotle’s discussion of “liberality” is �17 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft his best regime is designed to prepare its citizens to exercise such political rule—or be capable of ruling and being ruled (7.14.1332b12 ff.). But as Aristotle also points out, defining who is free in terms of civic participation is questionable since there are “free men” in some cities whom Aristotle would deny a claim of participation in his best regime. As Aristotle notes in his discussion of citizenship, The best city-state will not confer citizenship on the servile (banauson [1278a8]), however; but if they too are citizens, then what we have characterized as a citizen’s virtue cannot be ascribed to everyone, or even to free people, but only to those who are freed from necessary tasks (tôn ergôn…tôn anagkaiôn). (3.5.1278a8-11) Aristotle clearly (and rather unapologetically) maintains both that manual, agrarian, and wage workers are necessary for the best constitution and that they are not fit to be full citizens—or free men—because of their inability to exercise virtue.33 That some free men have political status in other constitutions means that political status per se cannot be a sufficient condition or characteristic to determine a free person. delimited to its sense of the virtue concerned with generosity, and partially that Aristotle thinks of freedom primarily in the sense of leisurely activity (in opposition to what is slavish). Although it goes beyond the limits of my paper to make the argument, I take Aristotle’s claim that freedom is a necessary condition of political rule as grounding his “political” notion of freedom; Aristotle’s claim that the paideia of his best regime is supposed to prepare its citizens for ruling and being ruled (7.14.1332b12 ff) certainly suggests that the “liberal” component of liberal education is directed towards the political use of freedom in self-government in addition to the proper use of leisure. Thus, my position is much closer to Liddel 2007: 323-331 and Kraut 2002: 452-453. 33 7.7.1327b28, 7.9.1329a26, 7.10.1330a26-33. �18 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft In places Aristotle will describe “people who are by nature free” in juxtaposition with one who is “a slave by nature” (1.5.1255a1; 7.3.1325a28-30). The latter is described as someone who “despite being human, is by nature not his own (ho gar mê hautou) but someone else’s.”34 In the Metaphysics, in his discussion of “a free man’s science,” Aristotle will also characterize the free person as one who “exists for his own sake and not for the sake of someone else” (Meta 1.2.982b25-26). Later in that work, in an analogy to explain how the cosmos manifests goodness, he writes that All things are ordered in relation to one thing. It is as in a household, in which the freemen are least at liberty (hekista exestin) to act at random but all or most things are ordered, while slaves and wild animals contribute little to the common good but for the most part act at random; for such is the principle of each of these, which is their nature. (Meta 12.10.1075a18-23, Apostle trans.) As Apostle notes in his commentary on the passage, what Aristotle seems to have in mind is that as the head of the household is to God, so too are free wife and sons to other movers and celestial bodies, and slaves and animals are to destructible bodies in the sub-lunar sphere.35 Being “one’s own” or “existing for one’s own sake” is the opposite of the democratic interpretation of freedom, which views eleutheria as doing whatever one wants with no sense of authority or rule.36 Rather, the truly free person exhibits an ordered, measured quality.37 34 1.4.1254a14-15; cf. 1.5.1254b20-23, EN 10.6.1177a8. Apostle 1966: 407 n. 4. 36 See 5.9.1310a30, 6.2.1317a40 ff. 37 Aristotle distinguishes the dancing movements which some rhythms produce as more free from those movements which are more “crude” (phortikôteras [1340b9-10]); the former 35 �19 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft The civic nature of such “measured” freedom, paradoxically, is best elucidated by Aristotle’s remarks about the play (paidia) appropriate to a free person in his discussion of the virtue of wit (eutrapelia) or its mean-state of dexterity, tact, or ingenuity (epidexiotês). As I will discuss below, one of the most striking restrictions in Aristotle’s liberal education is its limitation on “shameful speech” (aischrologia) for all citizens (not just the young [7.17.1336b35]).38 In the Ethics, Aristotle claims that it is characteristic of a person who is dexterous to say and to listen to the sorts of things that are fitting for those who are decent and free (tô(i) epieikei kai eleutheriô(i)). For there are some things that it is appropriate for such a person to say as part of amusement (paidias), and also to listen to, and the amusement of the free person (hê tou eleutheriou paidia) differs from that of a slavish person (tês tou andrapodôdous), and that of the well-educated from that of the uneducated one. We can also see this from old and new comedies, since in the former what caused laugher was obscenity (aischrologia), whereas in the latter it is more innuendo (hyponoia), and there is no small difference between these as regards graciousness (euschêmosunên). Should a person who jibes well (eu skôptonta) be defined then as saying things that are not unsuitable for a free person or that do not cause pain to his listener or even delight him?...Now he will not produce every sort. For jibes are a type of abuse (loidorêma), and some types of abuse are forbidden by legislators, so presumably should some types of jibing. A sophisticated (charieis) and free person, then, will be like that, since he is a sort of law for himself (hoion nomos ôn heautô(i)). (EN 4.8.1128a16-27, 29-32) Although Aristotle contrasts the witty person with the buffoon (phortikos) or the slavish person who finds a joke in everything, his preference for “new” over “old” comedy indicates that the joking in question is decidedly critical and indeed even caustic, like the jibes which Aristophanes appear to be like Dorian harmonies, namely those which are measured and composed (mesôs kai kathestêkotôs [1340b3]). 38 For the legal/political context of Aristotle’s remarks, see Kraut 1997: 161-165 and Collins 2006: 154-165. �20 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft regularly makes against politicians of his time such as Kleon.39 Indeed, although the speech in question is actually legislated in Aristotle’s time, his claim that the witty or free person is like a “law” (nomos) for himself further underscores that the freedom in question is a sort of positive freedom or autonomy which makes it possible for him to participate in a free person’s amusement.40 Play is a form of leisurely activity, and the free person is precisely the one who knows how to play excellently. Aristotle’s notion of the free person thus seems to include at least three notions. First, the free person is one who possesses the ability to participate in civic affairs both as one who rules and as one who is ruled. Secondly, it is first and foremost the orderly and measured way that such a person acts—sensitive to the particularities and context of what he or she does or says—which sets that person apart from those who are unfree. Finally, to say that such a person “exists for his own sake” seems to imply a sort of autonomy or positive freedom such that that person’s actions are constitutive of what it means to act well or finely. If the free person exhibits such characteristics, how does Aristotle’s liberal education produce such a person? Aristotle’s criticisms of Spartan education elucidates such a question because he uses Sparta both as foil to his own proposals and as a model from which to borrow. As already 39 In the Rhetoric Aristotle characterizes wittiness as “hubris that has been educated” (Rhet 2.12.1389b11-12).For the notion that pandering to the audience epitomizes what is phortikos, see 8.6.1341b16, 8.7.1342a20; cf. Poet 26.1461b29, 1462a4; Rhet 3.1.1395b1, 1404a1. 40 Assuming that the free person is the same as the decent person (ho spoudaios), then such a person is further the measure or canon for the exercise of virtue because he judges (krinei) each thing correctly, especially concerning what is pleasant or fine (EN 3.4.1113a29-b2; cf. 10.5.1176a16-23, 10.6.1176b26-30). �21 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft noted, Aristotle incorporates the public and communal aspects of Spartan education into his own account (8.1.1337a31-32).41 But further, like the Spartan legislator, Aristotle designs a comprehensive program of education that begins with eugenic breeding guidelines for parents—to insure the production of babies with the proper bodily compositions—and then proceeds with habituation and education according to different age-classes that stretch from birth at least through the age of 21.42 (An Appendix to my paper provides a schematic overview of Aristotle’s age-classes.) Aristotle’s program focuses upon three different aspects of human development: development of the body, habituation of the nonrational parts of the soul, and education of the rational part of the soul (7.15.34b12-28; cf. 8.3.1338b3-7). Aristotle also organized his educational program into three age-classes (not including the pre-natal guidelines for parents to insure proper bodies for babies described in Pol 7.16): from the moment of birth through the age of seven, from age seven through puberty, and from puberty through the age of twenty-one. It appears that the three aspects of development do not correspond with the three age-classes: The first age class includes guidelines for bodily growth, the development of habits, and the observation of lessons (mathêsis), and the last age class includes both lessons (mathêmata) and rigorous gymnastic training.43 Let me elucidate how physical education, 41 Other apparent mimicry of Spartan institutions include habituating children against cold (see 7.17.1336a15-21 with Lak. Pol. 2.4) and establishing a paidonomos or supervisor of children (see 7.17.1336b31-32 with Lak. Pol. 2.2, 2.10, 4.6). 42 There are some hints that Aristotle envisions civic education to extend into adulthood in the best regime; it certainly includes guidelines about the sexual activities of mature adults (7.16.1335b35-40). See further EN 10.9.1180a2-6. For the various age classes of education in the Spartan program, see Cartledge 2001a: 82-88 and Ducat 2006: 69-117. 43 I follow Kraut 1997: 158-159 against Newman 1885 I: 358 in finding in Aristotle’s program overlapping developmental foci within each age-class. Thus, in the first age-class (from birth to �22 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft habituation, and musical education separately produce individual elements of a liberal education. Although Aristotle’s three age-classes do not correspond to his three developmental phases, Aristotle notes in several places that in order to become a good man, one must “harmonize” (sumphônein [7.13.1332b5-6]) reason, nature, and habit (7.13.1332b3-11, 7.15.1334b6-12) and that process of harmonization proceeds in a sequential order (of sorts) from bodily development to education by habituation to education of the mind (7.15.34b12-28; cf. 8.3.1338b3-7). Let me focus first on bodily development.44 Aristotle prescribes guidelines for bodily development throughout all three age-classes, but with different emphases within different age-classes. He provides for light exercise (without strict dietary restrictions) apparently from the age of two through the age of fourteen primarily through non-competitive, the age of seven, described in Pol 7.17), the first two years focus primarily on bodily development with some habituation towards cold, the period from age two until five continues to focus on bodily development (through play) although with a greater sensitivity towards proper habituation of the non-rational part of the soul, and the period from age five until seven (which takes place outside the household), seems solely focused upon intellectual development (namely, students observe—but apparently do not participate in—the studies undertaken in the second age-group [7.171336b35-37]). (Aristotle notes in a couple of places that physical training and intellectual training cannot be successful carried out simultaneously [7.17.1336a22-25, 8.5.1339a7-10].) Aristotle is far more specific about paideia in the first seven years than in the other two periods, although he seems to suggest that in the second age-class (the period from age seven until puberty) students will pursue the studies described in Politics 8.3 (reading, writing, gymnastics, music, and drawing [8.3.1337b23-30]), whereas in the third age-class (the period from puberty until 21), students will pursue “other studies” (allois mathêmasi [1339a5]) from 15 until 17, followed by physical exertion and dietary training (presumably in anticipation of military campaigns) until the age of 21 (8.4.1339a5-6). Are the “other studies” an allusion to the philosophia mentioned at 7.15.1334a23 and 32? 44 Bodily development is also neo-natal, as it were: Aristotle discusses desirable ethnic natures in Politics 7.7 and the guidelines for proper parental breeding in Politics 7.16. Physical education is not starting from scratch. �23 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft non-strenuous play (paidia); after a three-year hiatus (between ages fifteen and seventeen) in which children are devoted solely to studies, he then provides for a four-year regime of intensive exercise and strict dietary restrictions, immediately before military service. 45 The emphasis in the first fourteen years is to facilitate bodily growth (auxêsis) while avoiding bad habits (an issue to which I will return below). But in his thematic treatment of physical education in Politics 8.4., Aristotle contrasts his program both with those traditional Greek gymnastic programs that sought to produce athletes to compete in the various Pan-Hellenic games and with the Spartan program that aimed to produce animal ferocity rather than a sense of what is noble. In the former case, Aristotle thinks that both the stringent diets and the exercises of competitive athletes stunt their physical development and thwart their bodily ability to exercise liberal activities (7.16.1335b10-11)—for instance, procreation or serving in the military.46 As I have shown above, in the latter case the Spartan program sought to produce animal ferocity rather than the sense of nobility which is the basis for true courage, namely a kind of courage directed towards the proper use of leisure as a goal which eclipses victory or conquest in warfare (7.15.1334a20, 22). Although Aristotle explicitly isolates physical education from habituation of the nonrational part of the soul, their separation seems more a matter of 45 See 7.17.1336a25-30, 8.4.1338b40-42, 1339a5-8. Although Aristotle focuses on bodily growth from birth until the age of two, it is hard to characterize his recommendations under the category of gymnastics (he is concerned with nourishment and development of limbs [7.17.1336a3-11]). 46 See 7.16.1335b2-19, 8.4.1338b9-11. For the physiological reasons why Aristotle thinks competitive athletic training impedes procreation, see Gen. Anim. 4.3.768b29-33 with Kraut 1997: 153-54, 185. �24 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft analysis than of practice: it is hard to imagine that the physical education which Aristotle has in mind is “value-free” or has no bearing on the recipient’s notion of what is fine.47 Aristotle explicitly incorporates habituation into his educational program very early on— apparently soon after birth—by claiming that “it is beneficial to habituate (sunethizein [7.17.1336a13]) children to the cold right from the time they are small, since it is very useful both from the point of view of health and from that of military affairs” (7.17.1336a12-15).48 Aristotle invokes in two places what I will call the “Theodorus principle”: Theodorus was a thespian in tragedy who never allowed another actor to play a part before he did, “because audiences become accustomed (oikeoioumenôn [1336b30]) to the first voice they hear. The same is true of our relationships with people and things; whatever we encounter first we like better” (7.17 1336b30-33; cf. 1336a18-21). Yet even if Aristotle is clear that habituation needs to commence very early in the best education program, his discussion of it blurs the analytical distinction between developmental stages. As noted above, in the first age-class Aristotle prescribes play as a form of light exercise to promote bodily development (1336a25-27). But how one plays seems as important—if not more so—than that one plays because the practice 47 As Kraut 1997 notes, “It is a pity that Aristotle does not discuss the way in which physical training fosters courage…How is nobility taught to the young through physical training? Perhaps his idea is that if children are given the right sort of gymnastic exercises, they will develop feelings of attachment to each other and to the city’s goals” (187). Promissory note: Any hints in gymnastic education in Republic 3.403c-412b? 48 As noted above, Aristotle’s recommendation for habituation with respect to the cold follows the Spartan practice of dressing children in light clothing (Lak. Pol. 2.4). The literature on habituation is immense (although it has tended to focus upon the subject within the ethical treatises and neglected Aristotle’s discussion of it in Politics 7.17; Bartok 2005 serves as a good corrective of that habit). I have tried to survey and evaluate the literature on habituation in Lockwood 2013. �25 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft of play both improves the body and serves as an opportunity for habituation. Forms of play require supervision because The games they play should not be either unfit for free people (aneleutherous) or exerting or undisciplined….For all such things should pave the way for their later pursuits. Hence many of the games they play should imitate (mimêseis [1336a24]) the serious occupations of later life (spoudazomenôn). (7.17.1336b28-30, 32-34).49 As I have noted in section II of the paper, how an action is done is more important than the type of action in determining the action’s liberalness. How one does something is also, of course, determined by habituation. Habituation seems to come first in Aristotle’s educational program because in some sense it permeates all other forms of education—whether bodily, ethical, or intellectual. Habituation in a more narrow sense is crucial to Aristotle’s educational scheme because of its prophylactic power to inoculate young persons from what is shameful. In his discussion of the first age-class, Aristotle goes so far as to outlaw shameful speech (aischrologia) not just for young people, but from the city as a whole (7.17.1336b4). “Unseemly (aschêmonas) images and stories (logous)”—he seems to in mind have iambus, comedy, and religious images and rituals that incorporated mockery—will be off limits for young people, although an unfulfilled promissory note indicates that attendance at performances requires further elaboration both 49 What sort of mimetic games does Aristotle have in mind? Kraut suggests “games in which one plays at being a soldier, or in which one exchanges roles with others on an equal basis (160). One is reminded, by contrast, of the games which disclosed Cyrus’ true identity as the proper heir to the Persian throne (Histories, 1.114). �26 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft for young people and for adults.50 What Aristotle seems to have in mind, perhaps in both cases, is the prohibition or limitation of speech which mocks or even attacks another.51 But as I have discussed above in my survey of Aristotle’s notion of eleutheros, in his discussion of wit, Aristotle criticizes the “scurrility” or aischrologia of old comedy but praises the innuendo (hyponoia) of new comedy (EN 4.8.1128a19-25). Aristotle’s case against mockery is not a condemnation of wit per se, but rather a matter of how wit is used.52 In both the cases of aischrologia and unseemly images and stories, Aristotle’s concern is that the development of bad habits will sink first and deepest roots. Proper habituation—and indeed, paideia itself—is that which will “render young people immune (apatheis) to the harm which [mockery and unseemly images and stories] can do” (7.17.1336b22-23). Habituation in this narrow sense of developing proper emotional responses to different stimuli—pleasures and pains, things which are noble or less than noble—is thus a sort of default setting of the non-rational part of the soul prior to the rational part of the soul’s judgment about those stimuli. It is also thus preparatory for the musical education which teaches the rational part of the soul to make such judgments finely. 50 7.17.1336b13-17, 20-23, 25-7. Pol 8.7.1342a16-27 suggests that there might be separate performances for free and slavish audiences. 51 Aristotle claims that the legislator should outlaw aischrologia “since by speaking lightly of shameful activity one comes closer to doing it” (7.17.1336b5-6). Kraut 1997 surveys Aristotle’s discussions of aischrologia in the Ethics and Rhetoric and concludes that Aristotle’s “argument depends on the implicit assumption that certain words are in themselves offensive, apart from the consequences of using them” (162). 52 It is striking that wit—and more broadly the comedic—seems to have an essential component not only of “laughing” but “laughing at” someone (and thus, mockery). Consistent with that, the Poetics distinguishes comedy and tragedy on whether its object is elevated or debased (Poet 3.1448a15-18, 4.1448b23-28). �27 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Aristotle thinks that musical education—including education in how to perform music— provides a paradigmatic liberal education because it both habituates one to take pleasure in what is fine and prepares one to judge properly wherein consists truly noble leisure (and thus it too straddles Aristotle’s analytical division between habituation and education of the mind). Indeed, Aristotle uses the testimony of Odysseus himself (in the banquet scenes from Odyssey 9 and 18 in which Odysseus invokes the bard)53 to show that music is a form of activity pursued not because it is necessary for life, nor because it is useful, nor that it promotes health, but rather that it is pursued solely for the purpose of leisure (8.3.1338a13-23). Politics 8.5 takes up the question of the power (dunamis) of music and considers whether it consists in education (paideia), amusement (paidia), or leisured pursuits (diagôgê).54 Although Aristotle immediately notes that it is reasonable to think that music participates in all three, in several places (e.g., 7.3.1337b28-32, 8.5.1340a1-10) he pushes back against the belief that the sole power or purpose of music is amusement or pleasure. Aristotle claims in response that music is mimetic 53 At 8.3.1338a25-30 Aristotle quotes Odyssey 18.382-5 and 9.7-8 with the lines “call the bard alone to the rich banquet” and “the banqueters seated in due order throughout the hall, give ear to the bard.” Aristotle includes a line from Od 18 that is absent from our editions of the Odyssey. 54 8.5.1339b10-15. The aporiai of Politics 8 are complicated and overlapping. 8.2.1337a35-b3 lays out four preliminary disagreements about the erga of music and then 8.3.1337b28-32 identifies as a problem whether music is pursued solely for the sake of pleasure. 8.5 begins by invoking the previous aporiai (1339a11-14) and then claims to develop them “like a prelude” (hosper endosimon [1339a13]; see Lord 1982, 68-70 for the musical allusion). 8.5 then delimits the questions to two: what is the power of music and why (or whether) one should share (metexin) in music, viz. learn it through instrumental music (1339a14-16). I take it that the second question, whether the young should share in music through learning instrumental music, is dealt with dialectically in 8.5.1339a26-1339b10, and then resolved in 8.6-7 (see, for instance, 1340b20-23). The first question, what is the dunamis of music, is taken up and resolved in the remainder of 8.5.1339b11-40b19. I am grateful to Malcolm Heath for sharing with me his unpublished work on the textual organization of problems in Politics 8. �28 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft or imitative and that everyone who listens to it comes to have the emotions which it imitates even when rhythms and melodies are taken in isolation.55 He adds that “Since music happens to be one of the pleasures, and virtue is a matter of enjoying, loving, and hating in the right way, it is clear that nothing is more important than that one should learn to judge correctly (to krinein orthôs [1340a17]) and get into the habit of enjoying decent characters and noble actions” (8.5.1340a14-18).56 Musical education seems to have both “ethical” (in the sense of related to the habituation of the non-rational part of the soul) and “intellectual” components.57 Aristotle’s discussion of the proper development of enjoying, loving, and hating—which goes to the heart of what the Ethics calls developing a love of the fine58—shows that music is capable of ethical habituation. But his invocation of “proper judgment” is more broadly aesthetic in the sense of being perceptually aware and attuned. No doubt, the aesthetic and ethical components of musical education combine in a single individual. But what seems crucial to the elevation of music as the pre-eminent liberal art is that it prepares one to share nobly in leisurely activity in precisely the opposite fashion of the Spartan servile education. Spartan education certainly trains the soul to experience certain emotions and have ethically appropriate desires, but it fails 55 8.5.1340a12-14. On the claim that music is mimetic for Aristotle, see Sörbom 1994, 37-46. In the sequel, Aristotle notes that “When we listen to imitations our souls are changed” (1340a22-23). The mechanism of such a change of character goes beyond my paper, but is the subject of several papers. See further Woerther 2008, 89-103, Drefcinski 2011, 287-296, and Brüllmann 2013, 345-373. 57 Aristotle’s discussion in Pol 7-8 incorporates concisely the same soul and virtue division as the Ethics. See 7.14.1333a16-29, 7.15.1334b12-27. Cf. Nicomachean Ethics 1.13, 6.1-2. 58 See EN 10.9.1179b29-31 56 �29 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft to inculcate the critical ability to judge and discern adequately.59 By contrast, Aristotle highlights performative musical education precisely because it trains not only the desiring part of the soul, but also its discerning part.60 If one steps back from the details of Aristotle’s account, the following connections between his account of the free person and liberal education emerge. First, gymnastic education and bodily development in liberal education—by explicit contrast with Spartan education—aims at producing citizens with the ability to exercise virtuously those activities necessary for leisure, namely the exercise of courage and endurance. The contrast with Spartan education implies that such a gymnastic education will inculcate a sense of what is fine, which I have construed as meaning a sense of the purposiveness of martial activity as a means towards the end of peace. Instruction by means of habituation, which clearly cuts across gymnastic and musical education, has at least a two-fold function: the free person needs to learn in what fashion virtuous activities are to be performed—that is, the reason why and the “how” of an action—and he or she needs to develop a “second-nature” response to noble and 59 Jones 2012 argues that Aristotle distinguishes between two sorts of musical pleasure, the moral pleasure accessible to those who have learned to perform and adequately appreciate music and a natural pleasure felt by all listeners regardless of performance experience (159, 172-174). If she is right, then the fact that Spartan education excludes musical performance may help explain why Aristotle is so critical of their ethical abilities in Politics II.9. 60 The remainder of Politics 8.6-7 is a reply to “some people” (perhaps the Spartans) who object that performing music inevitably makes one servile (banauson). Although Aristotle concedes that performance can be servile and boorish (8.6.1341b12, b14), he argues for three provisions in his program to thwart such a trajectory, viz. musical education should exclude professional competition (1341a10), be limited to certain instruments (1341a20-21; Wilson 1999 explains Aristotle’s disapproval of the aulos), and be limited to certain melodies and rhythms (apparently Dorian and perhaps also Lydian, although the text is fragmentary--on which see Anderson 1966, 111-146; Lord 1982, 146-150; Ford 325-331). �30 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft ignoble objects which insulates a person from potentially illiberal attitudes towards the world. Finally, at least in the Politics, Aristotle seizes upon music as the paradigmatic form of liberal education not only because it habituates the nonrational part of the soul but also—by explicit contrast with Spartan education—because it trains the soul to exercise discernment and judgment, a capacity that extends beyond music to other subjects. Aristotle’s liberally educated person thus emerges as one prepared to exercise virtuously the martial, civic, and “scholastic” activities which the best constitution affords to its citizens. Conclusion When one contrasts Aristotle’s admittedly truncated account of liberal education for free persons with liberal education today, certainly one of its most striking characteristics is its martial emphasis. Whether one focuses upon the habitual training so that infants can develop endurance of cold or upon the post-pubescent period of education, four years of which are devoted to stringent physical and dietary training, it is clear that Aristotle has in mind the production of citizen-soldiers. The Spartan education system—at least to the extent to which it was familiar to Aristotle—was an ideal foil, since it too sought to produce such citizen-soldiers that could command the respect of the Hellenic world. But whereas Aristotle’s citizen-soldiers were both oriented towards and prepared to exercise the scholastic virtues—including, but not limited to courage and endurance—the education which Spartan citizen-soldiers received incapacitated them to exercise excellently any scholastic virtue (including courage). �31 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft In order to contextualize Aristotle’s account of liberal education in his best regime, it is useful to remember his explicit reminders (including one at the beginning of Politics 8.1) that different constitutions have different “mores” or beliefs-cum-habits and that it is the task of education to inculcate such mores and prepare its citizens for flourishing lives within their own constitutions.61 Thus, education is “relative” to the regime in which it takes place and can go wrong in either of two ways: the aim of the educational scheme (like that of the constitution as a whole) can be wrong and the practices of education within that polis can impede or even contradict rather than inculcate the professed goal of that polis. Although Aristotle learned from Sparta the importance of communal or public education, Spartan education also demonstrated—through its errors—the importance of getting the aim and practices of education right. Aristotle’s explicit remarks about Spartan education suggest that his own program sought both to avoid the first error, by subordinating courage and endurance to the virtues of leisure, and to avoid the second error, by rethinking the practice of gymnastic and musical education. Aristotle’s use of Sparta’s educational system as a foil to articulate his own program may also help to explain what seems like one of his program’s great omissions, namely its almost complete neglect of the sort of philosophical education one finds in Plato’s Republic or which seems implied by the discussion of intellectual virtues in the Nicomachean Ethics. For reasons that go beyond what I can argue in this paper, Aristotle’s best regime is oriented towards non- 61 See 5.9.1310a11-23, 7.13.1332b5-10, 8.1.1337a5-10. See further Lord 1982: 36-67 and Curren 2000: 93-125 �32 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft expansive political activity instead of the activity of philosophical excellence (7.3.1325b13-26).62 Aristotle’s explicit criticisms of Socrates’ educational program in the Republic are telling. Aristotle notes that the purpose of education is to unify a community, and it is strange (atopon) that one who aimed to bring in education, and who believed that through it the citystate would be excellent, should think to set it straight [by communal property] and not by habits, philosophy,63 and laws—as in Sparta and Crete, where the legislator aimed to make property communal by means of the messes. (2.5.1263b38-1264a1) The educational system which aims at the model of the citizen-soldier exemplified by the Spartan constitution is superior to that which sought to produce the citizen-scholar exemplified by the Socratic constitution in the Republic. The Spartan educational system to Aristotle’s eyes 62 I take Aristotle’s best regime to be a practical blue-print for Greek colonists contemplating the establishment of settlements in Asia minor in the 330s following Macedonian expansion; see further Ober 1998: 291-95, 339-51; Samaras 2007: 77-89, and Kraut 2002: 192-95. 63 Aristotle’s invocation of philosophia either here (1262b40) and at 7.15.1334a23, 32 has generated extensive scholarly debate about whether he means by that term the sort of activity he himself undertakes in works like the Metaphysics and those of natural science (see, for instance, Solmsen 1964, Lord 1982, Depew 1991, Reeve, 1998, and Nightingale 2001). Although Aristotle mentions, “other studies” appropriate for students in their late teens (age 15-17) which are distinct from the studies of reading, writing, drawing, and music (8.4.1339a56), it seems hard to imagine three years of education as doing much more than developing something like the appreciation of learned culture—rather than anything like the mathematically rigorous educational program of the Republic. I think it is also telling that those “other studies” are ultimate eclipsed both in duration and in placement within the education trajectory by the four-years of paramilitary training that serve as the cap-stone of Aristotle’s liberal education. Nonetheless, the incomplete nature of Politics 8 makes any answer to the place of philosophy in Aristotle’s liberal education in his best regime ultimately speculative. �33 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft was severely flawed in all the ways I have chronicled; and yet Aristotle chose to make it the foil to his own educational program, rather than the educational program of the Republic.64 64 I am grateful to my fellow panelists, Greg Recco, Evanthia Speliotis, and Janet Dougherty for their own thoughtful papers and discussion of matters Aristotelian at our panel. �34 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Appendix: Aristotle’s age-class educational program (Politics 7.17-8.7) Seven-year age-classes Birth to age 7 (Pol 7.17) Sub-class divisions Birth to year 2 (in household) Bodily development 2 to 5 years (in household) -Bodily exercise in play and games. -Crying and screaming permitted to develop lungs. -Light but nonstrenuous exercise. -No strict dietary restrictions 5 to 7 years (in public) Age 8 to puberty (Pol 8.1-7) No clear breaks (in public) Puberty to age 21 (Pol 8.4) 15-17 (in public) 18-21 (in public) -Proper nourishment for bodily strength. -Movement for limb development. -Continuation of light exercise (?) -Strenuous paramilitary training. -Strict dietary training in preparation for military campaigns. Habituated development -Habituation to cold. Intellectual development -No remarks -Games should be neither illiberal nor onerous, but instead imitate “serious” roles for adulthood. -Avoid slaves. -Outlaw aischrologia. -Censor unseemly pictures and stories (including iambus and comedy). -Ethical development through music. -Development of loving/hating in the right way. -Drawing to facilitate the contemplation of beautiful bodies. -No learning (mathêsis) which impedes bodily growth. -No remarks -Attendance at comedies and public theatre (?). -Serve as observer which will learn in second age-class. -Reading/writing. -Development of judgment (krinein) through instrumental music and learning to sing. -Musical education terminates prior to competitive or professional performance. -“Other studies” (philosophy?) -No studies: strenuous physical activity precludes intellectual studies. �35 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Works Cited Anderson, W. (1966) Ethos and Education in Greek Music: The Evidence of Poetry and Philosophy. Cambridge, MA. Bartok, P.J. (2005) “Aristotle on Habituation and the Development of Moral Virtue.” Lecture delivered at St. John’s College (Santa Fe), March 30, 2005. Bradford, A. (1986) “Gynaikokratoumenoi: Did Spartan Women Rule Spartan Men?” Ancient World 14: 13-18. Brüllmann, P. (2013) “Music Builds Character. Aristotle, Politics VIII 5, 1340a14-b5.” Apeiron 46: 345-373. Cartledge, P. (1976) “Did Spartan citizens ever practise a manual tekhne?” Liverpool Classical Monthly 1:115–119. Cartledge, P. (2001a) “A Spartan education.” In his Spartan reflections, 79–90. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Cartledge, P. (2001b) “Literacy in the Spartan Oligarchy” In his Spartan reflections, 39-54. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Cartledge, P. (2001c) “Spartan Wives: Liberation or License?” In his Spartan reflections, 106126. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Cawkwell, G.L. (1983) “The Decline of Sparta.” Classical Quarterly 33: 385-400. Collins, S. (2006) Aristotle and the Rediscovery of Citizenship. Cambridge. Curren, R.R. (2000) Aristotle on the Necessity of Public Education. Lanham, MD. David, E. (1982) “Aristotle and Sparta.” Ancient Society 13/14: 67-103. De Laix, R. (1974) “Aristotle’s Conception of the Spartan Constitution.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 12: 21-30. Depew, D.J. (1991) “Politics, Music, and Contemplation in Aristotle’s Ideal State,” in the Companion to Aristotle’s Politics, eds. D. Keyt and F. Miller. Cambridge, MA: 346-380. Drefcinski, S. (2011) “What Kind of Cause is Music’s Influence on Moral Character?” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 85: 287-296. �36 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Ducat, J. (2006) Spartan education: Youth and society in the Classical period. Translated by Emma Stafford, Pamela-Jane Shaw, and Anton Powell. Swansea, UK: Classical Press of Wales. Ford, A. (2004) “Catharsis: The Power of Music in Aristotle’s Politics,” in Music and the Muses: The Culture of ‘Mousikê’ in the Classical Athenian City, eds. P. Murray and P. Wilson. Oxford: 309-336. Hansen, M.H. (2010) “Democratic Freedom and the Concept of Freedom in Plato and Aristotle.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 50: 1-27. Hare, J. (1988) “Eleutheriotês in Aristotle’s Ethics.” Ancient Philosophy 8: 19-32. Hodkinson, S. (1994) “’Blind Ploutos’?: Contemporary Image of the Role of Wealth in Classical Sparta.” In The Shadow of Sparta. Edited by A. Powell and S. Hodkinson, 183-222. London and New York: Routledge. Jones, E. (2012) “Allocating Musical Pleasure: Performance, Pleasure, and Value in Aristotle’s Politics,” in Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity, eds. I. Sluiter and R. Rosen. Leiden: 159-182. Kennell, N. (1995) The gymnasium of virtue: Education and culture in ancient Sparta. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press. Kraut, R. (2002) Aristotle: Political Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liddel, P. (2007) Civic Obligation and Individual Liberty in Ancient Athens. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lockwood, T. (2013) “Habituation, Habit, and Character in Aristotle’s Ethics,” in T. Sparrow and A. Hutchinson, eds., The History of Habit. Lantham, MD: 19-36. Lockwood, T. (Unpublished) “Double Standards? Aristotle’s critique of Plato’s Republic and the Spartan Constitution” Lockwood, T. (Unpublished) “Is there a Poetics in Aristotle’s Politics?” Lord, C. (1982) Education and Culture in the Political Thought of Aristotle. Ithaca. Marrou, H. I. (1956) A History of Education in Antiquity. Madison, WI. Mayhew, R. (2009) “Rulers and Ruled,” in A Companion to Aristotle, ed. G. Anagnostopoulos. Chichester: 526-539. �37 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Nagle, D.B. 2006. The Household as the Foundation of Aristotle’s Polis. Cambridge. Nightingale, A.W. (1996) “Aristotle on the ‘Liberal’ and ‘Illiberal’ Arts.” Proceedings of The Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy 12: 29-58. Nightingale, A.W. (2001) “Liberal education in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics” in Education in Greek and Roman Antiquity, ed. Y.L. Too. Leiden: 133-173. Ober, J. (1998) Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule. Princeton. Pettersson, M. (1992) Cults of Apollo at Sparta: The Hyakinthia, the Gymnopaidiai, and the Karneia. Stockholm: Paul Aströms Verlag. Pomeroy, S. (2002) Spartan Women. Oxford. Raaflaub, K.A. (1983) “Democracy, Oligarchy, and the Concept of the ‘Free Citizen’ in Late Fifth Century Athens.” Political Theory 11: 517-544. Reeve, C.D.C. (1998) “Aristotelian education,” in Philosophers on Education, ed. A. Rorty. London: 51-65. Rubin, L.G (2012) “Aristotle’s Politics on the Hoof: Sparta, Crete, and Carthage.” Interpretation 39: 3-36. Samaras, T. (2007) “Aristotle’s Politics: The city of Book Seven and the question of ideology.” Classical Quarterly 57: 77–89. Schütrumpf, E. (1994) “Aristotle on Sparta,” in The Shadow of Sparta, eds. A. Powell and S. Hodkinson. London and New York: 323-346. Simpson, P.L.P. (1998) A Philosophical Commentary on the Politics of Aristotle. Chapel Hill, NC. Solmsen, F. (1964) “Leisure and Play in Aristotle’s Ideal State.” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 107: 193-220. Sörbom, G. (1994) “Aristotle on Music as Representation.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 52: 37-46. Stalley, R. (2009) “Education and the State,” in A Companion to Aristotle, ed. G. Anagnostopoulos. Chichester: 566-576. �38 Lockwood, Servile Spartans SJC Final draft Wilson, P. (1999) “The aulos in Athens” in Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy, eds. S. Goldhill and R. Osbourne. Cambridge: 58-95. Wilson, P. (2003) “The Politics of Dance: Dithyrambic contest and social order in ancient Greece,” in Sports and Festivals in the Ancient Greek World, eds. D. Phillips and D. Pritchard. Swansea: 163-196. Wise, J. (2008) “Tragedy as ‘An Augury of a Happy Life.’” Arethusa 41: 381-410. Woerther, F. (2008) “Music and Education of the Soul in Plato and Aristotle: Homeopathy and the Formation of Character.” Classical Quarterly 58: 89-103. Editions Apostle, H.G. (1966) Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Bloomington, IN. Barker, E. (1958) The Politics of Aristotle. Oxford. Kraut, R. (1997) Aristotle Politics Books 7 and 8. Oxford. Lord, C. (2013) Aristotle’s Politics, 2nd ed. Chicago. Marchant, E. (1968) Constitution of the Lacedaemonians in Xenophon, Scripta Minora. Cambridge and London, 1968. Newman, W.L. (1887-1902) The Politics of Aristotle, 4 vols. Oxford. Perrin, B. (1914) Life of Lycurgus in Plutarch’s Lives. Cambridge and London. Reeve, C.D.C. (1998) Aristotle Politics. Indianapolis. Ross, W.D. (1957) Aristotelis Politica. Oxford. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "What is Liberal Education For?" 2014 Conference Papers Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make these items available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 38 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Servile Spartans : the problems of liberal education in Aristotle's Politics Description An account of the resource Paper presented on October 18, 2014 by Thornton Lockwood at What is Liberal Education For? : a conference at St. John's College on the 50th Anniversary of the Santa Fe campus. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lockwood, Thornton Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-10-18 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Aristotle. Politics. Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24004540 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/84639b60157617c8e3fbba2fd5710343.mp3 d4140f4fc2800584b3d080987d11d3e6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data CD Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:02:50 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert E. Howard : boxing and the cult of masculinity Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given on June 22, 2016 by Christopher Gruber as part of the Graduate Institute Summer Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gruber, Christopher Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-06-22 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Howard, Robert E. (Robert Ervin), 1906-1936. Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20014284 Graduate Institute https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/129bb85b1b6b6b933e8f2028957bba97.pdf 1cef4abc2bfd403216195dedd49667a8 PDF Text Text ������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 19 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Liberal studies and educational reform Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on August 28, 1992 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-08-28 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Subject The topic of the resource Educational change -- United States Education -- Philosophy Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000213 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/4d01552e8e79291f7ec8736b5055aa64.pdf c23bbed69a3c62ca73058cc517172127 PDF Text Text ����������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 17 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Plato's Republic and the great hope for education Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on September 13, 1991 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-09-13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Plato. Republic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000214 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/88b364f0f37e6b7bf534883b5edcb43a.pdf f0cf1b77988d8c4befbb7282cd34e655 PDF Text Text ������������������������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 25 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William Blake : a beginning Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on July 7, 1993 by Stephen Van Luchene. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-07-07 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Blake, William, 1757-1827 -- Criticism and interpretation Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000215 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/69a1862f567659144f63c8c04af8f7f9.pdf 66d9a9bf56b0df71c7b15881f4a4e4b8 PDF Text Text ������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 16 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Morality, Aristotle, and liberal education Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on August 27, 1993 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-08-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000306 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a7536e940d4589ea40709e1a1f95cc01.pdf e73ecc8b4c78be056e5a86a3b5c81e40 PDF Text Text ������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 22 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Books, a balance and the tongues of men and angels Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on August 25, 1995 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-08-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 25051889 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/26c516ed0ee95edc10d7104ceb236b9a.pdf 0701e02df09c9af86f1b18e9075cd6b2 PDF Text Text ������������������������ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 22 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Liberal education : an insider's account Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given on August 26, 1994 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-08-26 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24000438 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/d577bac5ec4a2e4075dc8fbdbcc42107.pdf 96421d0737b5aac99eb4f437ef62c586 PDF Text Text ������� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Speeches, presentations, and other lectures Description An account of the resource Speeches, presentations, and other lectures given at St. John's College. These include convocation addresses delivered in both Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="Speeches, presentations, and other lectures" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=15">Items in the Speeches, presentations, and other lectures Collection</a></strong> to <span>view and sort all items in the collection.</span> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context speechespresentationsotherlectures Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 6 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Beginnings of community Description An account of the resource Transcript of an address given on May 21, 1999 by Stephen Van Luchene as part of the Baccalaureate service in Santa Fe, NM. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Luchene, Stephen R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-05-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Communities Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24003362 Baccalaureate service https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/e304be807775f10edd85a08225e73289.pdf 77b7f80c0bdf84d58ba425175d77dc01 PDF Text Text 1 In the Middle of a Conversation: Reflections on Ortega y Gasset’s “The Misery and Splendor of Translation” by Kathleen Longwaters I wish to thank all those who have organized this conference from those who had the first glimmer of the idea to those who put chairs in the room and water on the table. I am grateful. Whatever we study today, be it physics, economics, or philosophy, we are coming in on the middle of a conversation. The past is below our feet like a watershed we draw on. We can dig a well a right back to the source of Plato and read him in the Greek (as Ortega y Gasset did). Or we can learn something of Nietzsche as alluded to in the poetry of Allama Iqbal, like a tree drawing up buried water filtered through subsoil. I claim a deep and broad understanding of one’s own intellectual history is vital for understanding current movements in thought regardless of one’s field. Now the questions as to what comprises “one’s own intellectual history” is worth discussing, but will be set aside today in order to address more directly the question of: “What is Liberal Education for?” 1 Ultimately I will claim that Liberal Education is for understanding where we stand at the moment, for developing humility, and for encouraging courageous effort. Furthermore, that these three are connected to each other. I am indebted to Ortega y Gasset for these thoughts which in a way are but an echo of his own, which in turn are also a kind of re-sounding. It is both the content of “The Misery and Splendor of Translation” (which I will call MST) and its relation to another text, a sort of invisible interlocutor, which has brought me here today--both figuratively and literally. Where we stand The silent partner in the conversation this text is having is Plato’s Meno. And common elements in the two texts will be examined in order to illustrate the claim about a liberal education allowing us to know where we stand. These are both exquistely rich texts and in 20 minutes, I will only be able to give the broadest outline of what is happening here. Out of curiosity, how many of you have read Plato’s Meno? And how many the MST? To give a tiny bit of background, MST first appeared in a daily newspaper in Argentina in 1937. I encountered it last fall in a course called “Translating India” along side articles on the difficulties of translating Sanskrit into Burmese , double meanings in Tamil poetry, and Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?” 1 Liberal Education is neither narrow, nor strictly vocational and utilitarian. �2 Set in this context of secondary literature in the field of translation studies, I was perhaps slower to pick up on its fictiveness than had I encountered it in another setting. It opens in a plausibly academic manner, presenting itself as a retelling of a conversation at a colloquium, much like our gathering here today. There are philologists, scientists and art historians, and Ortega himself seems to be speaking. Yet given that the piece waxes fictive, I will call him the narrator to remind ourselves that the opinions spoken by him may or may not entirely represent this author’s point of view. Probably the place the fictiveness is strongest is near the end of the piece when a reportedly great linguist has just been talking. We get a bit of narrator comment here, Ortega y Gasset writing: “The linguist stopped talking and stood with his sharply pointed nose tilted up to a vague quadrant in the heavens. In the corners of his mouth was the hint of a possible smile” (not an impossible smile.) I have the feeling this smile is for us, and it points toward the playful almost mocking tone which weaves in and out between a more earnest almost clinical inquisitiveness. This great linguist gives puzzling and, at times, seemingly contradictory advice about translation. And it is his voice which dominates the last about 20% of the article. One bit of advice, for example, is on the proper style for translation, saying “I imagine, then, a form of translation that is ugly, as science has always been; that does not intend to wear literary garb.” What it means for the speaker who is in the most literary garb to say translation ought not dress itself in literary garb is a question worth asking. This section of the work has puzzled a number of translators such as Selby who have wondered how to read him. What has not been noticed, either by scholars in the field of translation studies or those concerning themselves with Ortega y Gasset in the realm of philosophy, is the pulse of Plato underlying this work. In structure, tone, and content MST invokes the Meno. Even Orringer who gleaned Ortega y Gasset’s life work for references to Plato in service of understanding the Spaniard’s philosophy, misses this work—in spite of the fact that Plato’s name appears directly, again, in the mouth of the linguist who says only in using his style of translation can a reader, quote, “transmigrate within poor Plato.” Perhaps because this piece is ostensibly about translation, it was ignored. Here we see (likely) evidence, therefore, of a narrow, discipline bound view obstructing our ability to understand the work. The past is left out of the picture, and this is simply read as an original and independent work. The statement by this character about the Greeks no longer being able to function as models in any kind of positive sense probably also throws one off the trail. Turning now to some of the commonalities of MST and Meno, we see both open with and revolve around a question in the format of “Can x be y-ed?” In the Meno, of course, the question is “Can virtue be taught?” whereas the action of concern in the other work is, not unexpectedly, translation-- with an ultimate question of “Can anything be �3 translated?” but appearing in initially as whether “certain German philosophers” can be. Admittedly these questions are rather different and could be argued as coincidence; nevertheless, here virtue slides in by the 7th sentence where the narrator, speaking to his colleagues, takes a jab at their morals, saying both are impossible in their very essence-translating or being virtuous. Humility and courage make their appearance a bit further on. Both Socrates and the narrator of MST try valiantly to keep the question at hand in its most broad and overarching form, and both meet resistance from those with whom they speak. In the famous example of the bees, Socrates teases Meno saying “while I am looking for one virtue, I have found you to have a whole swarm of them.” The hornet’s nest in the MST is math and science, with someone from the later field claiming his type of writing can be translated. After giving a sort of qualified agreement that in the sense that it exists as a language shared by scientists who happen to be living in various countries, it can be read by each. He points out that this has to do with the fact that these people speak the same technical language, so it is not, in this case, really translation at all. To reverse and eliminate the idea that math and science form an exception, he brings in Set Theory, describing it as “the branch of mathematics most in vogue in the last quarter century,” and indeed it was. Only two years after MST is published, Bourbaki’s work on the subject, Elements de Mathematic comes out and is called a “monumental work” in a review in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, illustrating its reception in the field. What is Set Theory? Most of us have encountered it in the form of overlapping circles in the first or second grade which illustrate members shared between the two, or not shared as the case may be. But here again we are coming in in the middle a conversation, and we glimpse it through the MST. When Ortega y Gasset writes his piece, Set Theory is well establish, but its acceptance some 60 years prior was, at best, mixed. Some critics said it was not math at all, rather philosophy. Ferreiros in his recent publication, Labyrith of Thought: A History of Set Theory and its Role in Modern Mathematics, describes what’s at stake as Cantor’s use of the “actual infinite” versus the “implicit infinite.” An open problem is the associated Continuum Theory which proposes that real numbers (ie, the continuum) is a larger infinity than the infinity of counting numbers. One does not need to be a great mathematician to get the sense of why some folks might be uncomfortable with the idea talking about one infinity being bigger than another infinity. Ortega y Gasset uses “continuum” in regard to language and translation and its impossibility, but what is most relevant here is his complaint that Menge, a term from Set Theory, has, quote, “no possibility of being translated into our language.” This is a complaint that mathematicians of his time were in actuality voicing, so here the fictiveness of the piece wanes. For Ortega y Gasset this complaint is used as a way to draw math and science back into the fold of the general question of translatability, �4 putting them along with everything else into the category of the impossible. Impossibility for Ortega is what can never be reached, just as the end of an infinite series. The narrator warns, that if you divide writing into two categories, “those that can be translated and those that cannot” that what happens is, quote, “we close the door on the real problem every translation presents.” What that real problem is is still an open question, though I have a hunch which I will come to later if there is time 2 But to come back to Liberal Education and now see where we stand, one could say we stand midstream, for the echoes of the Meno point to the importance of the past for understanding the present, but glimpses of an ongoing conversation in the field of mathematics shows that interchange is not over. We are just one point along a way that continues around us and before us. With too narrow a focus we miss out. A Liberal Education allows us to see where we stand by being both broad and deep, and where we stand is first and foremost in relation. This moves us towards humility and courage. Humility and Courage Now the kind of Mathematics, so to speak, most in vogue in Socrates time was geometry. It plays a role in the Meno, but not the same role as Set Theory in MST. Actually, Set Theory can help us visualize the overlap of these two texts. They hold in common several elements already mentioned and others as well: A central question and attempts at holding it in a general form, discussions of virtue, talk of being in a muddled, speechless state, the importance of effort, a math of the day, the importance of coming to know you don’t know, and true opinion 3. Nevertheless, the relationship between the texts is not a simple one. Neither do these shared elements appear in the same sequence, nor do they necessarily function the same way in the dialogues. Where Ortega y Gasset uses the Math as a unifier, Socrates uses the Geometry to illustrate the value of, one, reaching a muddle and, two, of learning that you don’t know what you might have thought you did. Meno complains that Socrates has made him numb and dumbstruck, and Socrates says he himself is so as well. In addition, the slave boy used to work through the geometry problem, giving Meno a chance to see the process with some distance, is also said to become “perplexed and numb” in the process of moving from thinking he knows to understanding he does not. It is just this discovery that gives him the impetus to search further for an answer. In the MST we run into a muddle as well and the cause is again the presumption that we know when we do not. Ortega y Gasset writes, “infected by the entrenched prejudice that through speech we understand each other, we make our remarks and listen in such good faith that we inevitably misunderstand each other much more than if we had remained silent and guessed.” The confusion described here is a kind of The hunch is that translating is trying to make commensurate to different infinite sets, just as in the continuum theory. This is why you get the double exposure. 3 Some of which we do not have time to discuss more fully 2 �5 paralysis that leaves one speechless. There is not time here to go further into Ortega’s thoughts on silence, but it does strike me that it may well be meaningful that the Meno is a silent partner in this conversation. What is important is that in this dialogue we, like the slave boy in the other, might come to see that we do not know what we assumed we did. The linguist suggests that, quote, “we need to approach the Greek and Roman again, but not as models –on the contrary, as exemplary errors,” claiming that: “to acquire a historical consciousness of oneself and to learn to see oneself as an error are the same thing.” 4 This is another way of expressing that we keep discovering, in retrospect, that we didn’t know all we thought we did. A Liberal Education, in so far as it gives us a “historical consciousness,” therefore offers us this knowledge that we do not know all that we think we do. Acceptance of this is tantamount to taking on humility, a trait which the narrator in MST finds translators to have in abundance. Our state of being in ignorance is driven home by the narrator who focuses on the past as progenitor. He says: “Modern man is too proud of the sciences he has created. Certainly through them the world takes on a new shape. But, relatively speaking, this innovation is not very profound. Its substance is a delicate film stretched over other shapes developed in other ages of humanity, which we project as our innovation. We draw from this gigantic wealth at every opportunity, but we don’t realize it, because we haven’t produced it; rather we have inherited it.” 5 Again, a Liberal Education allows us to view ourselves in the present in relation to wider thought and in relation to our inheritances from the past. The MST begins to look a bit like this delicate film stretched over shapes developed in other ages, for the past pokes through here and there bearing a shape reminiscent of the Meno. But as previously intimated, it is not quite the same shape. If it were a face, the nose would be moved to the place of the ear, and the ear tucked under the chin. Where are we left? Ortega y Gasset describes synonyms across languages as being like a blurred photo, saying: “The shapes of the meanings of the two fail to coincide as do those of a person in a doubled-exposed photograph.” He goes on to speak of the dizzying consternation of the person trying to bring the two into focus. We have a similar problem, it seems, in trying to bring the common elements in these two texts into some kind of clear focus where everything lines up smoothly. This brings us to effort. Courageous Effort My final claim for Liberal Education is that it encourages courageous effort as a result of having shown us where we stand which is followed by a realization of our ignorance. I would also suggest that this is the ultimate port of arrival in the two texts we have been examining. Not ultimate in the sense of the final item in a sequence, but as in the 4 5 MST 110 Ibid. 105 �6 highest aspiration or result. This only became clear to me reading these two texts side by side because they each reach this destination coming from entirely opposite directions. Another function of the Geometry in the Meno brings us to the question of the possibility or impossibility of finding any answers at all. Meno expresses doubts about the possibility, and Socrates says insistently: “We must, {...}, not believe that debater’s argument, for it would make us idle-- and fainthearted men like to hear it, whereas my argument makes them energetic and keen on the search.” 6 So learning is not for the cowardly. It is an act here linked to courage and to effort. Learning is tied to virtue. However, while for Socrates, on the one hand, possibility is absolutely necessary for stimulating effort, for the narrator of MST, on the other, it is precisely impossibility which encourages it. He argues that achieving something that was categorized as possible would make you feel that you had achieved nothing at all. He argues in regard to translation that: because it would be desirable to free men from the divisions imposed by languages, there is little probablity that it can be attained; therefore, it can only be achieved to an approximate measure. But this approximation can be greater or lesser, to an infinite degree, and the efforts at execution are not limited, for there always exists the possibility of bettering, refining, perfecting. He goes on to say that all human activities are like this. But what makes this effort courageous? In the MST, courage is initially tied into the definition of good writing and is said to be what translators lack. The narrator defines good writing thus: “To write well is to make continual incursions into grammar, into established usage, and into accepted linguistic norms. It is an act of permanent rebellion.” For Ortega y Gasset, true opinion, which in his work has no finite, attainable, counterpart in firm knowledge, is set in opposition to public opinion. Given that true opinion is as close as one can get to Truth and squarely stands in opposition to the public, hence wrong opinion, it acts as a key when the narrator, in the last few words in the dialogue, agrees with the linguist that his style of translation is just what the public wishes. It puts the linguist’s suggestion of a style of translation that is “ugly, as science has always been” rather squarely in the wrong camp. In summary, Liberal Education shows us where we stand by showing us to be in relation. By assuming connections across time and across fields , it encourages us to look for those relations rather taking things at face value. Because we do not settle on a face value reading, we are nudged to look more, to keep looking, yielding a more a 6 M 81e. p. 14 �7 nuanced picture. In order to wish to look beyond what is simply at hand, an understanding that we do not already know all there is to know is necessary –and that grows out of seeing ourselves in relation. Effort is always laced with courage as it means moving away the pool of general, unreflective thought and the gesturing toward authorities for confirmation; it brings one rather to stand on one’s own feet. To me “The Misery and Splendor of Translation” looks like a brave and humble attempt which allow us to “transmigrate” into the mind Plato, at the same time as being much more than just that. It is anything but secondary literature. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "What is Liberal Education For?" 2014 Conference Papers Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make these items available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 7 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource In the middle of a conversation : reflections on Ortega y Gasset's "The misery and splendor of translation" Description An account of the resource Paper presented on October 16, 2014 by Kathleen Longwaters at What is Liberal Education For? : a conference at St. John's College on the 50th Anniversary of the Santa Fe campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Longwaters, Kathleen Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10-16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Ortega y Gasset, José, 1883-1955. Education, Humanistic Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24004543 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/f8b0f62a8f6d0df6045d3ddd3223ce83.pdf 2a63b3ddc4006f8be46e34e0d1c24d35 PDF Text Text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�The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. The next Gadfly meeting will take place Sunday, Sept. 8, at 7 PM in Room 109 on the first lower level of the Barr-Buchanan Center. Articles should be submitted by Friday, Sept. 6, at 11:59 PM to sjca.gadfly@gmail. com. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Cartoonist Will Brown • Staff Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Admissions Office Bryce Jacobsen Robert Malka Project Polity !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",- T o our newest Johnnies, welcome. To old friends, welcome back. We’re excited to resume at the helm of the Gadfly, and we’re eager to continue its tradition of supporting sustained, thoughtful inquiry at the College. We’d like to invite all members of the community—students, staff and faculty, administration and alumni— to submit. This issue focuses on those new to our community. You will find here bits of advice solicited from the Polity via Facebook. We hope the words for newcomers will not only serve those who have just arrived, but every Johnnie-in-development. Best wishes in the coming year. !"#$%&'($)%*'+% ,")%-))./)01#23)3 Robert Malka D A’15 ear Freshmen, Welcome to St. John’s. It’s lovely, isn’t it? The College’s isolation from the outside world is deceptively important to the Program. Bearing that in mind, I would like to talk to you about something I find immensely important— defending what the Program does, not just for us as individuals, but for society as a whole. I’m pretty sure that every single Johnnie has had to defend the Program before skeptics ranging from friends and family to strangers and employers who gawk, aghast, at the thought of declaring no majors, of taking no tests, of hearing no expert lecturers, of reading apparently old, useless, decrepit books by old, useless, decrepit authors—until it occurs to these interlocutors to ask that really, really frustrating question: “So what do you guys learn?” As if we don’t. My answer usually goes something like this: Rather than learn a very small portion of a very particular subject, we spend time wrestling with—and eventually unlearning—many of the prejudices and superstitions we have been carrying around for the better part of two decades. We do this by sitting around a table and hashing things out with the aid of difficult primary texts (and without watered-down scholarly analyses); this process gives us a strong We must...believe in set of communication and critical-thinking skills ourselves and the applicable to any field. Instead of being forced to Program enough to commit at the ripe age of 20(ish) to a major that we will, statistically speaking, change an average know that St. John’s is of five times throughout our college careers, we perhaps the smoothget four more years to discover ourselves and est road to becoming what we really want, all the while developing vital skills. a critical thinker... And this explanation doesn’t even address the legitimate and valid ways that Aristotle and Einstein, Plato and Nietzsche, Dante and Plutarch and all the rest provide genuine insight: about who we are, what we want, and why we do what we do; about what truth is, about why bad things happen to good people, about why we are here in the first place. Their answers—and just as important, their questions—reveal to us our own wounds and defenses, losses and victories and struggles, and potential yet to be actualized. Whenever someone is unimpressed by the St. John’s Program (thankfully I don’t meet those people, but I hear that they exist), I am reminded of an Isaac Asimov short story called “Profession,” which, were I able to shift around the Program a bit, I would make required summer reading for freshmen. It’s an allegory of the United States’ educational paradigm as we know it. In the story, by a certain age children are “taped” (made to specialize in a particular field) and shipped off to some location in the galaxy to do their work. Our main character, however, can’t be taped like everyone else, and, to his shame, is sent off to a “House for the Feeble-Minded,” where he reads and thinks (and therefore innovates) all day. But he can’t accept that he’s been put in a place with such a damning name, so he goes out into the world and tries to figure out his lot in life. As it turns out (spoilers!), the House for the Feeble-minded is a ruse to capture the world’s true innovators: “We bring you here to a House for the Feeble-minded and the man who won’t accept that is the man we want. It’s a method that can be cruel but it works. It won’t do to say to a man, ‘You can create. Do so.’ It is much safer to wait for a man to say, ‘I can create, and I will do so whether you wish it or not.’” Now, obviously, St. John’s is not a “House for the Feeble-minded”—but those who look down upon our education very likely believe it to be. We must do as our main character does: believe in ourselves and the Program enough to know that St. John’s is perhaps the smoothest road to becoming a critical thinker and to developing the inner strength to reflect on ourselves so that we can pursue a life worth living. ! “ �The Gadfly 03 !"#$%&'#((% )*%+,-./// !"#$%&'()*%#+%,-+./+,0#-+%1#0"%0"'%+'1%-2')+#3"0% 4)-3)(5*%0"'%675#$$#-+$%899#,'%1#::%;'%)'(7#+3%(% 9'1%9)'$"5'+%$'5#+()%($$#3+5'+0$<%%!"'&%)','+0= :&%0-->%4()0%#+%(%?()2'&%:(;%(+7%$"''4%4:/,>%7#$= $',0#-+<%@-)%5-)'%#+9-)5(0#-+*%(+7%0-%9#+7%1(&$%0-% "':4%-/0%1#0"%0"'%4)-$4',0#2'%$0/7'+0%'A4')#'+,'*% 4:'($'%,-+0(,0%6:'A(+7)#(%?#+7$%(0%BCD=EFE=FGFG*% -)%6:'A(+7)#(<?#+7$H$.,(<'7/< A s the school year begins, the Admissions Office is alone in ruminating on transitions and endings. For the rest of the community, Registration and Convocation mark the beginning of your journey. Even President Nelson is blogging about “Beginnings.” Yet, we in the Admissions Office, know that your journey began a long time ago. We have had the privilege to get to know you—some through visits and interviews, others through the Summer Academy or Accepted Students’ Day— and all of you through the application process itself. We know who spent a semester at sea, who juggles fire, who designs websites, who is a published author, who applied the day before Registration, who is an accomplished pianist, and who is on Facebook 20 hours a day (of course, you know who that is too). We also know who loves J.D. Salinger and Ayn Rand (but don’t worry—it’s all confidential over here). This leg of the journey that you’ve chosen to undertake with us will reveal many things about your nature. Your time at St. John’s will shape you—but not into any given mold. Instead, it will teach you what is to be sloughed off, and what is fundamentally you. The Program will strip away many of your delusions and insecurities, and expose your inner nature. You will be able to clearly look at the biases which have held you captive (in some cases, unknowingly). Some of these biases you will keep; others you will release. The process is liberating. As you walk this journey (which probably started when you received the “Following Teacher Will Return” mailing, or picked up your first copy of Colleges That Change Lives, or listened to that nudging from a parent, friend or teacher who said, “But you have to look at this school”), we in the Admissions Office are cheering you on. When we took time with you during the application process (whether it took years or days), it was because we really thought you’d be a good fit for St. John’s. And so, we encourage you to stop in sometime and say hi. Tell us what life is like now that you’re on campus. Tell us how we can be more effective in spreading the gospel of St. John’s in your hometown. Most importantly, come tell us what you’re reading and thinking about in class— we have a genuine interest in the things that are important to you, as students. There is nothing more satisfying to an Admissions Officer than knowing the fit has been found, and found here. At the risk of sounding trite: lab class is possibly the best metaphor for life. At St. John’s, you are given a basic framework and a few tools, and then you’re left to figure out both the question and the process. Some of you will cut into the matter with meticulous care and precision. Others will chop at will to discover what can be exposed within. You will all watch each other and share your methods with one another, and in the process, learn more than you ever could alone. There is a Greek term in lab you have probably already discussed: ουσια. This is roughly translated as “thinghood,” or sometimes “essence,” or “substance,” or quite simply, “being.” It seems to point toward the universal properties which make something a thing qua thing. During the next four years you will likely discover a little something about the ουσια of the human mind and spirit. And we sincerely hope you’ll come back to the Admissions Office to share a few of your discoveries with us along the way. Sincerely, Admissions Office �!"#$%&'()$*+#,#-.,$."#$/0&,,$12$3456 EARNEST !what’s the fluid chart? !"#$%&'((')*+,%-.'/$0%12$%/13$+%&2'4%/#$%5678%7(100%'&%9:;<% =1>$?''3%@1,$A%"#$%B1CDE%?$120%+'%2$0@'+0*?*(*/E%&'2%/#$% 2*C*>.('.0%/#*+,0%&2$0#4$+%01EA !Can someone explain to me the phys ed requirement? I made a terrible mistake. I missed breakfast. ! ! Would a Keurig Cup Maker count as an open heating element? Does the dining hall have good hot sauce selection? Very important question. !Can anyone pls help define the ! difference(s) between modernism and postmodernism? ... is anyone from illinois yeah okay so how do you pronounce the X chi is it like the jewish ch or what chances of getting a caprese salad in the dining hall? ! !How’s the gym there? Specifically in regards to pumping iron? ! ! !on a more serious note, what are the Also would you recommend bringing Tupperware? ! !is it at all possible to do both a varsity sport and intermurals? That would depend on how Good is defined, which would probably depend on other fundamental assumptions about reality such as Materialism vs. Immaterialism, Atheism vs. Theism, Atelogical vs. Telogical, Existentialism vs. Realism, etc. Good’s definition, as well as the definition of the other Transcendentals, is determined through the analysis of those fundamental assumptions one makes. Indeed, I think all thought is. ! !"#$%&'() ("%*+(,- PHENOMENAL Hey-- i probably should have asked this before we got on the road-- but is there any rule against bringing fish? �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�The Gadfly 06 !"#$%%$&"'&()"%*$"+,-.%$//$.%-01"2$11"3-%4* Catherine Moon A A’14 quick check of your new lexicon or look at one of Ms. year, I chose to be vulnerable. I chose to be naked. I had finally Brann’s old speeches will tell you that the word “gymnasi- chosen to take the leap and enter the gymnasium. um” derives from a Greek word meaning “place of nakedness.” My first thought about the etymology of that word was corWell, that’s kind of uncomfortable—or at least that was my rect: it is uncomfortable. Allowing yourself to test your limimmediate reaction when I first heard this information, as a its and be vulnerable in front of strangers is uncomfortable freshman. I remember thinking that it was an and intimidating and scary. But it’s worth it. unfortunate etymology, and certainly not one Don’t take the discomfort as a sign to quit Allowing yourself to or runaway, but rather as an indication that that enticed me to enter a place with which I test your limits and had little familiarity. there’s something at stake, that you’re on the The gym and anything considered an athletbe vulnerable in front precipice of an unexpected and worthwhile ic endeavor fiercely intimidated me, because gain. of strangers is unI believed myself to have some semblance of So, come to the gym, the place of nakedcomfortable and inself-knowledge and thus to know this: I was ness, of vulnerability and, in the words of timidating and scary. Mr. Grenke, “Learn who you are. Learn who not an athlete. I knew I couldn’t do those But it’s worth it. things. When the Athletic Director gave his you want to be. Learn who you can be.” With infamous thumos speech, he told us we were pride, I can finally say I am an athlete, and all athletes. He spoke of how the life of the mind is nothing that my limits are much farther than I ever knew. There is without a sound body. nothing I want to do that I feel unable to pursue. Welcome to Of course, I knew his words did not apply to me. As I said, I St. John’s, and I hope that now or one day soon, this will be was no athlete. There’s no way the upperclassmen at Kunai or true for you too. !" Intramurals or any of the other club sports would have actually wanted me to show up and participate with all my ineptitude and absence of techne. So I didn’t show up. I didn’t participate. I wasn’t present. s Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not All I did freshman year was go to class and watch a lot of movworth living.” This short line speaks to Johnnies ies, which, although not inherently bad, just got boring after in a way that almost defines our entire endeavor here. a while. Most of the people I knew were on my floor or in my However, within this profound self-examination, we easily classes, and I certainly did not know—let alone speak to—anybecome so submerged in theory that we fail to do anything one who wasn’t a freshmen. Going into sophomore year, I that lives up to the Virtue over which we speculate. didn’t want that be the case again. Project Polity also believes that “the unlived life is So I tried. I went to Kunai, and I was bad. There were many, not worth examining.” While we love to wonder, “What many times when I went to kick the ball and completely missed is Virtue?”, we also like to do what most immediately or fell down for no reason. But, despite my ineptitude, the girls seems virtuous: to aid the needy, the less fortunate, the were nice, and for some crazy reason they seemed grateful for environment, and to further the community in which we my presence. After that first attempt, I wasn’t sure whether I live. would go back. Even though the girls were super friendly, and We do this through meaningful community service, can it felt incredible to survive something I never thought I’d be drives, tutoring, fundraising, and outreach. We believe able to do, I was still embarrassed about my straggling skill that such activities not only help ground us in the midst of level. this college’s deep examination and introspection, but also Then, one afternoon, one of the Kunai captains came up to help bring Johnnies together and bolster the camaraderie me and said that she really appreciated me being there and of the Polity we all cherish. would be so pleased if I came back. It wasn’t an imperative. It However, we also see the “Polity” as not existing only didn’t feel like she was commanding what I ought to do or be; within the St. John’s “bubble,” but also within our larger rather, she was letting me know who I could be, and that I was community. Thus, we also seek to incorporate “Townies” probably capable of more than I knew. and “Middies” into our activities. So I went back. I kept trying. I returned to soccer every So if you would like to spend a few hours through the Tuesday and Friday, and by the end of the season, I actually year to take your mind off philosophy and give back to the scored a goal. I persevered through each new sport, and by city in which you live, if you would like a chance to meet the winter I eventually felt comfortable enough with myself new Johnnies and other Annapolitans, then help out with to play with the guys in Intramurals, and I became a regular any number of Project Polity’s service projects. member of their team. Suddenly, I wasn’t stuck in my bed We will be holding a meeting in the private dining room watching that episode of How I Met Your Mother I had already at 11:30 am on Thursday, September 5th. If you would like seen five times. I actually had places to be. I even knew and to be on our e-mail list, please write to projectpolity.scja@ felt comfortable enough to be conversant with most people on gmail. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you! ! campus, all because that first day of Kunai soccer sophomore “ !""#$"%&"'()*#+,%-()#.&-/ A �The Gadfly Ian Tuttle 07 A’14 Welcome to the newest members of our community, and a brief word of explanation: If your experience is like mine, you will soon discover that St. John’s is an unfamiliarly insular place. As the College has matured, it has sought to cultivate an atmosphere unburdened, as much as possible, by the grind of the outside world, so that each member of the Polity can enter deeply into the study of “the best that has been thought and said.” While I heartily support that endeavor, it can, consequently, be easy for us to become unmoored—to forget that the questions we ask and the conclusions we reach have consequences that ex- I tend far beyond the boundaries of our small campus. “Bursting the Johnnie Bubble” is a regular column that seeks to remind us of the world “out there” and stimulate conversation on a variety of topics that may not arise explicitly around the seminar table, but with which we must still contend. We should hope that we can consider them more thoughtfully and pursue answers with greater clarity as readers of the Great Books. Your responses to this column are always welcome. My hope with each piece is to begin a dialogue that continues both inside and outside these pages. Best wishes, and welcome to the Bubble! have a theory about New York—or at least the five neon tions between April 2011 and March 2012. blocks that constitute Manhattan’s Times Square, someWith the exception of Benghazi, which occurred last Septimes humbly called “The Center of the Universe.” tember, each of the above stories broke just this summer. Take If you have never been to Times Square, you still know it. the long view and all of politics can look like smut and scanThe ball drops there every New Year’s Eve to the music of dal, and you can begin to understand why only half of eligible Ryan Seacrest’s dulcet tones. Broadway is there (everything Americans come to the polls, even in presidential years. from The Phantom of the Opera, a classic, to The Book of MorSt. John’s is rather isolated from all this—and thankfully mon, which is not). It’s block upon block of IMAX-sized ad- so. The Great Books are removed from the happenings of vertisements, brand logos, and people dressed as Dora the the campaign trail, the halls of Congress, and media studios. Explorer. There is a naked cowboy. Actually, there are two— And they should be. We rightly cultivate an atmosphere here one black, one white. Diversity. where we can devote ourselves to these books Times Square, like a nudist colony, is one of Times Square, like and to the deep, abiding questions they raise. those places you have to see to believe. But (my But among the temptations of this leisurea nudist colony, theory), as with a nudist colony, if you want to ly space is the temptation to consecrate the see it more than once, there is something wrong books as ends and to forget that, ah yes, there is one of those with your soul. is a world out there—a world to which these places you have Many people feel the same way about polibooks are intimately connected. to see to believe. tics. Like Times Square, it’s a lot of flashing The questions of politics are intricately tied lights—and not much substance. It’s dirty, it’s up with the questions of the works we engage loud, it’s overwhelming. You’re always a tourist in the world here. Irving Babbitt, a prominent literary critic, made exactly of politics, which comprises the handful of people who actu- this observation in his 1924 book Democracy and Leadership: ally run the show and the vast audience (that’s us schlubs) to “When studied with any degree of thoroughness, the ecowhom they attempt to sell their best shtick. nomic problem will be found to run into the political probSometimes there is good reason to see it that way. Two lem, the political problem into the philosophical problem, summers after resigning his House seat in disgrace, Anthony and the philosophical problem itself to be almost indissolubly Weiner, now running for mayor of New York City, was caught bound up at last with the religious problem.” once again sending pictures of his bathing suit area to online Our politics, except in a few shining corners, has abancompanions under the zesty username “Carlos Danger.” Also doned such an audacious claim. Better, say many, to stick to in the Big Apple, former New York governor Eliot Spitzer is our reductionism, to worry less about metaphysics and more running for city comptroller. Spitzer resigned his governor- about getting things done. Commenting on Babbitt in The ship in 2008 when it was discovered that he had trafficked in Conservative Mind, published in 1953, author Russell Kirk high-priced “escorts.” On the opposite coast, San Diego may- rebutted the inclination toward strict pragmatism with this or Bob Filner finally resigned after 18 women accused him of question: “In sober fact, do men have souls, or do they not? sexual harassment. “Filthy Filner” has claimed that his predi- Upon one’s solution of this inquiry rests the basis of politics; lection for fanny-pinching is the city’s fault, because it did not for if men do not possess souls, if there is no higher will, then provide sexual harassment training. they may as well be treated as parts of a machine.” That’s the slimy side. But there is also the scandalous side: Politics, for all its muck and mischief, is a high thing, and the four Americans left to die at an under-protected Ameri- for it to serve and elevate it must be predicated on a right can embassy in Benghazi, Libya; the IRS, which targeted understanding of the highest things. A liberal arts education Right-leaning organizations for unprecedented—and illegal— aims us to move us closer to that understanding. It helps us scrutiny, asking for everything from members’ résumés and seek, in the classical formulation, the Good, the True, and the Facebook posts to groups’ prayer habits; the Department of Beautiful. It helps us answer Kirk’s question. Justice’s wiretapping Associated Press and Fox News jourIf we answer affirmatively, we get a politics founded on nalists in violation of the First Amendment; and the National something more than utility or force, a politics informed by Security Agency, which admitted last week that analysts in its the wisdom of the Great Books and thoughtful self-examinadomestic surveillance program deliberately violated privacy tion—and that is much more impressive than anything in Carrules—this after acknowledging 2,800 different privacy viola- los Danger’s Twitter feed. ! “ �The Gadfly 08 *) !"#$%&'() !"#$%&'() *+*',!"#$%&'()+,-.$ !"#$%&'()*+, D&2%/7&1$["(/%*$a%#&,$\&11 ==<EG$ZD !"#$%&'(&#)*'+%,&*#-.'%/&$*%,((',&'+%#)%*"'$a&2b.%0)%1'(*'23'&%45%67845% ,)+%,((',&$%,))9,..:%#)%09&%/&$*%#$$9';%<#*"09*%,%+093*%09&%,*".'*#-%+#&'-= *0&5%>&;%>-?9,&&#'5%#$%@#..#)A%*0%$*,)+%#)%B0&%*"'%/&$*%('&$0)%C0#-'%9$'+%#)% *"#$%,&*#-.'D,)+%*0%,)$@'&%,):%E9'$*#0)$%,309*%09&%,*".'*#-%(&0A&,2;%=F+; c6)&/$Q(00#% E$WD$ Bryce Jacobsen -#%.#$%&'()*+) Q,9$`(")_'$["(%6'*$a%#&,$\&11 M$WD !/"0$%&'()*+1 N[$@1#0,/()'*$N/)/)7$\&11 d6)0" 203%&'()*45 c6)&/$Q(00#% E$WD d#0,6%#<$Ta%#.$W&%%(,$e63+#%$ Z0I6/'/,/()'<$W&%&11#1'$>/,"$&)2$ N/;;#%#)0#$F%(3$H(6)7$["/1K 2%#)*U$+.$W%(;#''(%$:%#)#$W#--#%K +#%7*$\&%5&%2$f)/5#%'/,. FQc$Z62/,(%/63 R<VV$WD 6&7"0%&'()*48 Qg[*$a%#&,$\&11 =V$WD 6".%&'(1*8 Q(00#% \$5'9$N*$=<VV$WD >$5'9$Q*$?<EG$WD :;$.(6$4(612$1/B#$,($'##$.(6%$ #5#),$()$,"#$4##B1.$'0"#261#*$ -1#&'#$#3&/1$'80&97&2b.h73&/19 0(39 ! A’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`&0B$&$2611$+(.9 ?V9$ :,$/'$+#,,#%$,($1/7",$&$0&)21#$,"&)$,($06%'#$,"#$2&%B)#''9 Q($,"#%#$.(6$"&5#$/,<$,4#),.$7((2$%#&'()'$4".$.(6$'"(612$-&%,/0/-&,#$/)$(6%$&,"1#,/0$ -%(7%&39$:;$.(6$&%#$)(,$0()5/)0#2$+.$&11$(;$,"/'*$0(3#$&)2$,&1B$,($3#9$:$0&)$-%(+&+1.$,"/)B$ (;$'(3#$3(%#$7((2$%#&'()'9$X%$+#,,#%$.#,*$,&1B$4/,"$,"#$6--#%01&''3#)9$!"#.$4/11$,#11$.(6$ &11$'(%,'$(;$',%&)7#*$/),#%#',/)7*$&)2$4()2%(6'$,"/)7'9$! � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 1 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-08-27 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 1 of The Gadfly. Published on August 27, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/150c496bb8f4cdffd2ba537d1ed4adef.pdf 9b07e14625313caa9cc180bd84746e37 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !"#$%&'(")%*&(+&,-./01)2")#3&4&56 7$.&'0.*"2.)%&8&9.1)&:;.1<&4&5= -./01)2")#>&?)&@;.)&A.%%.0&4&5B& C$1%&"*&:%D&E($)F*&G(HH.#.I&4&5J & !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$!,4"#$903$809;$.$2&+#$<<<2$.$5!!=,$08 �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com !"#$%&#%'#( )%*(+,-.,- Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. Articles should be submitted by Friday, Sept. 20, at 11:59 PM to sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Illustrator Will Brown • Staff Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Sebastian Barajas Barbara McClay Sarah Meggison Samuel Weinberg S ign up for the Chesapeake Bay Picnic, sponsored by the Friends of St. John’s College! Each year, local skippers volunteer to host St. John’s students on their boats (sailboats and powerboats) for a fun day of sailing, cruising, and picnicking on the Chesapeake Bay. This year’s picnic will be Saturday, September 21, from 10 AM to 4 PM. To register, stop by the Community Programs Office or return the registration form that was in your mailbox. The deadline to register is Friday, September 13. For more information, contact kathy.dulisse@sjca.edu. ! << The next Gadfly meeting will take place Sunday, Sept. 22, at 7 PM in Room 109 on the first lower level of the Barr-Buchanan Center. !"#$%&''#()&*#+$,('# W elcome to St. John’s, Freshmen! And welcome back to all the upperclassmen out there. By now both groups have probably encountered the Greek words kalos and agathos—“beautiful” and “noble.” The most recent blog posting from the College’s food blog covers a beverage which can be aptly described by both of those words: coffee. Check out www.gastrokitty.blogpost.com now and throughout the year for postings on dorm food, new dishes in the dining hall, and general culinary musings. —Formaggio Elettrico !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",Welcome back to the pages of the Gadfly. We hope you enjoyed our first issue and that you enjoy this week’s contributions, most of which have a special focus— Johnnies are well aware that this College is, more than most other schools, difficult to describe to those who do not live its unusual academic and social life day in and day out. That difficulty becomes especially apparent when the school begins, as it does every so often, the process of refining the way it talks about itself to prospective students and their families. The school is in the midst of such a process presently with the assistance of New York consulting firm Siegelvision. Over the summer, a survey sent to current students and recent alumni generated a strong response. We feel that this conversation is important and healthy for the College, so we have dedicated our second issue of the year to presenting, we hope fairly and accurately, a variety of perspectives on the “rebranding” effort. We use the term “rebranding” cautiously, aware from discussions with persons involved that that term is unofficial, but that it has become the byword for this effort. Alas, it comes, too, with certain connotations. It is our hope that the perspectives offered here will help to open up and advance the conversation past buzzwords and assumptions. While there may be disagreement over the direction of this project, it is, we believe, disagreement of the best kind: the spirited dialogue of parties who all want what is best for the College. We hope that this issue enriches that dialogue. * As a reminder, the next issue of the Gadfly will be out September 24. All submissions are due by Friday, September 20, at 11:59pm to sjca. gadfly@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you! ! �The Gadfly 03 !"#$#%&"'"()*'+ ,"$-.+ /(").'+ 12#345)6")$7 (0+ 1. Reframe the current emphasis on “the Books” Associate the College with value derived from the books—great ideas—not the archaic delivery channel of printed paper. 2. Reframe negativesounding “lack of choice” or “all-required” curriculum Accentuate the positive diversity of ideas, themes, courses of study, which include music, laboratory sciences, literature, philosophy, and drama, that everybody shares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elebrate the value of two spectacular campuses Communicate as one college in principles and quality, and as two distinctive, dazzlingly different campuses—East and West—for students to choose from and to travel between. Explain how the St. John’s College Program is different. And, if needed, use a suitable alternative label, e.g. Humanities, Arts and Sciences 6. Broaden criteria for potential students beyond “needle in the haystack” Create a narrative and supporting communications that are pitched to independent thinkers, good students—yes—who are also regular teenagers who share the cultural values and tastes of millions of other teenagers. Bookworms are welcome but not exclusively courted. 7. Articulate relevance for a career One program, two inspiring settings. Identify characteristics prized by employers, recruiters, and leaders across all professions, and forge the links with a St. John’s education—first via marketing and then in programs coordinated with career services. 4. Infuse communications with a contemporary voice 8. Clarify the benefit: Move from the what to the why Infuse communications with a lively, colloquial personality and the passion to reach today’s kids. As [Santa Fe’s] Dean Sterling eloquently wrote: “The program is a means to an end, not an end in itself.” 5. Differentiate from other liberal arts colleges Identify the strongest answer to the question, “Why invest in a St. John’s education?” and use this as foundation and inspiration for all communications. Why engage in the fight to save the embattled “liberal arts”? !"#$%%&'$"()*+",*-)".)/$0123"4$/'56**)5**1"7)/8/0'"!%%/%8&08% T he writing assistants will hold regular hours in the Coffee Shop at the following times: Mon: 12:30-2 pm (Goldman) Tues: 8:30-11:30 am (Marx) Wed: 11:30 am-2:30 pm (Boraks); 4-7 pm (Goldman) Thurs: 11:30 am-1:30 pm (Boraks/Marx); 4-6 pm (Goldman) Fri: 8:30-11:30 am (Marx); 10:30 am-2 pm (Boraks) Sat: 12-3:30 pm (Goldman) Sun: 8 pm-12 am (Marx) We’re here to help with every part of the paper-writing process, from brainstorming to drafting to proofreading, and every step in between; though we’re more than happy to be that final set of eyes to catch comma errors, Writing Assistance is best used as a resource at every stage of the writing process. We also work with students on writing skills in addition to specific assignments; please feel free to come to us with old work or just a notion of areas you’d like to work on strengthening. We’d also like to emphasize that Writing Assistance is not only for “remedial writers.” There is no writer too talented and experienced to become better. In addition to our scheduled hours, we’re available by private appointment and consultations over email. Feel free to send us papers, or email us to schedule an appointment: Alix Boraks (A’14): aboraks@sjca.edu Nathan Goldman (A’14): nlgoldman@sjca.edu Sarah Marx (A’14): sjmarx@sjca.edu We look forward to working with you! ! �ED: What’s the specific problem to which the “rebranding” effort is a solution? Dean Kraus: The thought behind using this firm and thinking about rebranding was that the message we were delivering wasn’t as effective as it could be, especially in the current climate, and, with a decline in the number of applications, it was thought that the website would attract more people to the College if we could present ourselves in a way that was more hearable to prospective students and their parents and others. The website was meant to be a starting point, a kind of hook to get people interested in the College. !"#$%&'()*+$ ,&-&..&/ An exclusive interview with President Chris Nelson and Dean Pamela Kraus about the ongoing “rebranding” project. President Nelson: We were quite aware that we had to completely redesign the website. We had complaints from students, faculty, and alumni, mostly about navigation, but also about content, about not having an effective intranet, about the complexity of the site. It just wasn’t functional enough, and it wasn’t attractive enough. And we also discovered, when it was shown to us, that our language was a little stiff. What we want to do is to get people in. We want to have better navigation, and an appeal that would cause someone to want to dig into that website. And we can’t rely on print materials in the same way that we have in the past. D: People not close to but interested in the College also felt that you got a very different feel from the website than you did when you visited the campuses. There was much more energy, much more excitement—intellectual excitement, but student life, also, was more vibrant than came across on the website. That seems to me very reasonable. The question that, for those of who have been here a long time, is difficult but important to ask is: For someone interested in but generally unfamiliar with St. John’s, does this convey the real vitality and distinctiveness of the College? P: I think that if what we want to do is just get a website up that will attract people to any old college, this would be a terrible mistake. But I was encouraged, when we talked to consultants, by their sense that our students’ voices are by far the best at describing the school. They thought we didn’t need a lot of this other institutional voice. My experience is that the students do describe the College best, and I thought, “Well, that’s an interesting observation,” that we’re not those letting student voices, pictures, humor—all that—appear on the website. [ 04 ] The Gadfly ED: Could you give us a sense of the project’s timeline? D: We’d known that we needed some overhaul of the website for quite a while, but we had not had the funding or staff time to allocate to it. Then in December we were asked to come to a meeting in New York with Siegelvision by members of the Board of Visitors and Governors familiar with them. Siegelvision really suggested rebranding altogether. They started working for us in late spring, so it’s on what you’d call a pretty fast timeline. P: Siegelvision originally wanted to complete this project by mid-September, in part because it feeds the cycle properly for admissions. But that can’t happen. We have other ways of handling the admissions cycle so that we don’t rush something as important as the website. ED: What are the criteria for a successful effort? D: That’s a very hard question to answer. We want mainly to make sure that the College that we know is recognizable in a positive way from what we see. That’s what I would say would be the general principle. It’s a matter of judgment with our Santa Fe colleagues. Now, whenever you have ten people on a College-wide committee, you’re going to have some differences of opinion and different areas you want to stress, but I think we all want the same thing: We want the College to be presented as effectively and as accurately as possible. P: One measure would be satisfaction of the many, many users of the website. Another [measure] would be increased attention from prospective students and families. ED: What is the role of Siegelvision— the school’s outside consultants—in this process? D: In some ways they’ve been directive. They identified what they thought were some major issues, and they have proposed text and proposed a look— what you might call the aesthetics—and [suggested ways to improve] the workability or the navigability of the website. Then we have been asked for our take on that. So it’s a kind of back and forth with them. They visited both campuses, and they’ll be returning soon. Some of the things that they’ve identified, we’ve been pushing back on. They were very concerned about too much emphasis on books, which they think of as only one �way to present material or thoughts. And while that’s true, it is the case that a book at least represents a whole of some kind, in which a thought, or many thoughts, are being pulled together in an intelligible way, that somehow they’re all interconnected within the book. So while I can see their point of view, if what you mean by a book is something that’s bound with paper, we’ve been pushing back on that, because we don’t think that’s a word that we want to drop. ED: The “rebranding” effort has generated a strong response among some students and alumni. How do you feel about this reaction? P: We’re proud of our students. D: We are. We absolutely are. P: There’s nothing like leaving it to the students to say the kinds of things that we might not be trusted to say. I think it’s been healthy for us to hear from students and alumni. D: A letter composed by members of the Classes of 2011-2016 has been circulating online [Ed: Read this letter on pages 6-7.] I think that’s a very intelligently done letter. It’s not finished, I think, they’re still gathering information, they’re going to send it to us, but I look forward to getting that, and I look forward to sending it to Siegelvision. ED: How would you describe the scope of the project? “ from what they had read and what they saw and felt and heard when they were here. You can say “discussion-based classes,” but that doesn’t convey the sense of excitement, of engagement in the issues, of the continuing conversation, of the seriousness of that discussion, that it’s not just everybody offering an opinion; it’s trying to get to something deeper together. You can say that, but people don’t understand what that means. ED: Certain words—eg. “Great Books, “liberal arts,” etc.— have particular resonance at St. John’s. But do those words remain meaningful when trying to present the College to outsiders? P: There are people in the marketing business who think that “Great Books” and “liberal arts” are words that are overused and just fade into the background. In the case of “Great Books” it’s antique; in the case of “liberal arts” it’s a word that describes a thing that everybody does, it doesn’t mean anything. Both of those impressions seem to me to be right. It doesn’t mean we abandon books, or that we don’t go about explaining what we mean by the liberal arts and try to bring some content to those words. But when everybody uses the same words, how do you distinguish yourself from them, as we clearly distinguish ourselves from them by our Program? That’s the problem. We’ve got to find a way to use the words that mean a lot to us, to make them alive for a public for whom they’re dead. That’s not easy. There are people in the marketing business who think that “Great Books” and “liberal arts” are words that are overused and just fade into the background. D: I would say that the intention of the effort is broad, but that particular messages in the survey sent to students were just test messages. They are becoming more and more refined, more targeted and, we hope, more accurate. They dropped some. There is still a ways to go. The scope is to put in the forefront a way of talking about ourselves that would become pretty entrenched, so that, to me, means that it better be right, and it better be good. P: But we’re certainly not upset that students don’t like what they’re seeing. It’s hard to capture the voice of this College. This is not like another college. When Siegelvision took us on, they said this is perhaps the hardest project they have ever encountered. Well, that’s an interesting thing to hear. Nevertheless, they wanted to do it. We’ve got to be honest, straight, who we are. Any other effort would just show us to be phony. That’s the last thing this College wants. ED: What is it about St. John’s that makes it so difficult to present? D: It’s very difficult to describe in words what the life of a college is like. We don’t fit into typical categories, so you can’t rely on those to give people some general sense of what’s going on. “Great Books” doesn’t convey the excitement of the classroom, the sense of responsibility that tutors and students take for their education, the community spirit that we see in various activities, that students are hard-working, very intelligent, and have ordinary lives. You can say it, but people don’t get it until they see it. Siegelvision had read a lot about the College, had looked at the website, had done their homework. But it wasn’t until they came on campus and went to classes and talked to students that they really saw what it was. They were shocked by the difference between what they had inferred ED: Many people are worried that changing the language could end up changing the school. How do you respond to their concern? P: I think it’s a real concern. Change your language and you can very well change who you are. In this project, we are not trying to change who we are, so if we fail in that, we’ve made a bad mistake. D: We take language very seriously. Sometimes people overlook the power of language. P: I’ve been at the College over 22 years. As near as I can remember—it’s certainly been my conscious effort—I’ve never used the phrase “Great Books” in a speech describing the College. Now, I love these books, and I use books all the time: I use images from books, I quote from books, I use the word “books” all the time. But every time I used “Great Books” when I was an alumnus everybody just assumed I was talking about the Encyclopedia Britannica, something that came out of Chicago, and something that was fixed, and something that was interesting but in a certain sense dead, and the last thing I ever wanted to do was to convey a message about St. John’s that this was an antiquarian institution, conservative in the sense that we protect the venerable and the old because they’re old and venerable, rather than because they help us ask the radical questions that allow us to explore the world that we live in and help us understand ourselves in that world. ED: What do members of the St. John’s community need to know going forward? P: To the extent that students are worried that we’re not being proper guardians or that we’re upset with their response, I want them to hear that we’re grateful for the responses, that the strong responses are helpful to us, and that we’re in a strong enough position that we don’t have to play a game we don’t like. We all want to get this right. ! The Gadfly [ 05 ] �The Gadfly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embers of SJC Classes 2011-2016 T o St. John’s College Board of Visitors and Governors, confidence in marketing. In the following group responses to Presidents Nelson and Peters, Vice Presidents Goyette and Siegelvision’s proposals, we believe we are also speaking for Mora, Deans Kraus and Sterling, and other members of the these students. College-wide committee collaborating with Siegelvision: As members of St. John’s College Classes of 2011-2016, we The College should drop its emphasis on “books” and instead emmatriculated in a period of economic hardship and popular phasize “ideas.” criticism of American higher education. Many schools have begun to see declines in applications and enrollment, and we Books—not textbooks or professors—are the vehicle for the regret the impact this trend has had on St. John’s. It indicates ideas discussed in most St. John’s classes. This distinctive apthat the College must better promote its mission and the value proach appeals to young people who are intellectually indeof its education, and we appreciate your efforts to accomplish pendent and curious, and who enjoy reading. Many people this. share these qualities—the type of students who would thrive We understand that Siegelvision’s staff is working with you in a growing relationship to the Program over four years. St. to implement several changes to the ColJohn’s attracts them by confidently aclege’s marketing, which are intended to knowledging the role books play in its We believe new marketreach more students who would succeed in students’ learning and conversation. Dethe Program and find themselves at home ing can make a significant emphasizing books in favor of ideas would in the polity. As current students and recent obscure one of the most important features contribution, but only if graduates of St. John’s, we have a great deal of the curriculum and culture of St. John’s, it also allows members in common with these potential applicants, and would risk losing the attention of the of the existing St. John’s and we believe it is important that we make College’s audience. ourselves heard more clearly as you work to community to recognize address this group of our peers. Each of us The College must drop the term “liberal and admire the College has his or her own topmost concerns about arts” and differentiate itself from other “libas we have known it. what we understand Siegelvision has proeral arts” colleges. Public perception of what posed, but we recognize the importance of is meant by this phrase is far from what we one another’s thoughts. Together, we are writing you to give mean by it, and it has become a distraction. voice to the ideas and reservations that are shared by many among us. We will leave our personal thoughts to individual Schools that have strayed from the mission of liberal educaletters and conversation: tion might be wise to shed the term, but St. John’s has purThe College’s recent marketing has important strengths that sued this work consistently for more than 75 years. It is the should not be shed for its weaknesses. Many of us can clearly only undergraduate program the College offers. Despite cost, recall how it grabbed our attention and helped lead us to St. and because of value, the term “liberal arts” maintains many John’s. Our impressions began to develop through meaning- positive connotations among our generation—of small classes, ful elements of the College brand—for instance, a seal studded dedicated faculty, academic excellence, and attention to lasting with seven texts and a Latin phrase, an announcement about qualities and skills. The College’s pure approach to the liberal “The Following Teachers,” and an iconic stack of books. They arts provides these things, but it also goes further toward the clearly suggested the spirit of the Program and the interests original meaning of the term: the pursuit of a good life through of the College community as we know them. Today, these el- freedom of mind. St. John’s brings this endeavor into focus for ements must be balanced with content that better addresses four years and then sends its alumni into the world to continue, students’ and parents’ practical concerns. But to subtly over- for themselves and others, through whatever they choose to haul these essentials would obscure the real value of St. John’s do. St. John’s should embrace the liberal arts for these riches and the identity of its community. This approach risks alienat- and work harder to improve itself in the areas where the term ing our like-minded peers, who are moved by authenticity and rings hollow. “ �The Gadfly 07 The College should use a “more contemporary voice,” employing active verbs, and colloquial and “irreverent” language. but many gladly remain and develop their interests extracurricularly. St. John’s would do well to highlight these cases, acknowledging in its marketing the question present in many prospective students’ minds: “But what will I do if I know, or come to realize, that I also want to specialize?” St. John’s students pursue study groups, school-year and summer internships and jobs, and additional coursework. We were pleased to learn that the College will increase its financial support for the last of these efforts through the new Pathways Fellowship. We encourage you to expand this and similar offerings and share proudly how they enrich, and are enriched, by the work of the Program. St. John’s has been wise to employ a voice that reflects the nature of its curriculum. Adopting something more contemporary or colloquial might obscure the Program’s timeless character and risks presenting the College in a way that could sound trite, or even condescending, to our peers. The genius of the College’s best marketing is that it never comes off as slickly engineered to appeal to us. It should always address prospective students clearly and invitingly, but also offer them something to aspire to. Students are frequently impressed that St. John’s has the confidence to speak to them as adults, not children, and we hope that the Col...the College must lege’s marketing will continue to take this approach. better promote its The College should concentrate on the “why” rather than the “what,” the “benefits” rather than the “features,” of a St. John’s education. “ The College must bring forward the role of science and mathematics in the Program. St. John’s provides every student a sustained encounter with math and science. This fact sets it apart from nearly all other American liberal arts colleges, and it is worth clarifying if it is not widely understood. But in this moment when math and science education is often equated with vocational training or research experience, it is crucial to convey how St. John’s approaches these disciplines differently, as liberal arts. The College affords students four years to study and reflect on the development of math and science, and the foundational questions they raise. We hope to hear more accounts from St. John’s graduates about how this background has enriched their lives and careers. mission and the value of its education, and we appreciate [the College’s] efforts to accomplish this. At St. John’s, the ends and the means of education are closely related, and this is an important and attractive feature of the school. Most colleges and universities market themselves upon curricula and benefits that seem highly similar. It is frequently hard for students and parents to judge how these schools are effective and to compare them with one another. For this reason, today’s families have become more compelled by facts than rhetoric in college marketing. It is crucial that St. John’s address them with an authentic account of the Program and its effect upon students and graduates. The College already excels in the former, but it must do a better job of presenting its community—through videos, articles, and other media. It must especially offer more comprehensive, current data, and other practical information, about graduates’ careers. In the end, the most compelling and accurate voices on the question, “Why St. John’s?” are theirs and ours. The printed and digital materials for St. John’s should emphasize one College on two beautiful campuses. St. John’s offers its students an unusual opportunity to choose and transfer between two campuses dedicated to the same academic work. Both are indeed beautiful—a fact that many prospective students already recognize from the College’s marketing, and which has not been harmful to highlight. But we question whether this point warrants further emphasis. It may fail to adequately represent the differences between the campus cultures and, in the end, may not be as interesting or important to many prospective students as the Program itself. The College must reframe the way it talks about the “all-required” curriculum. It should stress the depth, richness, and variety of the Program, as well as the way knowledge is integrated across disciplines. St. John’s offers a paradoxical curriculum—its limits create opportunity, and we are pleased that this might become better articulated in the College’s marketing. But while at St. John’s, many students realize particular academic or creative interests that they feel driven to explore more deeply. The Program typically does not address these in depth, and that can feel stifling. As a result, some students leave the College before graduating, Do not seem disdainful of the desire that a St. John’s education be relevant to a career. The College’s marketing should never adopt a disdainful tone about students’ future careers; however, few of us came to St. John’s seeking only a career, and many of us have found this concern incidental to our academic experience. For this reason, we urge you not to overstate the relevance of the Program to graduates’ professional development. We instead recommend that you continue improving career services at St. John’s and better highlight them in the College’s marketing. We also hope to see more features on the College’s website that will allow St. John’s alumni to speak about their professional lives. These accounts are reassuring and inspiring to prospective students and parents. The College should solicit a wide variety of them, including the stories of young alumni who can attest to the value of a St. John’s education in hard times. In times like these, it is understandably challenging for the College to assess itself. We hope that this letter has helped clarify why St. John’s matters to us and how we think it can speak to a wider audience of our peers. We believe new marketing can make a significant contribution, but only if it also allows members of the existing St. John’s community to recognize and admire the College as we have known it. Achieving this requires collaboration. We are grateful for the ideas you have contributed, as well as those submitted by many others in the polity. This project has presented all of us an opportunity to articulate the College’s fundamentals and significance for today. In the process, we affirm our pride in its distinctive Program and accomplished community. We wish you the best in the next stages of this work. With our continuing gratitude and support— �The Gadfly 08 !"#$%&'%($)%*+",-'%.+//0102 Barbara McClay A’12 A “brand,” as I think most of you know, used to be a mark a “rebranding controversy,” I am at least half responsible for one burned into the hide of cattle. That marked the cattle it, since I decided to make information about the rebranding as yours, end of story, in the same way that we now mark all available to the wider St. John’s audience. Thus, I am not a disour materials with the New Program seal. Since that time, the interested party in this discussion. However, I think every stuword “brand” has adapted into marking other things as yours. dent should read through that description and ask themselves Your projected identity, in short, is your brand. the same two questions. For this reason, branding and advertising carry a powerful Why these eight rebranding points, individually, are flawed weight. They are aspirational, because they show us something would take eight separate articles to write, and, indeed, they that we want, but at the same time, they show us something have generated fairly harsh responses already. For instance: that we are. In this sense, our brand becomes both the story Discussing a book is not the same thing as discussing an idea. that we tell about ourselves to others, and the story we tell Otherwise, we could dispense with the books and just talk about ourselves to ourselves. about summaries of them. The study of the books has more to Thus, the question “What is St. John’s College?” is the ques- do with recognizing that there are questions that every human tion that ought to lie at the heart of a conversation about re- being has to ask at some point over the course of a lifetime. branding, or how best to articulate ourselves to the world. And So we don’t study political theory, or ethics, or Marxism; we the truth is, if we turn to our materials as they exist now—at ask “What is justice?” and we strive to know every day. The least on the website—the answer to that is unclear. We do seem books, which also ask these questions, are equal partners in to lack courage in our own project. A stronger articulation of our conversations. We inquire together. the College is necessary. But you, current students of St. John’s College, probably Insofar as we share that observation, Siegelvision—the con- know this already, because you came. St. John’s showed you sulting firm responsible for the proposed resomething you wanted to be a part of. Even branding—and I agree. After that, however, we though the College is an imperfect instituEven though the Col- tion, one that often fails, it gave you an asgo our separate ways. lege is an imperfect Since, at the time of my writing, no true piration and you reached for it. Because, as draft of the proposed new website has been I said, these things carry a powerful weight. institution, one that produced, we will give Siegelvision the benWhat we project out into the world repreoften fails, it gave efit of the doubt and say that the new website you an aspiration and sents what we think is best and strongest will be exceptionally attractive and easy to use about ourselves. Since these eight rebranding you reached for it. (two things the current website is not). How points are not leading with anything unique, will this new website answer the question, the Program becomes a liability rather than a “What is St. John’s College?” Since Siegelvision has given us selling point. That road is not a good one to travel. eight focuses of their rebranding, we can use these eight points Alan Siegel, founder of Siegelvision, articulates the aspito answer this question. Let’s make a St. John’s in speech, as raional quality of advertising in a column in the Huffington it were, using their speech. Once we have their answer to this Post, “The American Brand: The Next National ‘Cliff.’” In it, he question, let’s see if their St. John’s is a place that we know. (We writes that Americans must be wary of “ideologues that conmay.) And if we do not know it, would we like to? fuse, muddle or simply dismiss the big ideas that captivated So here is the St. John’s College Siegelvision has built, using and motivated our nation at its founding—big ideas that no their words as much as possible: American can afford to ignore any longer.” “St. John’s College is a place that speaks with a contempoWhen Americans are asked, “What is America?” they must rary voice. It is not a college where students study the liberal go back to the origin of America, to what in a sense are our arts. Instead, it is an institution of higher education with an foundational myths. Those myths are both true and not true, interdisciplinary program of study: one that includes useful but we must understand them and hold them up for the world subjects like math and science, and where students talk about in order to answer our question. The Statue of Liberty does ideas, but not about books. They can choose between two dif- this when she proclaims that she lights the way for “huddled ferent campuses, but those campuses are essentially the same. masses yearning to breathe free.” What she says is both true “Through their interdisciplinary program and discussion of and not true. ideas, these students emerge possessed of certain qualities— Siegel doesn’t propose to rebrand America, just to “re-inthey are resolute, fun-loving, collaborative, and so forth—that vest” in the American brand. America, he thinks, has a perfectly prepare them to be flexible participants in the workforce.” good brand already. On the other hand, that is not the line that Do we recognize this place? I don’t, but I cannot speak for his firm recommends for St. John’s, implying that they either every reader. think we have no identity or that we have no important founDo we want to be a part of this place? dational myths. Since both of these statements are untrue of I don’t especially. us, it is hard to know what to make of their aims for St. John’s. * If they want to announce to the world, “This is St John’s ColMy answer was a foregone conclusion. Insofar as there is lege,” then they are choosing to do so in a way that remakes the “ �The Gadfly school. That should be acknowledged. What should also be acknowledged is that these changes are going through very quickly. If there is no draft of the website yet—well, this website is intended to go up in October. How much feedback can be taken into account in such a tight time frame is difficult to say. * When I, at least, read the proposals, what strikes me above all is how static they are. An idea is a static thing. By minimizing differences between Annapolis and Santa Fe, they are reduced to interchangeable parts, instead of unique communities with valuable differences—another static image. Students acquire fixed personality traits—more static images. What we do at St. John’s is not static. A book is not static, a question is not static, and our Program is not static. These things are living things. They are rich, capable of turning inward to understand themselves, capable of unfolding outward to us. This distinction, more than any other, is the truest and greatest difference between Siegelvision’s St. John’s and the St. John’s I know. That quality is attractive to many people. It’s true that enrollment is down, and that this is bad. So let me say that over the years I have met many people who loved St. John’s but didn’t go. These people went elsewhere—not because they were turned off by “books,” not because of the term “liberal arts,” and certainly not because they didn’t want to undergo an all-required program of study. They didn’t come because they couldn’t afford it. The motivation behind this rebranding seems to be that an expensive college with a nice new logo will somehow seem less expensive. The truth is that math is math is math. If people can’t afford it, they won’t go, even if they are solidly convinced they are getting a lesser education elsewhere. Making the case for why people should come despite the cost means making the case for what we really do. But it would be better if we could just make the case for ourselves, with no “despite,” and if people could enter into the College without taking on a massive debt burden. We have a very powerful thing to offer, even if right now we are not stating it the best way we could. And we have a very serious drawback, which is our cost. The proposed rebranding undermines one of these things, and doesn’t fix the other, and for that reason, I am skeptical of it. In a sense, I am not sure that the goal ought to be to turn to the world and announce: “This is St. John’s.” It should be to get the world to ask: “What is St. John’s College?” And then we can be ready with a strong answer. But I do not think this rebranding will provoke that question, either. ! 09 !"#$"%&#'(()*#+"," Sam Weinberg I A’14 n the past few months, there has been, among those connected to the College, a flood of conversation about the proposed Siegelvision “rebranding.” All now know of the glossy, impersonal, and product-like proposal that was sent out to current students, with an explicit avoidance of faculty input. Most have reacted poorly, feeling—and rightly so—that there was something distinctly false and strange about how that mock website represented St. John’s and all of its peculiarities. Upon returning to Annapolis, the situation has begun to feel even more Kafkaesque: signs have popped up on campus demanding that we “Question the Rebranding,” and that motto has now been chalked onto the brick wall behind Campbell. I’m beginning to think that Siegelvision’s rebranding is a nightmare from which I am trying to wake. Siegelvision—whose the representatives I, along with a group of other students, met with last spring—came with an agenda: namely, to show that the education at St. John’s can apply to what the mock website copy calls the “dynamic global marketplace.” The practicality of a liberal education is obviously a concern that we should take seriously. Yet Siegelvision’s approach so far misses the mark of what the College is that it truly perturbs me. There has been an expressed aversion to the use of “books” and “liberal arts”; Siegelvision has deemed those terms outdated and unmarketable. How The practicality of a can the things that make St. John’s what liberal education is it is be anathema to the people who are trying to advertise the school? It’s abobviously a concern surd and nonsensical. Amidst the mass that we should outcry among alums on Facebook, one take seriously. Yet alumna, who is particularly active in Siegelvision’s apall things rebranding, posted a photoproach so far misses graph accompanied by the text, “You the mark of what could say that we read a lot of books (so why shouldn’t we say we read a lot of the College is that it books?)” If one had asked me even last truly perturbs me. spring whether avoiding books in our advertisements would ever be a concern, I would have immediately answered in the negative. If we lose our “The Following Teachers Will Return” expression, we lose everything. When I first received admissions mail from St. John’s College (circa 2008), I was immediately impressed by the brown paper viewbooks, checkered with black and white photographs. The materials were idiosyncratic—but so was the College to which I was applying. When we contract a firm whose other collegiate clients are NYU and Cornell—fine institutions, no doubt, but ones irrefutably different in kind—we run a serious, even unconscionable, risk of devoting ourselves to irrelevant interests and evaluating ourselves by the wrong standards. When describing the College, I have never once invoked the “dynamic global marketplace,” nor have I de-emphasized the central role that books play in our lives. To do so would be disingenuous and misleading. Why, then, is the College considering marketing itself in such a way? Before going forward with Siegelvision’s proposal, I would urge all of the powers that be—not without a bit of self-aware pretension—that they should consult one of the most difficult books that we read, Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. In the preface to that work, Kant immodestly an- “ Continued On Pg. 10 �The Gadfly 10 Continued From Pg. 09 nounces the arrival of his famed “Copernican Revolution” of metaphysics. Before him, Kant claims, all metaphysics had been a mere “groping about” at the objects of perception, because metaphysicians had tried only to conform themselves to the objects around them. What makes Kant’s approach revolutionary is that he turns these prior attempts on their head: he makes the objects around him conform to him, and to human understanding more generally. I would hate to see St. John’s succumb to that same type of folly and “grope about” in the “dynamic marketplace” of college admissions by misleading prospective students about what goes on at the College, or conveniently neglecting to mention certain things in the narrative we’re telling people about ourselves. If these measures raise our number of applications, that’s not an altogether good thing if those applicants have no idea what they are getting themselves into. Will applications for their own sake ultimately be worth it? Even if the Program remains the same, what will the unforeseen academic consequences be? It seems to me that how an institution represents itself is central to how it thinks of itself. We can’t possibly give ourselves over to people who have spent fewer than two days on both campuses and then consider themselves experts. It’s these types of things that we ought to consider. We cannot try to contrive phony ways to make ourselves seem relevant for job prospects, however important those may be. ! !"#$%&'()*" +%$&,%-./0%" 1*"234 F Sebastian Barajas A’17 or those of us who grew up on the wrong side of the MyersBriggs personality test, attending S&C was more challenging than reading Aristotle. Even getting lost in a nightmarish sentence like, “That which is potentially is acted on by that which is actually, so that the former and the latter are the same in kind,” can’t compare with the stress of finding oneself in a press of lusty young women dressed as dungeon mistresses, and not knowing what to do. Eye contact is inevitable, and sooner or later, the following mute conversation takes place: Mistress: So… Are you going to try to grind with me, or what? Introvert: Um, I don’t know. Mistress: You don’t know… Introvert: Yeah, I don’t know. Mistress: Well, if you don’t know, then I don’t want to grind with you. Introvert: Okay, that’s cool. I’m just having a good time dancing on my ownself. It may come as a surprise, but to me, and to the millions of other introverts out there, it’s a victory to have been dancing at all. Not so long ago, had someone dragged me to such a dance, I would’ve spent the entire time standing in the corner with all the other non-dancers, having a shouted conversation about which Bioshock game was the best. I took it for granted that dancing was for tosspots and churls, stopping just short of calling it “humbug.” The reason for my change of heart had less to do with the esteemed young men and women who did their utmost to seduce and corrupt me, and more to do with my newfound commitment to the betterment of the self. Indeed, if the goal of St. John’s is to challenge our notions about the world and our place in it, nothing has produced such swift and marked results as my experience at S&C. I found simply letting go and allowing the circumstances—however chaotic—to take me where they would extremely cathartic. I found it curious that many of the other freshmen did not seem, as I did, to view the dance as yet another challenge, just like Aristotle or Greek. Indeed, many of the very students who rise so boldly to the challenges of the classroom fled in panic when thrust under the glare of the black lights, and confronted with the reckless abandon of man—which is quite a beautiful thing, in a way. What’s more, one could almost argue that to properly make use of thought as a tool to lead a good and wholesome life, it is necessary to be able to abandon it when it stands in our way. To dance, to sing, to bounce on one’s feet to a bass rhythm and feel pure joy—these things operate outside the purview of logical thought. In the end, I believe I’ve learned that—as the blindfolded portraits on the wall can attest—the unexamined life may perhaps be worth living. ! �The Gadfly 11 !" !"#$%&!$' !"#$%&%'(&)* Ms. Katie Heines !"#$%#$&%'#()#%*+%#$&%'&,&'#&)-%.&%.&/0*,&%1*#%*1/2%(%1&.%0/(''%34#-%#$"'%2&()-%(%1&.%(''"'#(1#% 5&(16%7'6%8&"1&'-%(%9)(54(#&%*+%#$&%:*//&9&%;<=>?@A-%$('%3&&1%(%#4#*)%"1%B11(C*/"'%'"10&%DEEF6 How did you come to be a tutor at St. John’s? What is your least favorite seminar book and why? I took a class in ancient philosophy when I was 18, read the Meno, and never looked back. Who would not want to teach students like ours and read the books we read? Calvin’s Institutes. Because there is too much hating of the human and because I feel that in this era of the excessive use of the exclamation mark, he would have been too much at home. All students should, of course, take all books seriously! What was the biggest adventure you’ve ever had? Questions like this have always made me nervous. When asked what my hobbies are, I’ve always found it illegitimate to say ‘reading’ or ‘talking with people about important things.’ In response to the question about big adventures, I would like to be able to say that I’ve jumped out of a plane or at least a moving car, but alas, no such luck. I think probably the biggest adventure I’ve had is leaving home at 16 to live in a foreign country, knowing not a word of the language. That will get you thinking. “ Back not too many years ago, when men and women were stronger and could heft multiple volumes of Liddell and Scott, students did their homework on Wednesday nights... What is the single most important piece of advice you would like to give to freshmen (or upperclassmen)? Be courageous in examining what you hold dear and do not easily let go of the beliefs and loves and hates on which you stand. This is a two in one piece of advice. What is your favorite seminar book and why? I can’t choose one. • Aristotle’s De Anima, because I am interested in the way in which body and soul are integrated and our animal, vegetative, and human potencies are integrated; • Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, because I will always be in love with Elizabeth Bennett; • Plato’s Symposium, because it and I have spent so many hours and so many pages together; • Homer’s Odyssey, because no book better portrays the human attempt to test and touch the world to see what stuff it’s made of and because the way in which Odysseus and Penelope live this out both alone and with each other reveals what a marriage of true minds is. What is your biggest pet peeve (that students do) in class? Since my life in the classroom is a distant memory and since I had few pet peeves, I can speak instead of a new assistant dean pet peeve. When students talk as if New Years (yes, the Wednesday night one), were a long and sacred tradition of the College, I want to tell them that it is not, in fact, longstanding and not sacred. Back not too many years ago, when men and women were stronger and could heft multiple volumes of Liddell and Scott, students did their homework on Wednesday nights and then went to sleep, dreaming of Greek paradigms, Newton propositions, and the structure of the atom. Dare to return to those times! What is your favorite St. John’s tradition and why? I love the way each of us prepares for seminar seriously and intently in a lighted and private room, walks through the semidarkness, and comes together with others to talk. What is your favorite class to be a tutor for and why? Sophomore Language. We get to peel back slowly the multiple layers of the best and most beautiful of books, engaging both thought and feeling. Again, what’s not to love? What are you most looking forward to (and/or most interested in accomplishing) as Assistant Dean? I have always wanted there to be more of a bridge between our conversations in the classroom and our lives outside of the classroom. I will do whatever I can do to help strengthen this connection. ! �The Gadfly 12 !"#$%&'() *+*',Tuesday 9/10 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Wednesday 9/11 Ultimate Frisbee W v G, 2:45 PM D v S, 4 PM Writing Workshop Conversation Room, 6 PM St. John’s Chorus, Great Hall 7 PM Friday 9/13 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Lecture: “The Declaration of Independence: Is That Philosophy, or Did You Make It Up Yourself?” by Mr. David Townsend FSK Auditorium 8 PM Saturday 9/14 Ultimate Frisbee S v G, 1 PM D v H, 2:30 PM Sunday 9/15 Writing Workshop Conversation Room 12:30 PM Soccer G v S, 1 PM D v W, 2:45 PM If you would like to see your event on the weekly schedule, please email sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. !"#$%$&#'(!$ The Poetry of A.R. Welm (A’14) Sarah Meggison I A’15 lived on the third floor of Pinkney last year, next door to current senior Sasha Welm. There was this one time last spring when I was in my room preparing for my 2:20 class, when all of a sudden I hear joyous exclamations of “Oh my goodness! That’s so wonderful! Thank you so much!” and the like resonating through the thin Pinkney walls. Later as I wandered across the quad, I see Ms. Welm waltz up to me, hands in the air, declaring unto the campus “I’M BEING PUBLISHED!” Welm has described her illustrated book of poetry, My Eden Home, as her baby; the poems were written between 2003 and 2010, with most of the illustrations drawn during her freshman year at St. John’s. Her poetry addresses different themes, referencing literature and history as well as events from Welm’s childhood. In the introduction, Natasha Lasko describes My Eden Home as a “book about growth.” This sentiment becomes evident as the reader sees the progression Welm makes in her poems over the seven years in which they were written. Additionally, you’ve probably figured out by now that Ms. Welm is our illustrator of the Gadfly; you can also see her progression as an artist when comparing the illustrations of the book to her more recent Gadfly contributions. Ms. Welm is one of my dear friends, so I find My Eden Home particulary delightful because reading it feels like getting to know my friend from a completely different angle; it’s like I’m meeting the person who became the Sasha I know today. There’s no doubt that St. John’s changes people in certain ways (hopefully for the better, of course), and things like Welm’s book exemplify the growth and desire for it that St. John’s brings about. But the Program only instigates this growth if you help it along and dive into what you love. In her forward, Welm writes of the title, “While about a personal grief, My Eden Home is also about the happiness of the childhood from which we are all expelled at one time or another.” It’s lovely to me to think of who we were before St. John’s, what brought us here, and who we’ve become in the process. The story of My Eden Home serves as an example of that. We have all had our fair share of childlike blissful ignorance, as well as the stark and sad realities of life. It’s what we do with these experiences that make us who we are, that give us our stories. Welm’s story is a fascinating and heartfelt one. Besides serving as illustrator for the Gadfly and publishing this book, Welm works for the United States Naval Institute Press and has had internships with various publishing houses, including Princeton University Press. My Eden Home will be in our very own St. John’s bookstore by September 13 under the author name A.R. Welm, and is also available for online purchase through Alondra Press.! !"#$%!"#$%&%'"($")*"+%,- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 12 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 2 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-09-10 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 2 of The Gadfly. Published on September 10, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.02 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/96e66320f9734c6a057cc2729fde4538.pdf 0556beb0bec3a8b6bc30b2ffa320c017 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !"#$%&'(%)"(*+,(-&...%/%01 23&#"*%#-%4(5"6-,+-7%/%08 9:;<#"+-7%&'(%96*&("-%=<6**+>*%/%0?% @%A(**67(%B"#$%C$D67#<E+*+#-%/%F1 % !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$!,4"#$8:3$809;$.$2&+#$<<<2$.$5!!=,$0; photo by Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Illustrator Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Lucinda Dukes Edinberg Daniel Harrell John Himes Jerry Januszewski Shayna Jenkins Patricia Locke Micaela MacDougall Tim McClennen President Nelson Zeke Schumacher John Verdi !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",- J ohnnies: Many thanks to those who contributed to our previous issue on the Siegelvision “rebranding” effort. Much has transpired in the intervening weeks, and we are glad to publish here continued reflections on the project, including two from tutors. Of course, the seriousness of this effort must be countered by at least a little fun—so don’t miss the back page! We also commend your attention to the letter, at right, from President Nelson, on campus finances, and to the fact that this weekend, September 27-29, is Homecoming Weekend. Network, make friends, get nostalgic. We’re all Johnnies here. And to any alums who might stumble into our pages, welcome home! ! !"#$%&'(%)"(*+,(-&... President Christopher B. Nelson D SF’70 ear Members of the St. John’s College Polity, I am frequently asked how the College’s operations are financed and how the money is spent. As our financial model has changed considerably since the economy went into its downturn in the fall of 2008, it seems appropriate to address this question broadly to our community. What is the principal change in our model? The need for financial aid has climbed significantly in the last five years. This has caused us to rely more heavily on philanthropic support than ever before. As we are committed to making this education affordable for all who belong at the College, we have also committed ourselves to reducing costs and seeking alternative funding. This is how it looks today: The Annapolis campus has a budget of nearly $36 million, of which $10 million is used for financial aid to students. Of the remaining $26 million, less than half ($11 million) is funded by tuition actually paid by our students. Nearly $1.5 million comes from federal and state support of financial aid programs. About $4.5 million comes from auxiliary revenue (room, board, and revenue from the book store, print shop, and outreach programs for the community, all of which cover our costs of those operations). This leaves a balance of $8.7 million, roughly one-third of our operating revenue, that comes from gifts and gift income (i.e., distributions from our endowment —the College’s savings account). Most of those gifts come from grateful alumni who want to help St. John’s continue to offer the education that helped them make happy and fulfilling lives for themselves. So much for the sources of revenue. How is it spent? Eleven million dollars, more than 40 percent of the $26 million budget, is spent directly on instruction and academic support (tutors, the Dean’s, Assistant Dean’s and GI offices, laboratory, library and music library). Another $3.4 million is spent on student services (from the offices of Career Services, Student Services, Health Services, and athletics, to student clubs and the Admissions and Financial Aid offices). Nearly $6.4 million is spent on institutional support (the Business Office, Public Safety, personnel, Advancement, alumni relations, corporate and foundation relations, Communications, Information Technology, telephones, office services, and the President’s office). Less than $1.3 million is spent on debt service to pay down a relatively small amount of debt used to finance some of the building construction and renovation. The remaining $4 million supports our auxiliary expenses (dormitories, grounds, food service, book store, and print shop.) We are indeed fortunate that the College has the increased philanthropic support we need to maintain our class sizes, lively campus life, and financial aid program in these more demanding times. And this coming weekend, we welcome home our alumni who are most responsible for this gift of life to our College. Please join me in thanking them for all the good they do in the interest of our College and our students. Sincerely, Christopher B. Nelson President �The Gadfly 03 !""#$%&$'%()*+$,%-.*%/011*2*34*%5+66*2$% John Verdi A Tutor mid the discussion about the central activity in which we engage at St. John’s—talk about books or talk about ideas—we have forgotten our authors. Now, this might sound disingenuous. After all, how well do we get to know the authors in the first place? We pay little attention to the facts about their births and deaths. We know virtually nothing about their personal lives. (How many of them were married, for instance? What would you guess?) We eschew information about the places and times in which they lived and flourished. Aren’t their names merely ciphers, just a way to organize the books? We could replace their names with numbers. The author of the first seven seminar readings of freshman year could be number 1. Then “The Following Teachers Will Return” would introduce a list of numbers, determined no doubt after some debate. (For example, how many numbers should be assigned to the Bible?) But we don’t do this. We all sense that it is simply of the utmost importance that a book has an author, a person like us, who takes responsibility for what he or she writes, and tells us, person-to-person, “I think this is important.” That human voice compels us to take notice, makes us sleepless, thrills us. Whether the book be written on stone, paper, or my The heart of a liberiPad, what distinguishes it from “an idea” is that someal education as St. one wrote it. But, you obJohn’s understands ject, the books we read are it is not merely full of ideas. In class, don’t confronting great we talk about those ideas, ideas or eternal the ones that delight, enrage, puzzle, liberate us? questions naked. It Of course we do. The ideas is making contact we encounter in the books, with great minds. however, are not like apples on a tree, waiting for us to pluck, examine, and either consume or discard. They are more like the petals of a flower, which derive their beauty only from being a part of something greater. Ideas are more like musical tones or the colors of paint, charged with meaning while part of a melody or a painting, but thin and pale and deceptive when out alone. We should no more say that today, we discussed the idea of justice, than we would say that today we talked about F# or Van Gogh’s yellow. Because the books have authors, because people write them, books are wholes. They express the minds that created them. If we don’t celebrate the author over the idea, then we risk becoming one of those who view books as merely vehicles for something else, as if the Cheshire Cat were only a way to deliver a smile. The heart of a liberal education as St. John’s understands it is not merely confronting great ideas or eternal questions naked. It is making contact with great minds. It means discussing with our peers what those minds have expressed in their work. Our goal is not to appropriate the “value derived from the books,” but to understand the books as beacons of human “ possibility. We can only attempt that because the authors have names, not numbers. It is important that Dante wrote the Commedia and that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, even if we know scant little of their lives. All the authors have worked hard at making sense of things, for themselves and for others. Whether what they say makes sense to us, whether we can make it our own, even for two minutes—well, that is the question. That question never goes away. ! 7"6.038%7*9%:*2* Daniel Harrell I Tutor spent several hours on a lengthy and impartial summary, intended for the Gadfly, of the faculty forum with Claude Singer from Siegelvision two Fridays ago. Then I scrapped it. I scrapped it because nothing really happened. Singer made a presentation that not only included no current work on the project, even as he showed slides of mockups in passing to suggest otherwise; I’m told the slides gave little indication even of the direction of the current work. What we got instead were a recounting of Siegelvision’s recommendations about the College’s “message” to prospective students that any reader of the Gadfly a week before already knew; an assurance that the student survey results from the summer mockups supported those recommendations; and finally a series of exchanges between Singer and faculty members about his presentation as if it were what it wasn’t: a straightforward accounting of the project as it presently stands. What we got, again in a word, was nothing. About Singer’s presentation itself, its outdated relation to the current work notwithstanding, I can only say that there was nothing in it that our students have not already envisioned in jest, as a provocation to remain serious about who we are in this time of challenge. The April Fools’ issue of the Santa Fe Moon last year, for example, was devoted to a rebranding of the College, as was a 2012 Senior skit video in Annapolis. There was also nothing in the presentation that indicated any tension between the College’s interests in being known as uniquely suited for anyone who wants to learn, and Siegelvision’s interests in being known as an innovative branding agency. There was finally nothing in the presentation, especially when compared with the “Question the Rebranding” letter drafted by concerned students, to explain why the College has entrusted its rhetoric to the one rather than the other—unless persuasive speech were a matter of expertise rather than education, unless those we make free through education were incidental rather than essential to the endeavor, unless the College had lost a confidence in education—yes, liberal education—that its students still possess. I wish the conclusion of this project well, having nothing but contempt for the evident premises. ! �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%&'(%)*+(,*-(.%#/%0#+("-*&1 Mike Lacy A’12 A t my job in Nashville, TN, at a non-profit, I get to work cause of the “Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization.” with young men in the juvenile justice system. I’ve helped The first is the publication of Luther’s 95 Theses in 1522 (“On develop the program along with a former drug kingpin. To German Nihilism,” Strauss, 1941), and the other is the reinterother non-profits that want to learn from us, I use Homer to pretation of enlightenment with Descartes’ Method in 1637 explain the wounded warrior archetype that gang members (“Progress or Return?” Strauss, 1952). Strauss explains that manifest, crystallized in the character of Achilles 3200 years the problem is that these moments led to the belief that evago. So you might say I am not one of those Johnnies who be- eryone could learn “the method,” and this caused a “leveling” moans, “Our diploma is useless these days!” There is, however, of the greater faculties of the mind. Before this point, Strauss a certain mindset—one that it is very easy to hold when one claims, “the sciences and philosophies were the reserve of the graduates from St. John’s—that is useless. few.” They were only supposed to be studied by “those with Death is not a foreign concept to the young men with whom good natures,” who are now called “gifted.” They alone were I work. It is an immanent specter that, under the right circum- entitled to be made free men by use of books and scales. stances, lends gravity to every motion of their consciousness. In the days since Strauss’ great mentor Heidegger was the “Changing the way your mind works,” the former gang banger leading crest of philosophy, many wonderful minds emerged I work with often says, “will be the difference between life that we do not study at St. Johns, and many schools teach from and death.” In the face of constant gun violence and senseless exclusively those sources. There is a notion, which we regumurder, a genuine way out creates two possible outcomes. larly admit in casual conversation, but have difficulty articuThere is either an awakening of the dialating when we are trying to speak both prelectical yearning for psychical growth and an cisely and groundedly, that says those other I’m not saying that abandonment to the greater, less limited inschools are “doing it essentially wrong.” This St. John’s has to carnations of the Self that lie beyond, or else actually gets close to the heart of the matter. there is a bitter, wounded, Achilles-like resigThere are two St. John’s. One St. John’s, change its program. nation, which brings death down upon itself the Leo Strauss St. John’s, believes itself to But the claim that by choice (in an attempt to maintain control be uniquely special. This St. John’s believes: we are doing some- “We are categorically different. We, as Johneven at the expense of one’s very own life). thing ‘inherently I am eager to see which route is taken by St. nies, because of our education, are essentialdifferent’ from other ly different from other students.” Believing John’s as the specter of the College’s potential death visits our two campuses. schools is precisely ourselves to be privileged is being unadaptI personally believe there is good sense in able and incapable of integration, and that what is killing us. every suggestion made by the firm Siegelviwhich cannot integrate and adapt will die. sion. I believe the school should focus on The mysterious wave of time has crashed ideas rather than books. I think this is both good marketing upon the proud prophets who wrote the great books, and their and good philosophy. I do not think Siegelvision was speak- song has been warped in an Achilles-like whimper that watching from a post-foundationalist perspective when they made es modernity from the sideline, cursing the loss of his Briseis. this suggestion, but it is true to Scott Buchanan’s view of the Do not misunderstand me: the shape of the modern spirit is usefulness of books and liberal education. The New Program certainly not perfect, overly curious, or complete. Modernity’s founder said that he rarely finished books, and that the pur- Agamemnonish tyranny is sure to be lost to a successor, but pose of liberal education was to awaken the “never sleeping not even Achilles was brash enough to think that he was next intellect,” which can be stirred from its sleep in an infinite in line. variety of ways. Yet, from our founding, this view was chalAnd then there is the other St. John’s, which has another lenged by those like Jacob Klein, who saw the liberal arts as fate. This is the path we hope our juvenile delinquents choose, the means by which the torch of enlightenment was kept alive. the path of Odysseus. The impromptu philosopher who sufWell, which one is it? fers and endures, who learns from the people and cities he visLet me teach you one trick I’ve picked up—whether on the its, and whose deceptiveness turns out to merely be wiliness, campus of St. John’s or not, I can’t remember. Make the Great the indecision of the young Self about which costume it shall Minds into straw men. They won’t mind. They are very much wear. He is both Achilles and Agamemnon, and so much more. dead. Leo Strauss, the “he-who-must-not-be-named” of St. St. John’s can learn from “Integral Theory,” from the moveJohn’s, can be a very helpful straw man. He is, as a straw man, ment led by our contemporary Ken Wilber, which embraces the demigod of those who believe in the right of the privileged ancient wisdom and modern truths. It can learn from the early few over the leveled many. His essay “Progress or Return?” 20th century psychologist and sociologist James Mark Baldgets to the heart of St. John’s’ current dilemma, and no amount win, who demonstrated the universal patterns which the indiof bickering over Siegelvision’s rebranding strategies will get vidual and society follows, and the rank that all of us, beyond us any closer to this dialectically potent seed. Continued On Pg. 05 During his life, Strauss pointed to two moments as being the “ �The Gadfly Continued From 05 Pg. 04 exception, have of being equally part of the micro and the macro. These thinkers embraced “Integration,” a mode of being which Achilles did not live long enough for, which in education means a sublation of modernity and antiquity and a surrendering of imagined privilege for actual presence at a table of equals. I’m not saying that St. John’s has to change its program. But the claim that we are doing something “inherently different” from other schools is precisely what is killing us. Believing they are “invincible” is precisely what is killing the young men I work with. Only when we open ourselves to the other forces at work in the world, to the other spirits and Daseins with which we are entangled, can our spirit grow into those spaces. It is only when we are compared to other schools that our strengths can be seen. But—and this is what makes many of the wounded warriors I work with falter in their path towards choosing life—openness and vulnerability will reveal flaws which we would rather not see. The reason we should try to look at Great Minds as straw men is that once we try to flatten them, they spring right back. “Integration,” the openness to other ideas and other projects, was not foreign even to Leo Strauss. Though he once said that we shouldn’t study the Chinese because “we can’t learn every language,” he later changed his song. He spoke: “We can hope beyond technological world society, we can hope for a genuine world society, only if we become capable of learning from the East, especially from China.” ! !"#"$%&"$&'$&(#)*+&,)-.* Tim McClennen T A’14 here is a phrase—“the ivory tower”—and many phrases derived from it. It is (almost) never a phrase used self-referentially, but one used about someone other than the speaker, almost always pejoratively.  People accuse others of being “in an ivory tower,” or they accuse an idea of being “from an ivory tower.” They mean that a person (or idea) is disconnected from reality and obscures his (or its) meaning so that anyone who is not a cryptographic analyst or another intellectual will not be able to recognize how useless the he (or it) is. he image arrises from a medieval fortress, very good at keeping people out; specifically real people, who do real work, and are therefore actually important. The real people have been locked out, but they cluster around the gate, and beseech, pray, weep and beg for redress to their grievances. But not only are they not let in, the tower is so tall that the people inside of it, who all live at the top, could not even hear these real people if they wanted to—which they don’t. The thing about tall towers is that you can see a very long distance from them. They also have sally ports, where you can stick your head out if you are willing to climb Our tower can be down the long spiral staircase to do so. When called ivory, but it you stick your head out of that sally port, you ought not to be. Our can hear the grievance of the people. From the tower is made of patop you can see all of them, and the lands that they have journeyed across to get to the base per, cardboard, linen of your tower. and ink. The books, Perhaps the people are complaining about each upon the previfamine. But maybe from the top of your tower ous, lift us up. you can see the bumper crop that your neighbors are growing. Or maybe the famine is being caused by a blockage in the river, which you can see from the top of your tower. Seeing it, you can suggest to the petitioners at the base of the tower that they form a work party and go clear the river blockage. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” the characters enter an alabaster tower to turn away from the problems besetting the rest of the people, but those problems follow them into the tower. But a tower can also be used to coordinate an assault upon the sources of the problems, saving both the people below and the residents above. Our tower can be called ivory, but it ought not to be. Our tower is made of paper, cardboard, linen and ink. The books, each upon the previous, lift us up. As we climb that stack we can see farther and farther if we look out, or we can hear less and less if we look in. Let us consider the effect which Peo ascribes to looking in, and do the opposite. ! T “ !"#$%&#'&()#"*#+$,#-"%)./#0"11&2&3 ! John Himes, A’17 I ’ve been compelled to write to you by my questioning of the rebranding, and I’ve felt that my voice may be valuable to your search for understanding and portraying the “Johnnie” identity to the world. I went to the forum earlier today, and what really struck me most was the moment when we all raised our hands, affirming that we came here for the stack of books hanging over our beds, telling us that they would be our teachers in the coming years. Please don’t de-emphasize the books. Don’t accept the notion that they are an archaic form of expressing infor- mation; they are alive through us. I’ve only been here for a month or so, but I sincerely believe that the reason I feel so at home here is that same reason that convinced me I needed to come here: I walk out onto the Quad and see people reading. We are a college of books, and I firmly believe that you, as a soul dedicated to St. John’s, will understand the feeling I share with scores of my peers that no matter how you translate the language of our college, we must stay true to the books to which we are so loyal—the books that bring us together into one community of bookworms. �The Gadfly 06 The Politics of the Polity Constitution Zeke Schumacher A A’15 s you can no doubt tell from the byline just barely above be given that power by those who constituted that Constituthis sentence, my name is Zeke Schumacher. It’s pos- tion in the first place—that is, the Polity? sible you may not know me. It’s possible you may, even now, You see, the College Charter defines the Polity in this way: be confusing me with the new Zeke, who is a fine freshman “The Students of St. John’s College shall constitute the Stufellow also from California. (If there was a name on campus dent Polity of St. John’s College in Annapolis and in Santa Fe.” I was expecting to be repeated, it was certainly not “Zeke.”) [Article XII (2), Polity of St. John’s College]. And similarly, the It’s also possible you do, in fact, already know me, and have College Charter states that the “Student Polity in Annapolis… been awaiting with bated breath my next may establish for itself a government Sophistry column—though I strongly which is representative of all Polity While I applaud the Coun- members.” [Article XII (3), Polity of St. doubt this latter bit. cil for taking the initiative John’s College]. I wanted to introduce myself in as personal a fashion as can be afforded by The student Polity did not vote for to do something to correct print, because I am a representative of this constitution. It was not even repthe shortfalls of the previthe Polity, elected by 20-something of my resented by its representative governous constitution, they have ment: For once the constitution under peers, sitting on the Delegate Council. inadvertently set a danger- which that government was constituted You see, those 20-something people ous precedent of autocratic ceased to exist, how did it have power to who voted for me make me more legitimate as ruler of the Polity than the Polrule, and have threatened institute itself again under a new constiity Constitution. This statement is quite tution? It needed to be constituted once to make the Delegate bold, and I make it for the following reaagain by the Polity. Council even more deson: 17 people (on the Council) voted for Further, even if the Council, as “reptached from the Polity. the current Polity Constitution, and it beresentatives” of the Polity, voted to insticame Law. tute a new Constitution, how could they This was immediately preceded by the Council single- be representing the will of the Polity if only three students handedly voting to give itself the power to constitute a new showed up to discuss the constitution? Constitution. While I applaud the Council for taking the initiative to do I believe this to be fundamentally wrong. something to correct the shortfalls of the previous constituThe Delegate Council did its duty and studiously informed tion, they have inadvertently (here rises the terrible head of the Polity through community emails that the constitutional the Law of Unintended Consequence) set a dangerous precamendment process had begun, and gave the Polity the chance edent of autocratic rule, and have threatened to make the Delto come comment on two proposed amendments: One that re- egate Council even more detached from the Polity. quired a vote of the Polity to approve any new Constitution, This highlights a critical need for another topic of great imand one that required only a vote of the Council to approve a port for a following column: the Delegate Council must begin new Constitution. to engage the Polity at large in dialogue and in the events ocBecause only three people (total) showed up to any of three curring on campus that, in one way or another, affect us all. different discussion meetings, the Council interpreted the will To that end, I invite anyone and everyone on this Campus to of the Polity to be thus: No one cares about the Council, the approach me and ask me any questions they Constitution, or what we do; so as long as we are changing may have regarding the Counit for what we think to be better, let us act as cil, or anything else that goes on we will. around campus, and to tell me what Now, there are two fundamental probthey think about current College lems with this line of thinking: events. 1) Silence does not equal consent. I also call upon all St. John’s Just because the Polity did not students to examine themselves, respond to esoteric language of and this college, and ask what the Polamendments and constitutions (and ity means—what sort of involvement it a Delegate Council that remains an requires of us, and how we all afunknown entity in many ways) does fect each other insofar as we are not mean that the Council can do bound to this place and this Prowhatever it wants; and gram. And I strongly encourage 2) Can a body created by a all of us to begin to take an active role Constitution give itself the in our own government and direction, power to remove and replace for, as we have seen, if we do not act that constitution? Or must it for ourselves, others will act for us. ! “ �The Gadfly 07 !"#$%&'()*#+, Jerry Januszewski M Counselor y first alcoholic drink changed my life. It was the sum- when told how I annoyed people with my argument about the mer of my 14th year. merits of disco, and I didn’t even like disco. And yes, I was Our town held a festival every July called The Feast of St. mortified when I woke up on my friend’s sofa, having passed Anthony. It was not so much a religious event as a raucous car- out and pissed on it. And no, I didn’t like having to apologize nival, the kind where the normal rules of conduct are loosened. for my obnoxious behavior the day after some heavy drinking. At a booth I managed to knock down the milk cans with a But drinking was great, right? baseball, and the grown-up running the booth, a classmate’s Fast forward to age 21. I was at a bar with my drinking budfather, put a bottle of wine in my hands. Normally he would dies, eight of us. We were the best of friends and knew each never have given me alcohol, but this was The Feast, so even other well, or so I thought. There were three pitchers of beer though I shouldn’t have been surprised, I was startled to now on the table. As I refilled the cups around the table, the guy be the owner of this cool, mysterious bottle. I cradled it in my next to me, Harry, said no thanks. arm like a football and hurried through the crowd to find my “Not drinking tonight?” I asked. two close friends. “No, I never drink,” he said. After hacking through the cork with a I was surprised. “What do you mean pen knife, the three of us drank the whole you don’t drink?” I was amazed that I had bottle. A happy, rosy glow overtook me. “I don’t drink.” been out in bars and at “Ohhhh, I get it now,” I said to my friends. “Why not?” parties with Harry for “This is why people drink.” Until that mo“I don’t care for it,” he said. ment it had never entered my mind to I was amazed that I had been out in many months, and I never seek out alcohol. If you asked me what I bars and at parties with Harry for many knew he wasn’t drinking did for fun, I would have said going to the months, and I never knew he wasn’t right along with the rest drinking right along with the rest of us. beach, sports and reading. I didn’t know of us. Just because some- Just because someone at a social event such elevated emotions were available to one at a social event has has a cup in his hand, doesn’t mean he has me. This wasn’t merely an insight, but a discovery. a cup in his hand, doesn’t alcohol in the cup, I discovered. I was confused by the phenomenon of Ridicule is often a form of questioning, mean he has alcohol in drinking alcohol because it seemed mostly and so I poked fun at Harry at the time. the cup, I discovered. negative, making grown-ups I respected But secretly I admired him for being so act stupidly. I was embarrassed for them self-assured, for following his own star. when they drank. Stupid was the one thing I knew I didn’t The truth was, I didn’t feel comfortable with the way I drank, want to be. But now, having felt the buzz, I determined that the but I lacked the self-possession and wherewithal to follow my next chance I had to drink alcohol, I would do it. star, or even see it. That moment came about two years later, at age 16. A reYou may be expecting me to say how I eventually stopped cently graduated high school friend was able to sneak me into drinking and found a better way of life. I did find a better way a college bar. The drinking age was 18 then. He bought me a to manage my emotions, and that did involve “breaking up” beer and then left me alone as he went off to talk with other with alcohol, in a sense. But the road to honest examination people he knew. of myself —who I was, what I wanted, and why my life matI stood off to the side and surveyed this bar scene in wide- tered—was more complex than deciding I no longer wanted to eyed wonder. People were happy and having fun, Eric Clapton use drinking as a spiritual and social crutch. music was playing, and there were pretty girls everywhere. Did I now see that from the beginning I was on a path of disthat one just smile at me? This was awesome. I drank my beer covery, but for me that path led far beyond the primitive like water. Pretty soon my friend came by. and unmanly bounds of seeking to get “Hey JJ, you gotta nurse that beer along. “buzzed.” My path had to do, not only Don’t drink it fast.” He bought me another. with the large questions of truth, goodI felt manly, thinking I had found an essenness and beauty, but also with quotial ingredient for a life I would really love. tidian questions such as, “How can I The bar scene added a thrilling social dicomfortably interact with people and mension to the buzz. Whatever made me feel still be myself?” and “Why do I care so like an awkward outlier in life ceased to exist in much about what others think of me?” the festive drinking scene, as long as I drank. So I and simply, “What makes a good day?” sought it out whenever I could. Drinking became a hindrance to me, so I Even when people started reporting back to me merely chose to take alcohol out of the equaidiotic things that I had said or done the night before, tion as I sought answers to those compelI thought the drinking was worth it. Yes, I winced ling questions. ! “ �The Gadfly 08 !"#$#%&'(#%)%*##+, Patricia Locke A Tutor’s Account of the Eastern Classics Program Tutor Z huang-zi dreamt he was a butterfly.  When he awoke, he in the last semester after reading many Indian and Chinese could not tell: was he a man who dreamt he was a butter- philosophical/religious texts.   The last term revolves around fly? or was he a butterfly who dreamt he was a man? Japanese books, and Genji feels to me like a culminating I feel a bit fluttery myself, upon my return from three years work.  Here is the Shining Prince, emperor of Japan, irresistible in Santa Fe.  I went there, in part, to see what the Eastern Clas- to the ladies (or so he thinks).  This doorstop of a book follows sics program is all about.  If you are thinking about turning into his love life, within a highly aestheticized milieu that fully disa so-called Super Johnnie, here are some reflections on the ex- plays the effect of the Buddhist traditions on high culture.  The perience of doing the EC. first time I read this, I mourned the loss of hand-written letThe program is organized with a language tutorial, a set of ters.  When intending to write a letter in his exquisite calligrafive preceptorials, and a continuing seminar.  All EC students phy, Genji would select his stationery to reflect season, time of study either literary Chinese or Sanskrit, and put in consider- day, arc of the love affair, and sensibility of the lady.  Could we, able time on this endeavor.  Unlike the GI, where students take I thought, have some kind of stationery tray in our printers, so segments in different sequences, in the EC all students begin that we could print out meaningful emails on dove-gray cedartogether and take classes through three semesters.  This is a smoke scented paper?  But I digress.... tight-knit group, with roughly 20-30 students all told. Over one I also did preceptorials on Zhuang-zi, Confucius, Dogen,and third of the Santa Fe faculty has taught in the EC, so your tutors Chinese landscape painting.  Students have two elective preare a varied lot, some having lived in Asia for many years.  The ceptorials, and I imagine it must be as difficult to choose for queue for doing seminar is so long that I never did get to do the EC students as for the undergraduate juniors and seit.  Instead, I had the coveted preceptorial assignment, so I set niors.   For me, one of the highlights was a spring preceptoto work to read several of the books from the rial on early Buddhist sutras.   When we seminar list in slow motion.  Preceptorials in reached the Heart Sutra, which continues These very old texts, to be a very popular text, especially in the name and shape (eight week long classes on one book/topic), three of the five of them are Zen tradition, we set our table with a dualcarried across long mandatory for all EC students.   distances orally or in language manual.  On facing pages, we read Everyone reads the Mahabharata, an epic together the Sanskrit and Chinese versions a variety of media, so epic it is ten times longer than the Iliad line by line.  Students had enough language handed down careful- skills and vocabulary under their belts to and Odyssey put together.   It brags about ly, responsive to local read one side fairly well, and listened and itself that everything worth knowing is in there, and it devotes less than one paragraph inflection, are present asked questions of their classmates when to the conquering of Greece and Rome.  It is we turned to the other language.  It was so and fresh and starso shocking to think of Greece as an outpost revealing of the different capacities and emtlingly alive for us. of civilization.  I wanted to dwell in the MB, phases of Sanskrit and Chinese languages, and so followed up with an elective precepand the task drew us back to reflect on the torial on the chapter called the Bhagavad Gita.  This is a hal- contours of English.  These very old texts, carried across long lucinatory moment when the battle is suspended: our hero distances orally or in a variety of media, handed down caredebates whether it is morally right to use the weapon of mass fully, responsive to local inflection, are present and fresh and destruction held lightly in his hand—against his teachers and startlingly alive for us.   relatives facing him on the field.  His charioteer reveals himAll in all the Eastern Classics was a fabulous experience self to be Krishna, a god in full glory, and the protagonist now for me, and brought me back to Annapolis thinking through makes his choice within a deeper understanding of the cosmic what kind of questions I now want to ask.   I feel a bit like a context.  How can you top this? butterfly, just out of the chrysalis, waving my wings slowly as Perhaps with Sima Qian’s history of the wars shaping na- they dry.  Or perhaps like a woman just waking up, rubbing my scent China?  It reminds me a bit of Thucydides, yet Sima Qian eyes as the room comes into focus.  Where am I?  What time is does not organize the material into a chronological sweep.  We it?   Who am I?   follow one side, one character for a while, convinced that the If you think the EC might be right for you, now or after a few enemy is despicable.  Turn the page.  Now we hear about the years sojourn in the wider world, get in touch with David Carl. battles from the other person’s point of view; how could we As director of the EC, he can sketch out the financial support have been so hasty in judgement? Beyond the biographies of designed for graduates of the College, as well as other practical heroes and villains, who often are quite complex when infor- details. Choose the Eastern Classics, if you do, not as a default mation coming from several directions is knit together, I was for not having planned your next step, but because you anticistruck by the importance of geography.   The land itself, and pate beginning again to wonder about what makes us human, particularly the rivers, have key roles to play in turning events. what kind of world we live in, and how we treat each other in The third mandatory preceptorial is The Tale of Genji, taken our families and wider community. ! “ �The Gadfly 09 !"#$%&'$(#")*&!"#$%&'(#")%"*%*(+%,-*'(+$$%."$$+#/ Lucinda Dukes Edinberg W elcome, freshmen and returning Johnnies! For those of you who have never been in the Mitchell Gallery, consider this the written invitation. The Mitchell Gallery has opened its 24th exhibition season with the exhibition “Karl Schrag: Memories and Premonitions,” and remains on view through October 16. I confess, Mr. Schrag, a German-American artist (19121995), was not a household name in my art history. And it is my loss to have been unaware of his talent. Schrag, like many behind-the-scenes artists, did not have the big self-promotion star power of the artists with whom he collaborated, such as Joan Miró and Jackson Pollock. After having studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva and the Académie Ranson in Paris, Schrag’s first solo exhibition in Brussels launched a promising successful career. Due to the political turmoil in Europe, this success was brief, and Schrag moved to New York City to began printmaking at the Art Students League. In 1945, Schrag became the director of the world-renowned printmaking workshop, Atelier 17. This experimental workshop, founded in Paris by Stanley William Hayter, had been re-located to New York City and was a place for collaboration by artists from all over the world, including Calder, ChaSchrag’s primary gall, Picasso, Rothko, and othmuse was naers. Printmaking, which had been relegated to mass reproture; this subject duction technology for books, is depicted in newspapers, and advertising representational media in the 19th century and ways—abstractearly 20th century, was once ed and definable, again recognized as an artistic creative medium through the but also elusive. efforts of this and other important ateliers. So what makes this artist distinctive and worth showing in the Mitchell Gallery? Schrag’s primary muse was nature; this subject is depicted in representational ways—abstracted and definable, but also elusive. Schrag felt that the artist’s soul is inextricably linked with nature, and that link, when realized, is the work of art itself. Aggressive lines in bold colors, and play on light, suggest the influences of Matisse and Van Gogh. (This is certainly an understandable connection, since Schrag would have been in mid-career when Matisse died in 1952.) Schrag’s creativity is fortified by his experimental but masterful technique in etching, engraving, and lithography. The mechanics of his work are often at the forefront of discussion and are, admittedly, difficult to ignore. Schrag abhorred the discussion of technique; he would not have the creativity of the work overshadowed by the technical process. Schrag’s artistry in paintings, prints, and drawings is recognized among the major museums, and his works are included in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian American Art, and other institutions and private collections. The collection of 44 works on view in the gallery is on loan from the Syracuse University “ Art Collection and contains landscapes and portraits in prints, paintings and sketches. Visiting an art gallery is more than a passive activity, so here are two suggestions for a visit: 1) Although the Art Society will be hosting an event with this exhibition, come see for yourself. Get inspired by Schrag’s sketchbooks! We have one sketchbook and another on a touchscreen. (Aren’t you freshmen sketching magnolia leaves and other subjects?) 2) Participate in a seminar with Mr. Townsend and Ms. Ebby Malmgren (AGI’88) on October 8th. (Free, of course, but you need to register to save your place, as this fills quickly!) See you in the gallery! ! '+#(,&-+.$ Shayna Jenkins B A’15 efore I left for college, my cousin told me that the next time I came home, I would feel weird, because everything would still be the same, but I would be different. My blue comforter, my messy desk with years of issues of Seventeen and Cosmopolitan strewn around it, my little black nunny, my mother’s warm and inviting arms, the loud commanding voice of my best friend—all these, she told me, would be the same, but I would have changed. There is something Ptolemaic about this understanding of the movement of life, that all these bodies and lives would remain stagnant while I grew; I would come to measure the world through my own steps, rather than see it in concordance with those around me. This seemed wrong, almost self-involved, but who was I to disagree with her four years at the University of Maryland? So I believed my cousin. This might have had something to do with the fact that she had long hair and a cute boyfriend who seemed nice, but there was also something else attractive about the idea. I wanted to know that everything would be frozen the way I left it. I wanted to know that my little sister would never start flirting with boys and that my dogs would always be able to amble up the stairs with the dexterity of an 11-year-old boy forever. I wanted to be able to come home and adapt myself to the world that I knew I fit into, since I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to fit into the crevice that was waiting for me to slip myself into at St. John’s. But to be honest, both possibilities scared the shit out of me. I wanted to find a home at St. John’s, I wanted to find a family in the friends I would make there, and I wanted to be able to keep myself warm and comfort myself with the safe and happy relationships I would become a part of here. I wanted to replace my blue comforter with something less tangible, something that I did not fold up when I was done with it, something that didn’t tear and get Continued On Pg. 10 �The Gadfly 10 Continued From Pg. 09 stained if I dropped a ripe strawberry on There’ll be a constant, a blue blanket or a am is given a story—very much depends it. However, simultaneously, I wanted decade-old issue of American Girl maga- on where I am. to be able to hold my high school boy- zine lying around to make you think that So does all this mean that what my friend’s hand with the same tenderness everything is the same, until you try to cousin said is true? That when I got back that I had during our interact as your- from college everything was different, post-prom celebraself outside of the that I had changed while everyone else Sure, we all change. tions, and I wanted We all grow, adapt, and context of the past. had stayed the same? Yes, I have grown my mother’s homeYou’ll try to bring the and changed considerably during colhold onto new beliefs made cookies to renew in with the old, lege thus far, but this has also happened that propel us forward. and then you’ll real- to everyone I know. We have all been main as delicious as they had always ize that something forced to re-evaluate who we are based But it’s not a measurbeen. And my cousin able process. It’s subtle; changed. Something on how each of our environments tested made these wishes in a conversation is us and caused us to question ourselves. the change wiggles sound irreconcilable. that crooked picI guess that when we grow up, it’s not itself into our lives, and ture on the wall: no that we fail to connect or understand I was going to have to before we realize it, choose between the matter how many each other, and it’s not that we change freedom of my newtimes you push it so so much that who we were is consumed nothing is the same. found friends and the it hangs straight, it by who we are—it’s more that different raw love of my mother’s chewy molasses always hangs at that awkward angle that things become important in terms of cookies. makes you uncomfortable when you be- who we are. The fact that you can see my But after being home again for an- come aware of it. bra in every shirt or dress I wear, though other summer on my pink sheets, lying I noticed this over the summer while still true, is no longer an essential part in bed listening to my neighbors brush enjoying some mediocre sushi at a lo- of my identity and understanding who I their teeth and watch reruns of Saturday cal Japanese restaurant with a friend am. Who I was has not disappeared as Night Live on a Wednesday night, I can of mine from high school. While we time has changed, rather the aspects of I still feel the light summer breeze dance caught up over raw fish and seaweed, am have shifted as they form a different across my cheeks as an 18-wheeler bar- I couldn’t help but notice that the con- completed puzzle. rels down the road on the way to Price versation lagged; it got stuck on points I grew up with five best friends. We all Chopper, or wherever it is that giant that we would have seamlessly passed have light-colored hair, and we’re all gotrucks of bananas go. And in remem- over on the drive home from school in ing separate paths. Some of us know who bering all this, it strikes me that maybe years past. We tried to make conversa- we are and what we want to do. Some of nothing ever changes. I mean, of course tion over topics that us know what we things change, because all of a sudden were irrelevant to want to wear toYes, I have grown and I’ve stopped complaining about that ter- the story of our life, morrow and what changed considerably rible haircut I got (meaning that it has as if we were unwe’re doing next finally grown out), and my sister has able to understand week. But there’s during college thus far, stopped asking me to turn down my mu- the important parts something we all but this has also hapsic (meaning that she now listens to Bon of the story, so we know: each other. I pened to everyone I Iver at the same irrational volume). So latched onto whatstill connect to my know. We have all been things do change—maybe not so that I ever seemed graspbest friends, who forced to re-evaluate who recognized all the can hold up a yard stick to them and say able. We were failthat my best friend is now at least eight ing to notice the pieces of me—still we are based on how steps closer to being a making-her-own- other person over each of our environments present, just reardinner-that’s-not-Ramen adult, that my the din of the story, ranged—and I still tested us and caused us ex-boyfriend is four steps closer to being the noise of trying to connect to them, to question ourselves. an “I-can-buy-gas-without-complain- make conversation too. We remain ing-about-the-price” adult, and that I’m over something that close, even as one three and a half steps closer to being a lacked a background, an understand- of us becomes a nurse, one an engineer, terrible-driver-with-awful-taste-in-mu- ing, or, to be honest, an interest. I guess one a neuroscientest, one a traveler with sic adult. But things change, and in a way we’d both changed too much. Our lives a path still to be discovered, and one a that has an independence about it. had drifted apart. We had each adapt- wandering writer. So, yes, my cousin Sure, we all change. We all grow, ed around a different life; we had each was right. I came home changed, and it adapt, and hold onto new beliefs that come to fit ourselves into the different felt like everything else had stayed the propel us forward. But it’s not a mea- molds that college had shaped us into. same. But she was wrong to say that this surable process. It’s subtle; the change As much as I am and always have been would prevent me from ever finding a wiggles itself into our lives, and be- myself, the way in which I am who I am home in the past while still living in the fore we realize it, nothing is the same. is projected—the context in which who I present. ! “ “ �The Gadfly Ian Tuttle T 11 A’14 hat the guilt of Alger Hiss remains a “controversy” is sure at great personal risk, unmasked him: Whittaker Chambers. proof that, in Faulkner’s words, “The past is never dead. Chambers chronicled his “impossible return” from the ComIt’s not even past.” munist underground in his autobiography, Witness, surely Hiss was the all-too-likely subject of a recent conversation one of the great books of the 20th century. between Karen Finney, a former communications chief for the In it he explains the Finney Phenomenon: Democratic National Committee and former press secretary Thus men who sincerely abhorred the word Communism, in for Hillary Clinton, and Hugh Hewitt, a conservative talkthe pursuit of common ends found that they were unable to show host, on Hewitt’s national radio program. When Finney distinguish Communists from themselves, except that it was compared current Texas senator Ted Cruz to 1950s-era Wisjust the Communists who were likely to be most forthright consin senator Joseph McCarthy (whence “McCarthyism”), and most dedicated in the common cause. . . . Any charge of Hewitt challenged her on the comparison. The conversation Communism enraged them precisely because they could not eventually turned to Hiss. “Was Alger Hiss a Communist?” grasp the differences between themselves and those against Hewitt asked. Finney refused to answer. Hewitt asked again, whom it was made. Finney refused again. Several more minutes of that, then Modern liberalism (as distinct from classical liberalism, the Finney abruptly hung up. The correct answer, if you’re wondering, is yes. Alger Hiss, province of many of the American Founders) is predicated on an assistant to Assistant Secretary of State Francis Sayre dur- the notion that human nature is infinitely malleable and, in ing the Franklin Roosevelt administration; executive sec- the end—if you have enough government programs, social jusretary of the Dubarton Oaks Conference, which formulated tice organizations, and Peace Corps volunteers—perfectible. the United Nations; and part of the United States’ delega- Chambers’ point is this: It shares that delusion with Communism, socialism, and fascism. Each springs tion at the Yalta Conference, where Roosfrom the same diseased philosophical root evelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in alliance Modern liberalism is and reaches toward the same unattainable against the Nazi war machine, was also a predicated on the noend, and the extent to which their means Soviet agent who used his positions and differ is frequently one of degree, not of tion that human nature connections within the U.S. government to kind. We can see the commensurability of traffic sensitive information and shape U.S. is infinitely malleable these regimes today in the cultish devopolicy to the benefit of the Soviet Union. and, in the end—if you tion to the Castro brothers, Hugo Chavez, But 65 years on, some refuse to acknowlhave enough government and Che Guevara. edge the overwhelming evidence against programs, social justice None of this is to give credence to bumhim. They insist on what columnist George organizations, and Peace per stickers with President Obama’s face Will has called “one of the long-running accompanied by the hammer and sickle. lies of modern American history.” Corps volunteers—perThe United States is not a Communist reAlas, Karen Finney’s refusal to acknowlfectible. gime, nor a fascist one; we know because edge that Alger Hiss was a Communist we can hear the stories of people who sufspy—let alone a Soviet agent with a direct hand in crafting American policy during World War II and fered, or continue to suffer, under such regimes—Mao’s Chithe crucial early Cold War years—is no surprise. During the na, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, the Castros’ Cuba. But the animating Cold War Left-leaning intellectuals, ignoring the horrors of forces of modern liberalism and history’s most oppressive the Russian Revolution, Stalin’s purges, and more, touted ideologies are not so dissimilar. The belief that human nature Communism as the wave of the future, and Left-leaning poli- is a thing open to molding, mashing, or creating anew—that cies assisted its aggressive expansion. Joe McCarthy, by con- human nature is, effectively, no thing at all—permits a bit of, trast, is a more congenial memory: an alcoholic Republican in National Review founder William F. Buckley, Jr.’s phrase, senator who launched an “inquisition” to prove a baseless “immanentizing the eschaton”: Partisans of the Left, wheth“conspiracy theory”—hundreds of Communist operatives se- er DNC officials like Karen Finney, or revolutionaries like Vladimir Lenin, believe we can create a new Eden—provided cretly working against the United States, from within. Of course, there is the inconvenient truth that McCarthy enough poking and prodding. The difference between rewas, by and large, right (for confirmation, try M. Stanton Ev- gimes is the extent to which they are willing to poke. The moral vision of Chambers, and many like him, was to ans’ meticulously documented study of McCarthy, Blacklisted by History). This makes Hiss a problem: Acknowledge he’s a articulate for our age forgotten but ancient truths: that man is spy and you might have to admit that McCarthy—or, worse, fallen, that he cannot be molded to fit preconceived designs, Richard Nixon, who rose to national prominence doggedly that he must be dealt with as he is, warts and all. A politics pursuing Communist infiltration—was onto something. That that does not recognize these facts will aim for the impossible—and in doing so will disenfranchise, disillusion, or worse. would tend to blunt the attack on Ted Cruz. If Karen Finney and her ilk have a tough time labeling AlBut there is more at stake than holding onto an effective rhetorical bludgeon. One cannot—or perhaps should not— ger Hiss a Communist, it might be because he looks rather mention Alger Hiss without acknowledging the man who, like the person in the mirror.! “ �The Gadfly 12 !"#$%&'() *+*',- !"#$%#&'(!")$'!**&+& Tuesday 9/24 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Wednesday 9/25 Ultimate Frisbee W v H, 2:45 PM G v D, 4 PM St. John’s Chorus, Great Hall 7 PM Friday 9/27 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Lecture: “Knowing and Ground: A Reading of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit” by Mr. Matthew Linck FSK Auditorium 8 PM *Homecoming Weekend* Saturday 9/28 Ultimate Frisbee G v W, 1 PM S v D, 2:30 PM Sunday 9/29 Soccer G v H, 1 PM S v D, 2:45 PM If you would like to see your event on the weekly schedule, please email sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. Sméagolvision’s 4 Points of Rebranding Micaela MacDougall A’14 1. Celebrate the value of two competing personalities. Communicate as one college in complete fixation on one object, and as two disparate, constantly conflicting campuses—Stinking and Slinking—for agonized students to waver between. One program, two discordant settings. 2. Infuse communication with perseverative phraseology. Infuse communications with a psychotic, obsessive personality and the passion to search for today’s precious. 3. Articulate relevance for enslavement to the precious. Identify characteristics prized by orcs, Nazgûl, and lords of all dark wastelands, and forge the links with a St. John’s education—first via marketing and then in programs coordinated with Shelob the Great. 4. Clarify the craving: Move from the why to the “Mine!” As Founder Sméagol passionately said: “Because it’s my birthday, my love, and I wants it!” Remember the strongest answer to the question, “Why invest in a St. John’s education?”: “Because I wants it!” Use this as a foundation and inspiration for all communications. !"#$%!"#$%&%'($)*"+%,- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 12 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 3 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-09-24 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 3 of The Gadfly. Published on September 24, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.03 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8cb9ddaf7255007f14a43fbf195d14c6.pdf 1d0ad450fd592faf1dfc0f7ed257e584 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !!"#!$%&'(!"#'()*(+,!-!./ 0#12!34!5&36347!-!.8 9%(!:;()(462!#<!=#'(!-!.> 9%(!5&6?%)&4@2!A(B#+6!-!.C ! !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$&*"#$8;3$809<$.$2&+#$===2$.$5!!>,$0? photo by Stephanie Morgan photo by Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. The next Gadfly meeting will take place Sunday, November 10, at 7 PM in Room 109 on the first lower level of the BarrBuchanan Center. !"#$%&%'(&")*% +,-%.(&/01(22%!1#"3* Have you always wanted to be recognized for the awesomeness of your facial hair? Now is your chance. The Gadfly will be holding a No Shave November competition, open to all members of the Polity. Participants should email sjca.gadfly@gmail.com with a camera photograph (no cell phone pics, please) of their baby-smooth faces as of November 1. At the end of the month, please send us another! Entrants must be clean-shaven on November first in order to qualify for the competition. Once we have end-of-month photos in, we will post the results on our Facebook page and open the competition to a Polity vote. We will publish the results in our final issue of the semester. In addition to eternal glory, the winner will receive a free straight-edge shave, courtesy of the Capistrano Barbershop on Maryland Avenue. Articles should be submitted by Friday, November 8, at 11:59 PM to sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Illustrator Will Brown • Staff Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Mike Lacy Tim McClennen Jezebel St. John !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",-%./*012%3456 Johnnies— Welcome back to the pages of the Gadfly. We hope you have been enjoying this semester’s contributions. We have sought—and achieved, we hope—a mix of pieces that challenge, inform, and amuse. But thinking about this semester (more than halfway through!) brings to mind the next one, and we feel that it is time for we, the Gadfly editors, to relinquish the reins: the two senior editors and Mr. Pendergrass, our layout editor, will be resigning from the Gadfly at the end of the current semester. It has been our privilege and pleasure to work on the Gadfly as editors and regular contributors for more than two years, but with senior essays and graduate school and job applications ahead (and, we admit, the desire for at least a bit of senior year relaxation), it is time for us to lay aside the graphic design software. Like previous years’ outgoing editors, it is our hope that the Gadfly will continue under new leadership— but, alas, we must report that our production staff has dwindled, and while our current assistant editors have stepped up to learn the ropes, they will not be able to keep the Gadfly printing on their own. It is a long process that requires helping hands from a variety of corners. Conversations at this College do not take place just on the Quad, in class, and around the dinner table; they also take place in these pages, and we have been proud to facilitate a forum in which all members of the Polity have a chance to further those conversations begun elsewhere. We hope that this can continue next semester, and for years to come. * As a reminder, the next issue of the Gadfly will be out November 10. All submissions are due by Friday, November 8, at 11:59pm to sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. ! �The Gadfly 03 Gods in Waiting Mike Lacy I A’12 Editor’s Note: The following is in response to Mr. Papadopoulos’s reply in the October 15 issue of the Gadfly to Mr. Lacy’s initial article, which appeared on September 24. saw a movie recently—apparently based on a book, called a good friend of mine about what “liberal education” is. Leo Anna Karenina—and it had a line of dialogue that speaks Strauss told me in 1959 that liberal education is “[e]ducation to to Mr. Papadopoulos’s reply to my September piece. The line perfect gentlemanship, to human excellence, liberal education goes: “You are on the wrong side of history. Privilege is wrong, consists in reminding oneself of human excellence, of human not because it is immoral, but because it is irrational.” greatness.” Yo, there’s that word “greatness” Mr. P was using! My intent was to expose the ideology and biases of the Col- So how do the liberal arts get me that? Uncle Leo continues: lege that are taken for granted, which is precisely what Mr. “Philosophy is [the] quest for wisdom or quest for knowlPapadopoulos was trying to do with my edge regarding the most important, the article! What might differ between Mr. highest, or the most comprehensive inevitably your mind will P and I is that, while I believe ideologies things; such knowledge, [Plato] sugare limiting, I also think they are almost realize that being “God” or a gested, is virtue and is happiness.” Cool inescapable, and no amount of reading beans! Now how do I get it? That’s philosopher king gives you or intellectualism can get you past them. where L.S. gets depressing. no special privileges, for we I say “almost inescapable” because I ac“But wisdom is inaccessible to man,” are all God or philosopher tually believe there is a process for overhe informs us, “and hence virtue and kings, if only just in potential. happiness will always be imperfect. In coming the blinders of our worldviews that would lead to, as Mr. P calls it, “inspite of this, the philosopher, who, as tellectual liberty and ennoblement of such, is not simply wise, is declared to the soul.” Is liberal education, as St. John’s facilitates it, the be the only true king; he is declared to possess all the excelonly and/or best way to get that? lences of which man’s mind is capable, to the highest degree. In my article I clarified that I actually do not worship the From this we must draw the conclusion that we cannot be phi“golden calf” (his words) of modern ethics: “Do not misun- losophers—that we cannot acquire the highest form of educaderstand me,” but, alas, he did misunderstand me: “the shape tion.” What? Why’d I spend that $200k then? of the modern spirit is certainly not perfect, overly curious, I’ll contrast this definition of the liberal arts to that of Scott or complete. Modernity’s Agamemnonish tyranny is sure to be Buchanan, who said that its purpose was to awaken, in all of lost to a successor, but not even Achilles was brash enough to us, the “never sleeping intellect.” Strauss’s definition is the think that he was next in line.” I used the phrase “Agamem- one I’m complaining about, not Buchanan’s. Both exist at St. nonish tyranny” to describe modern ethics for precisely the John’s (and perhaps they are both necessary). Strauss’s definireasons Mr. P critiqued what he believes is my ideology: be- tion flourishes in a worldview that unknowingly accepts oncause it stifles greatness. But I held up Odysseus as the poten- tological dualism. Wisdom is not accessible to man, but it is to tial model for St. John’s, as well as for the gang members with the true philosopher, which means he is no longer a man. This whom I work, to follow if they desire that same “intellectual is a difference in kind, Strauss tells us, not degree. This is the liberty and ennoblement of the soul.” metaphysics of privilege in education, that it changes the esMr. P also critiqued me for not giving a metric by which I sence of man into something like God, and it can only do this said that St. John’s students should “check their privilege,” nor for a select few. The problem with the Enlightenment, Strauss did I state why we should stop believing we are doing some- says, likely the “historical shift” to which Mr. P alluded, is that thing “inherently different than other schools.” Well, let’s use it teaches that education can be universal instead of being rehis own suggestion as a guide: “Is St. John’s better at fostering served for “those with good natures” (“Progress or Return?”, intellectual liberty and the ennoblement of the soul than other 1952). schools?” Now, if I believe this is wrong, how do I refute it by rational But stop for a moment. What the hell is “intellectual liberty argument? How do I refute that souls are essentially differand the ennoblement of the soul”? They’re the ingredients of ent by creation and deserve exclusive privileges? Well, firstly, “greatness,” and “greatness,” apparently, is something moder- not even Plato thought souls were different by creation. The nity hates. Intellectual liberty, we can assume, is something unbearable truth behind the noble lie was that souls are actulike Kant’s definition of “enlightenment”: “man’s emergence ally the same (but for social stability we pretend that they are from his self-imposed immaturity,” and “immaturity is the in- different). But, secondly, I do very much believe that people ability to use one’s understanding without guidance from an- can attain Intellectual Liberty and Ennoblement of the Soul, other.” Is St. John’s the best at delivering that? I’ll be honest, and for that reason I have gone to some lengths to find those I don’t have the energy to make a SurveyMonkey form right people. now to send to every undergrad in the country to see how enI have accepted Mata Amritanandamayi Devi or “Amma” lightened they are. So I don’t have the statistics in front of me, (Google her, y’all) as my guru in this endeavor, a person who but we can ask whether it is even the intent of our College. is considered by many of her followers to be a perfect incarnaNow, schools don’t actually have intents. St. John’s is really tion of God on earth, an “avaPg. 05 just a bunch of bricks and cigarette butts, but I will defer to tar.” And what did this avatar Continued On “ �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%&#'#()*$+,$-+.# or “How Euclid’s Elements is Not Like a Novel, Whatever Certain Well-Meaning People May Tell You to the Contrary” by U. Clidde Transliterated from the Geometric by Jezebel St. John Book One, Chapter Five In love triangles, the entanglements at the base of the stairway love equally to one another, and, if the equal romances be produced further, the entanglements under the base of the stairway (there is a sort of closet there) will love equally to one another. (Note: For ease of pastiche, it is here pretended that loving is a transitive property.) Let Mr. Arbuthnot, Mrs. Bellairs, and Miss Cleves be in a love triangle in which the love between Arbuthnot and Bellairs is equal to the love between this same Arbuthnot and Miss Cleves; and let romances between Mrs. Bellairs and a certain Mr. Dauphin, and between Miss Cleves and a Mr. Euphemious, spring up in just the same way as did the romances of Arbuthnot and Bellairs and of Arbuthnot and Cleves. [cf. Preface, line 2] I say, old chap, that the entanglement between Arbuthnot, Bellairs, and Cleves is equally as loving as is the entanglement between Arbuthnot, Cleves, and Bellairs, and the entanglement between Cleves, Bellairs, and Dauphin to the entanglement between Bellairs, Cleves, and Euphemious. Let’s say a Miss Fanny is taken at random by Mssrs. Bellairs and Dauphin; Cleves and Euphemious behave in just the same manner to a Miss Gertrude [the careful reader will recognize such goings-on from Chapter Three]; and let’s say Fanny and Cleves, and Gertrude and Bellairs, are joined. [cf. Preface, line 1] Then, since Arbuthnot is fascinated by Fanny in the same measure that he is with Gertrude, and as he finds Bellairs and Cleves to have equal holds on his heart, the romances between Fanny and Arbuthnot and between Arbuthnot and Cleves are equally as loving as are the romances between Gertrude and Arbuthnot and between Arbuthnot and Bellairs, respectively; and they contain a common entanglement, that of Fanny, Arbuthnot, and Gertrude. Therefore the base (though not at all vulgar) romance between Fanny and Cleves is equal as loving as is the base (though truly high-minded) entanglement between Gertrude and Bellairs, and the love triangle between Arbuthnot, Fanny, and Cleves is equally as passionate as is the love triangle between Arbuthnot, Gertrude, and Bellairs, and the remaining entanglements will be equal to the remaining entanglements, respectively, namely those which the equal romances observe from across the ballroom, that is, the entanglement of Arbuthnot, Cleves, and Fanny to the entanglement of Arbuthnot, Bellairs, and Gertrude, and (to view things from another angle), the entanglement of Arbuthnot, Fanny, and Cleves to the entanglement of Arbuthnot, Gertrude, and Bellairs. [as in Chapter 4] And, since the whole romance of Arbuthnot and Fanny is equally as loving as is the whole romance of Arbuthnot and Gertrude, and in the same antechamber the romance of Arbuthnot and Bellairs is equally as loving as is the romance of Arbuthnot and Cleves, the remaining liaison between Bellairs and Fanny is as ardent as is that between Cleves and Gertrude. But Fanny’s love for Cleves was also proved equal to that of Gertrude’s for Bellairs; therefore the two couples Bellairs and Fanny and Fanny and Cleves love equally to the two couples Cleves and Gertrude and Gertrude and Bellairs, respectively; and the entanglement of Bellairs, Fanny, and Cleves is of an equal besottment as is the entanglement of Cleves, Gertrude, and Bellairs, Continued On Pg. 05 �The Gadfly 05 Continued From Pg. 04 while the base (but hardly sordid) relations of Bellairs and Cleves are common to them; therefore the love triangle of Bellairs, Fanny and Cleves contains the same amount of love as does the love triangle of Cleves, Gertrude, and Bellairs, and the remaining entanglements will be equal to the remaining entanglements respectively, namely those which the equal unions observe from across the ballroom; therefore the entanglement of Fanny, Bellairs and Cleves is equally as loving as is the entanglement of Gertrude, Cleves, and Bellairs, and the entanglement between Bellairs, Cleves, and Fanny to the entanglement between Cleves, Bellairs, and Gertrude. Accordingly, since the whole entanglement of Arbuthnot, Bellairs, and Gertrude was proved equally loving to the entanglement of Arbuthnot, Cleves, and Fanny, and in these the entanglement of Cleves, Bellairs, and Gertrude is equally as loving as is the entanglement of Bellairs, Cleves, and Fanny, the remaining entanglement of Arbuthnot, Bellairs, and Cleves is equally as loving as is the remaining entanglement of Arbuthnot, Cleves, and Bellairs; and they are at the base of the stairway. But the entanglement of Fanny, Bellairs, and Cleves was also proved to be equally as loving as the entanglement between Gertrude, Cleves and Bellairs; and they are in the closet beneath the base of the stairway. Therefore, etc. Q(uite). E(ducational,). D(ontchathink?). Continued From Pg. 03 tell me? She said: “Whatever you feel I am giving to you, be it enlightenment or peace or wisdom or strength, know that truly you are giving it to yourself. I am merely the vessel for your enlightenment of yourself.” In seeking authors who are more intellectually liberated than those I read at St. John’s, I have been very impressed by Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, but even more so by the Indian Swami Vivekananda, who I believe was one of the greatest and least ideological intellects to ever live, second only perhaps to his master Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who “solved” every problem of metaphysics without ever learning to read, and whose teachings inspired Gandhi to free India. And, of course, there is the contemporary American Ken Wilber, who may demonstrate the very pinnacle of intellect, and is likely the type of mind Strauss was alluding to—one that “possesses all the excellences of which man’s mind is capable, to the highest degree.” If you want to speak of hierarchy, if you want to speak of ennoblement and intellectual liberty, minds like the ones I mentioned are who you want to speak to—but none of them believe privilege holds any water (and neither did Plato, if we can bear that truth). Authors like Kant and Strauss and Heidegger will show themselves to be mere dwarfs grasping at wisps of ethereal power compared to the Indians I mentioned. If you’re into elitism, go East; there are men who claim that they are God, and they just might convince you. But inevitably your mind will realize that being “God” or a philosopher king gives you no special privileges, for we are all God or philosopher kings, if only just in potential. And then your mind, which has been buzzing so incessantly, and doing such unusual things that you must be quite special, gets quiet.... In that the liberal arts encourage people to realize their abiding, ever-present, never-sleeping philosopher kingliness, it is an excellent education amongst the ranks of all other forms of enlightenment—but they all point to the same goal. Maybe St. John’s is better at it than every other school in the world, but we would have to send that SurveyMonkey form out to see. ! �The Gadfly 06 ! "#$$$% &'(") & * ' +$$$,#-./' Tim McClennen A’14 A democratic-capitalist society is still a polity, which is characterized by the population being stable even when people disagree with the decisions of the here is no political theory which is based on self-suffi- leadership of the society. In contrast, a mob is not a polity. A mob always acts with ciency or individualism. perfect unanimity of its members: if any member disagrees Let’s start with some definitions. A polity is a group of people who live together and organize with the common endeavor that the mob is engaging in, he themselves according to some system, which may be overt or leaves. There is no need for leadership (αρχε): all of the people who want to do a thing do it together. All others leave, or do implicit. Living together means acting together. A group of people something else in the same place. When you have αρχε, all of who all happen to live near each other are not necessarily liv- the people contribute to the same endeavor, even when they disagree with it, because the leadership demands it. ing together. In capitalist society, the dollar demands that every person Therefore, a political theory is a proposal of a system for orwork. Those who don’t want to are punished ganizing how the people live, or act, together. unless they comply. The common endeavor is People act together because we have to. If a caveman wants to eat rabbit for dinner, he goes ...a political theory to produce a large body of products and distribute them for the use of the people. out and kills one. He doesn’t need to ask anyis a proposal of a Pure anarcho-capitalism cannot exist, as one for help, and he doesn’t bother to ask for system for orgashown to us by Locke and Hobbes. In an anarpermission. If, however, he wants to eat mamchist society, there is no reason to do business moth, then he needs to round up some friends. nizing how the This is “common endeavor.” The oldest style people live, or act, with those weaker than the self, because you can rob them with impunity. of housing that modern anthropology can find together. There is no opportunity to do business with evidence of in Europe is the round hut, which those stronger than you, because they view required a team of people to make. But the bigyou the same way. Perfect equality of power is gest factor in the communization of early man hard to find, and everyone is too busy defending themselves to is that he was tasty. Saber-toothed tigers, bears, wolves, lions— all sorts of things had a taste for man-flesh, and everyone has do any business anyway. People can associate to protect their possessions, but then we have αρχε, which is what we were to sleep sometime. If you really want to talk about self-reliance, then we have imagining the absence of. Thus, we have state-capitalism. The to talk about the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craig- protector of people’s property can be a king, or a democratihead George, which is about a 12-year-old boy who runs away cally elected government, or anything else. But pure state-capitalism does not last long. Socialism from home to live in the mountains of upstate New York all creeps in. The early United States was fairly pure state-capalone. He makes a house out of a hollowed-out tree and catches fish and hunts game and gathers roots and nuts to survive. italism, and some of the most heated debates in the country The events in the book are about as realistic as Frodo Baggins were over what was called “Internal Improvements,” which putting on his uncle’s ring and turning invisible. Aside from we now call civil engineering projects, or public works. The the improbability of a 12-year-old having the requisite skills, earliest roads in this country were of two types: there were even a grown man would have trouble surviving like that. The dirt tracks that got beaten down by repeated use, with no planhost of the TV show Survivor Man only spends three days ning and no maintenance, and turn-pikes, that is, roads which alone for each episode and spends those three days heading were improved by a private entity which then charged money towards civilization as quickly as possible. There is a backup for access as a profit-seeking business. Eventually the Federal crew ready to pull him out if things go wrong. Trying to live Government decided to build some roads at public expense out My Side of the Mountain is the radically literal meaning of and not charge for access to them. This is the US highway self-sufficiency, and it is, statistically, a death sentence. Short system. The one that I am referring to now came before the of that, we have group living, division of labor, and interdepen- Eisenhower Interstate System. The original federal road netdance between people in all of the proposed political systems. work has roads designated “US” followed by a number. US 1 Democratic-capitalism is a communal life style, and every runs along the east coast from Key West to Maine. US 50 conbit as interdependent as any Stalinist experiment. The only nects Washington, D.C., to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. US difference is that the mechanism for decision making is not 66 is one of the most famous roads in the country. These roads centralized in any individual or group. Each member of the were a huge controversy when they were built, because they society is like a single switching gate in a vast computer that were considered a massive overreach of government power. The Federal government can only run programs when taken as a whole. The organizalso dredged, widened, and Continued On Pg. 08 ing principle is greed, or we could say that the dollar is king. Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in Mr. McClennen’s column, “The Watchman’s Report.” The first installment appeared in our previous issue under the title, “Reexamining ‘Right’ & ‘Left’.” T “ �07 The Gadfly Ian Tuttle W A’14 ell, that didn’t take long. scionably high premiums. It will be the result of the liberal Call it a disaster, a fiasco, a debacle—anything but a mode of governing. “glitch.” That term does not begin to describe the problems In September 1945 economist F.A. Hayek, then a professor with the implementation of Obamacare, the president’s sig- at the London School of Economics, published in The Amerinature legislative “achievement.” can Economic Review a short essay unremarkably titled, “The The rollout of the state healthcare exchanges—the mar- Use of Knowledge in Society.” Its 12 pages are full of that ketplaces for state-approved healthcare plans—began on Oc- rarest of scholarly qualities: common sense. Hayek observes tober 1, and every day brings a new problem: copious error something everyone knows, except the liberal economic messages, the inability to set up accounts (the very first step, planner: Human knowledge exists “solely as the dispersed without which one cannot even see insurance prices), an as- bits of incomplete and frequently contradictory knowledge sistance “hotline” number that does not work. The White which all the separate individuals possess.” The delusion of House and cheering media have paraded out Janice Baker, the the planner—whether he is trying to construct a nationalfirst person to sign up in Delaware. It took her seven hours ized healthcare system or a Marxist utopia—is that all knowlover eleven days. And that’s the norm. edge can be known by a single, central body, which can then Can these “glitches” be fixed? At least five million lines of design the economy accordingly. But, of course, economic code need to be rewritten, in a website of 500 million, and knowledge is circumstantial. How much milk a person needs outside experts estimate that scrapping the current website is a matter of their unique time and place. It is, says Hayek, and rebuilding from scratch would be faster than trying to fix “knowledge of the kind which by its nature cannot enter into the problems—and even rebuilding will take until sometime statistics and therefore cannot be conveyed to any central auearly next year. thority in statistical form.” “The ultimate decisions,” he conMeanwhile, the failure of the website may be Obamacare’s cludes, “must be left to the people who are familiar with these ruin. Republican efforts to delay the indicircumstances, who know directly of the vidual mandate, the provision of the law relevant changes and of the resources imTeleocratic governthat penalizes eligible persons who refuse mediately available to meet them.” ments...can never know to sign up for health insurance, may not be Hayek is implicitly criticizing what so outrageous anymore: West Virginia senphilosopher Michael Oakeshott called enough to achieve their ator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, has crafted “teleocratic” government—government ends—so the ends are a bill proposing just that. as an anointed body tasked with bringing used to justify increasing- about some end: social or economic jusBut without the mandate, there is absoly questionable means. lutely no reason for young, healthy people tice, affordable healthcare for all, whatevto sign up—and the whole system depends er. But teleocratic governments, as Hayek on young, spry 27-year-olds paying outrageous premiums to observes, can never know enough to achieve their ends—so cover the old and sick that insurance companies, by Obam- the ends are used to justify increasingly questionable means. acare law, cannot now refuse. Megan McArdle, a healthcare Hence deep in the source code for the Obamacare website is expert writing at Bloomberg.com, says Obamacare may al- a bit that reads, “You have no reasonable expectation of priready be doomed: vacy regarding any communication of any data transmitted or stored on this information system.” Few on the Left have exThe administration estimates that it needs 2.7 million pressed concern at this troubling infringement upon Ameriyoung healthy people on the exchange, out of the 7 mil- cans’ privacy—presumably because such an infringement is lion total expected to apply in the first year. If the pool is excusable in the pursuit of the noble goal of universal health too skewed—if it’s mostly old and sick people on the ex- insurance. changes—then insurers will lose money, and next year, The alternative to “teleocratic” government is “nomocratthey’ll sharply increase premiums. The healthiest people ic”: government under the strict rule of law, and generally will drop out, because insurance is no longer such a good neutral to ends. Government preserves and maintains, but it deal for them. Rinse and repeat and you have effectively de- is not the vehicle for grand, dappled dreams. In a nomocratic stroyed the market for individual insurance policies. government, there will be no hidden privacy disclaimers, no It’s called the “death spiral.” How likely is it? Enrollma- government contracts to hefty campaign donors, no employer ven.com, a one-man operation tracking Obamacare enroll- insurance mandate that violates religious freedom, no penment, reports that just under 33,000 people have enrolled alty imposed for not buying a product. I noted in my previous column that modern liberalism is nationwide. Meanwhile, 119,000 Pennsylvanians alone have lost their insurance plans because of Obamacare—along with predicated on the same flawed understanding of human na160,000 Californians, 300,000 Floridians, and 800,000 New ture as are Communism, socialism, and fascism: that human Jersey residents. And, of course, every day that the website is nature is infinitely malleable and ultimately perfectible. The unusable, more young people with better things to do aban- result is, in some degree, teleocratic government. Modern liberalism may be the least oppressive of these regimes (thus don the tedious process of signing up for health insurance. But the meltdown of Obamacare—whether it happens next far), but just as in Lenin’s Russia or the Castros’ Cuba, as the month or next year—will not be the result of inefficient web- end becomes more desirable, the rule of law becomes less so. But if the end is noble enough, let’s just call that a glitch.! site design or unhelpful call center operators or even uncon- “ �08 !"#$%&'() *+*',Tuesday 10/15 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Wednesday 10/30 Reasonball Championship, 3 PM St. John’s Chorus, Great Hall 7 PM *Parents’ Weekend* Thursday 10/31 !"##$%&&' Friday 11/1 Kunai Soccer 4 PM Concert: Parker Quartet FSK Auditorium 8 PM Saturday 11/2 Reasonball W v D, 1 PM G v H, 2:45 PM Sunday 11/3 Soccer G v W, 1 PM H v S, 2:45 PM If you would like to see your event on the weekly schedule, please email sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. The Gadfly Continued From Pg. 06 cleared the banks of the Mississippi river. These “internal improvement” projects were all done in the 19th century. In the 20th century, at the urging of President Eisenhower, Congress authorized a whole new network of roads, which bear that president’s name. These are designated by “I” followed by a number. But roads and water navigation pathways are not the only thing that the government in this country does beyond punishing theft and murder (these last two being the minimum to protect capitalism). In the fall of 1902, there was a massive labor strike of coal miners in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. The reduction in the supply of coal drove prices up, which left millions of families at risk of freezing that winter (most homes in the US were heated with coal at that time). President Theodore Roosevelt made it his business to put the mines back to work. In stark contrast to previous presidents’ responses to major labor strikes (they had used federal troops to force the strikers to return to work), Teddy gave himself the power to appoint a mediator to facilitate negotiations between labor and management. History has been called this the “Square Deal in the Coal Mines.” In 1906, President Teddy signed, on the same day, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act, which made it a federal crime to sell poisonous food or medicine, and a different crime to incorrectly label what you are selling. Not too many years later, the Republican Party put out a pamphlet promising that, if Herbert Hoover got elected, there would be a “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage,” thus suggesting that prosperity for all was the govCapitalism is freernment’s business. Of course, three years into quently opposed Hoover’s presidency, there was the economic crash to Communism of 1929, and Hoove’rs attempts to fix the problem showed few results. The people chose FDR to lead and fascism....As I us out, and he really made prosperity the governhave shown, this is ment’s business. Under FDR, the government created millions of jobs to put unemployed people totally false. back to work, to get them honest pay checks and self-respect. For those who could not benefit from that, they gave out assistance with food, shelter, and other basics. The New Deal program intentionally referenced the Square Deal in its name. All of this is to say that the US government made taking care of people in need its business. Whereas previously the dollar had been king, now there was a biumverate. The “king” gets to decide on the allocation of resources, but that decision is no longer autocratic. The great argument of the 20th century was, then, to what extent it was the government’s business to take care of people. Under pure capitalism, the only exchange of resources is mercantile exchange, that is, when both parties agree that they are exchanging equal value. This is one way of dividing labor and allocating resources. Under socialist-state-capitalism, the majority of exchanges are mercantile, but some are non-mercantile. A non-mercantile exchange is one where the values are not equal and neither party tries to make it equal. Simple example: the government maintains roads. Everyone who pays taxes is, effectively, buying smoothness of road. Everyone receives the same smoothness of road, but we don’t all pay the same taxes. Each is exchanging money for service, but the values on the side of the exchange are not connected. Capitalism is frequently opposed to Communism and fascism (which are, far too frequently, inaccurately conflated) as the system that most encourages or permits self-reliance, or self-sufficiency. As I have shown, this is totally false. The division of labor is as equally thorough (that is, we rely on each other just as completely) under capitalism as under Stalinist, centrally-controlled communism, or under any kind of fascism. The difference is, rather, that under capitalism, the work that one does is directed by the “invisible hand of the market,” while in “Soviet Russia” (to quote the opening of a joke), the work one does is directed by the dictator. ! “ !"#$%!"#$%&%!'(")*"+%,- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 5 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-10-29 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 5 of The Gadfly. Published on October 24, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.05 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a1ca30cfe4c3069482a7264eb7186fc9.pdf 32534d22a99391d0131fdf850fb96831 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !!"#$$%&!'(!)&*+%(,%!-!./ 0*#&!"%1!2'3%!*(!)*&(!-!.4 5!678(9:;'+'(;!<'8=*;#%!-!.> ?7@!?8:!A@!B&*,,*='!C&'DD@E!-!.F ! !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$(&2#$9;3$809<$.$2&+#$===2$.$5!!>,$0/ photo by Johnathan Gooch photo by Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com !"##$%&'(&)%*+$(,$ Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Illustrator Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Sebastian Barajas Leslie Howard Jerry Januszewski Patricia Locke Tim McClennen !"#$%&'&() ! Casey Morris, GI Some nearness now forgotten spends the night blowing coldly against the door’s armor turning scentless confused perennials hung with chains that the sedentary light of morning sets to groan. And the few lawns worth knowing seem mistaken without green as though the first rush for color had been a question of burning in older suns or how to stop the fracas ensuing when shades shift to let go of the burnt ones or gathered damp with fever by the curbs unsung without a fall, and only once it seemed that blood filled without moving when all light gilded the range of the birds. Patricia Locke R Tutor umor has it that you missed the “info session” about the Marchutz School of Art, because you were watching autumn leaves fall. Perhaps you were out on the edge of Rowe Blvd, in that glorious band of glowing gold, in between the turned trees and their leaves carpeting the lawn below. In fact, you were gold, just for that one afternoon. Well, that is what the Marchutz School is all about, so you are excused. But if you haven’t even noticed that cluster of trees and their peculiar aura, your eyes need to be opened. The Marchutz School, in Aix-en-Provence, is a school of vision. One learns to see by seeing; one learns to write, draw, paint by painting. The Marchutz School has both a six-week summer session and a semester/yearlong program for intense study of art through practice, both in nature and by examining great masterworks of art. It is especially amenable to people of all creative stripes, those interested in museum studies, art history, or French culture. If you might be interested in the 2014 summer session, it is time to think about this now. Pathways scholarships may be available, and the deadline is December 13. You can talk to either Tutors Sarah Stickney or Patricia Locke, both of whom have “done” the Marchutz program. Neither of us had painting experience before attending the Marchutz School, and both came away more fully alive in the world. (I use the royal we; you may get confirmation from Ms. Stickney herself.) What is it like? Imagine spending four days a week painting in the landscape outside Aix. The terrain includes vineyards, Santa Fe-like air clarity, a large nature preserve with plenty of hiking and the Mt. Sainte-Victoire. It’s Cézanne’s hometown, and his studio, his collège (aka middle school, where his pal was Zola), and his café are still there. You stand where he stood, you look at large reproductions of his work, you look and look again. How did he figure out what in this wide world to paint? Where is the edge, the frame on the seamless flow and endlessly changing world before you? How will you interpret this? And more practically, how will you mix your palette, handle your brush, set off with a backpack of equipment to find the perfect spot? One day a week, there is rest from the challenges of painting, but the art seminar is about to begin. A hybrid of short readings, conversation about them, and integration of these ideas and questions with analysis of projected images of great art from many times and places. Why do you have the reaction you do? How has the artist set into motion the motif? By the end of the several hour conversation, broken by a lunch of baguettes and cheese, it is time to reconvene in town for an aperitif. All that French you learned in junior language will come in handy! But if not, the homestay families will whip your spoken French into serviceable skills for going to the market, cafés, and further abroad. I could go on, and will entre nous. Check out the website, under the umbrella heading of IAU College, and a flock of You Tube videos (Don’t miss this one: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP8A-ygVu0k). Career Services has the fact sheet, pamphlets, and Pathways applications. No experience necessary! This is not a party school; it is a school of learning how to use your senses, especially your eyes. If they have been reduced to tools for reading, it is time to let them return to full glorious functioning. Wait until you see the purple shadows in the leaves in the plane trees on the Cours Mirabeau! ! �The Gadfly 03 !"#$%&'(%)*+'%",%-"$, Jerry Januszewski Counselor O nce I was invited to the off-campus home of some male women, pay a woman for sex?” He said, “I don’t pay a woman Johnnies. As I approached the front door, I could see for sex. I pay a woman to go away after sex.” What a striking through an opening in the curtain of the large picture window. example of sex without intimacy. The TV was on, and they were watching a porn film. I knocked Intimacy, I dare say, is the precious pearl we all desire from on the door and prepared myself for an awkward moment. our love relationships. The need for emotional intimacy is When they opened the door and brought me inside I was re- the substance behind the longing for love expressed in practilieved to see the TV was off. cally every romantic song or poem ever written. To be utterly While pornography is as attractive to men as ever, gone are known by another, and cherished for it, may be at the top of the days of taking social risks in public to obtain sexually ex- the list of things we desire beyond individual survival needs plicit material. The Internet has reduced the social and eco- such as water, food and safety. Long after sexual desire passes, nomic hindrances of procuring porn films to near zero. Ac- the need for intimacy persists. No one commits suicide over an cording to a study cited in the NY Daily News, 30 percent of absence of sex, but some do kill themselves over an absence of women and 70 percent of men admit to ever having viewed intimacy, which is loneliness. online porn. My informal inquiries indicate that for college Loneliness is abysmal, and yet intimacy is risky. Authentic students, that number is closer to 100 percent for both genders. emotional intimacy between two people involves an exchange A significant percentage of those students assert that viewing of vulnerabilities, including the vulnerability to rejection. And porn is a positive and healthy activity. rejection plucks the dreadful chords of abandonment and For many boys, porn was their introduction to sex educa- shame in most of us. This makes emotional nakedness far tion. Naturally curious about the mechanics of sex, boys find more perilous than mere bodily nakedness in sex. basic answers in porn. Porn also indoctrinates viewers with This is a conundrum we all face regarding intimacy: live an ethos about relationships, intimacy, and the self. Most men with loneliness or risk rejection. The ever-present sex drive view porn long before their first real sexual enis all too ready to step into that void to provide counter. By the time a man engages in sexual aca soothing connection. But to surrender to sex Sexual pleasure while still emotionally defended further isotivity with another person, he has likely received hundreds, if not thousands, of images into his unsustained by lates the self that hungers for real intimacy. It psyche of other human bodies having sex. meaningful inti- may feel less risky to rely on fantasy, or one may Even if watching online porn is now the norm, macy eventual- seek to detach the emotions from sex. But then we do well to ask if viewing porn is healthy for the sex act becomes little more than a pantoly drifts towards mime of human closeness: sex without intimathe sex lives of men and women. Do these films emptiness. provide essential knowledge that leads to satiscy, pleasure without authentic meaning. That fying sexual relationships? was how Clark Gable handled the dilemma. We all agree viewing porn can be a powerSo what’s the problem with that? Are there ful experience. But being moved by something is not sufficient not simple pleasures that are perfectly fine without attachment proof of its goodness, as Aristotle cautions us in his Nicoma- to meaning, such as feeling the sun on one’s face? I would archean Ethics. How does one make a clear-eyed assessment of gue that all pleasures, even the sun on one’s face, are enhanced the overall effect of porn on a human being? by a connection to a greater significance and are diminished by The desire for sex is primal and mind-bending. Jokes are the lack of connection. This is all the more true for far more legion about how the sex drive can distort a person’s rational complex pleasures such as sex, which influences one’s concept powers. We chuckle in agreement when comedian Robin Wil- of self on many levels. liams says, “God gave man a brain and a penis—but not enough Sexual pleasure unsustained by meaningful intimacy evenblood to use them both at the same time.” Add the effects of tually drifts towards emptiness. The sex that once thrilled alcohol consumption, and the arête for sexual self-gover- becomes ordinary, the pleasure more thin, failing to gratify in nance can be almost nonexistent. I’ve known many who were quite the same way as before. Nobody wants this, so the expewounded by such situations. rience must then be artificially boosted to imitate depth and No one disputes that the human sex drive can overwhelm sustain excitement: more novel, more edgy, or more reliant on the rational mind as it cries out for satisfaction. But there is fantasy. another cry that may accompany the sex drive, one that is more In contrast, the textures of meaningful pleasure are abunsubstantial if not as boisterous. This is the cry for intimacy. dant, and become more accessible over time, not less accesWhat then is the relationship between physical sex and emo- sible. We don’t develop tolerance to meaningful pleasure; just tional intimacy? the opposite. We savor meaningful pleasure with deepening Clark Gable, one of the preeminent movie stars of the 20th sensitivity as time passes. century, was once caught with a prostitute. He was asked, Continued On Pg. 05 “Why would you, Clark Gable, who could have your choice of “ �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%&'())*!"#$%&'()*)%(!+),#!-%./0!1$//)./0'! Sebastian Barajas A’17 • Johnnie Student: a 19-year-old freshman at St. John’s, back home for Thanksgiving break. • Uncle Callicles: Johnnie’s rarely-seen uncle, who used to be a personal trainer but now works a low-level management position at a company that has something to do with telemarketing. • Other Guests J: How strange you are, dear uncle! These points of yours are like different relishes slathered at random onto the same piece of bread, and then presented as though each must have followed logically from the last! C: I do not understand. J: You question my planning ability, and by extension you question whether I will be doomed to live with my parents Callicles: Tell me, young Johnnie, if you would: What will forever. But, my dear fellow, how could this possibly be the you do with yourself when you leave St. John’s? case? A man may find other living arrangements through any Johnnie: Oh, dear uncle! If I were to tell you all the things number of means, very few of which seem to require years I intend to do in my life, we would be here until next Thanks- upon years of planning. And furthermore, why should living giving! You must, therefore, either rephrase your question, or with one’s parents be such a torment? prepare for a long speech! C: Surely, that is obvious. A young man forced to live with C: What I mean is, what use will you make of yourself? his parents is bound to become miserable. He is bound to beWhat line of work will you enter? come a prisoner, and never to grow into a true man. J: I wish I could answer, but I fear that here, again, we are J: But this does seem strange! Could I be mistaken? Could confronted with the same problem! For, you see, given the ca- it truly be so horrible to live with one’s parents, as you say? pricious nature of life, it is unlikely that I will enter only one Come, shall we not investigate it together? line of work. C: As long as the wine continues to flow. C: Perhaps. But I am asking what your point J: Very well! Tell me, uncle, which is the will be in all this. What will you do to contribute more virtuous pursuit: love or money? Tell me, young to the world? In other words, what will you do C: Love, of course. Johnnie, if you for money? As a career? J: Very well. Then the man who is loved but J: Most honored uncle! You have deceived has no money is more virtuous than the man would: What will me! Here you had me thinking you were asking you do with your- for whom the reverse applies? only one question, when in fact you had three! C: Certainly. self when you C: It is the same question. J: And we agree that virtue is a good, and leave St. John’s? J: But surely not! You have just asked, firstly: should be pursued? what will I contribute to the world? Secondly C: We do. you asked: what will I do for money? And thirdly: what will I J: Tell me, then: where is one more likely to find love for do as a career? These, by my count, are three. Each is different, oneself—in the company of one’s parents, or in living apart and must be answered separately, if indeed any of them can be from them? answered. C: In their company. C: I do not understand the difference. J: The choice between the two, then, is easy. For where else J: Consider these examples, then, for activity in one area will one find more love than in the company of one’s parents?— does not imply activity in the other two. For instance, might a love, which we both agreed to be more virtuous than money. man contribute to the world even if he lacks both a career and C: You have twisted my words, you young rascal. money? If he were, say, a celebrated vagrant who once saved a J: How so, dear uncle? child from a burning house? C: You have made it seem as though living with one’s parC: This could be, I suppose. ents were preferable to living apart from them and holding a J: Similarly, might a man accumulate wealth without con- job. Tell me, how is one to become a man if he lives like a child tributing anything to the world, or having a career? Might and does not support himself? heirs and lottery winners be examples of this? J: An excellent question! Do you mean to say that to live C: Certainly. with one’s parents is childish? J: And what of certain cultists and terrorists? Might they C: That is exactly what I mean to say. have careers without either contributing anything to the J: And it is manly to live apart from them, and to pursue world or earning money? money? C: I see your point. But are you trying to tell me that you C: There is nothing manlier, by Zeus. have no ambitions? J: But we have already agreed that money is less virtuous J: As I have already said: quite the contrary. I have many! than love, and that parents offer more love than the alternaC: But are you not concerned about the bigger picture? tive. Therefore, if a man pursues money elsewhere and forAbout where it’s all leading? sakes his parents, then he is less virtuous than a child. For by J: Not in the least. our reasoning, the child would pursue the thing that turns out C: But you must have some master plan. Surely, you wouldn’t Continued On Pg. 05 want to live with your parents forever? “ �The Gadfly Continued From 05 Pg. 4 to be the more virtuous. women, and children, spend our days as C: Only because he does not know bet- pawns of gods, leaders, laws, drives, and ter. urges. Yet it is you who think yourself J: But uncle! How could one ever learn free, simply because you have adopted a better than to pursue virtue? perverted view of virtue, whereas I have C: I’ll tell you. Life has taught me that not. And it is through this perverted view fending for oneself is the highest order. that you have actually become further When you are a child, your parents may enslaved. Tell me, dear uncle: is it not take anything from you at any moment, a torment to live such a constricted life, and without provocation. The only way and yet to compel yourself, day after day, to live freely is to become self-sufficient, to pretend that yours is a fundamentally so no one can take away your possessions freer and superior kind of life? or order you about. You are truly free in a C: What rubbish! You are a rapscallion! way that you can never be while you live A spoiled young hooligan! like an infant with your parents. J: Furthermore, uncle, I fear that you J: Humor me, dear uncle: do you live are not truly interested in these quesapart from your parents? tions: a curiosity, since you introduced C: I should hope so. them. You tossed them idly at me, indifJ: Then you are a man? ferent to the fact that they dealt with the C: Certainly I am. most fundamental and intimate aspects of J: And by extension, as you said just existence. Because I have not been able now, you are free? to answer them as flippantly as you asked C: Yes. them, you are agitated, as though I were J: Then you may do as you please, and being deliberately unreasonable. I must no one will take your posconclude that you do not sessions from you? care about truth at all. We call it ‘small C: That’s right. Indeed, it is incredible J: You may play music as talk,’ when in fact to me that your behavior is loudly as you like? Purchase socially acceptable. These these are the any bauble that catches largest questions profound questions: “ your fancy? Drink as much What’s your plan? What in existence. wine as you please? Sleep do you want to do? What with any woman? Rise at are you going to be?” have any hour? Eat what you become standard filler to like? Nap whenever the mood strikes? be used whenever one is too unimaginaC: By Zeus, no! I would be fired for that tive to think of any other way to begin a sort of behavior. conversation. We call it “small talk,” when J: But uncle, are you telling me that in fact these are the largest questions in your job restricts your activities? existence. Contrast them with the kinds C: Certainly it does. of topics that are mor frivolous, yet inJ: Then you are not truly free, are you? admissible in polite conversation: the C: How ridiculous you are. No one is listener’s attitude towards analingus, say. truly free. Yet I am proud to say that I am One of my classmates recently asked me still freer than a child, for I may do what if I would rather perform or receive it, yet I like with the time that is left after work. I was not offended—partly because it was That is, as long as we are not made to a short question and did not call upon me work after hours. to defend my entire existence, as you have J: What a bother! But your weekends done. But more importantly, I sensed that, are still free? unlike you, he was interested in my anC: Yes...usually. Sometimes we must swer. He too sought truth. come in on Saturday, and Sunday too. It seems, dear uncle, that you are out in J: I see. Dear uncle, I believe I have for- the cold, with neither virtue nor truth to mulated a very clear picture of the way of guide you. Even now, curiosity tempts me things. Shall I describe it to you? to reciprocate, to ask in turn what your C: Be my guest. plan is. But I fear that such a dismal subJ: I think that you are no freer than I, or ject would anger the gods on this day of than any child. For you and I, like all men, thanks. ! “ Continued From Pg. 3 Consider the excitement of true love and devotion, where the mere touch of the beloved’s hand may elicit long-lasting, passionate delight. The term “pleasurable” is inadequate to describe the contentment of sex nourished by unfettered emotional intimacy. This is a full and highly personalized experience. Which brings us back to the use of pornography. Porn’s essential feature is to provide a vivid experience of depersonalized sex utterly bereft of intimacy, the thing we desire more dearly than sex. In viewing porn, nothing is demanded that would actually create intimate meaning between living persons. Loneliness is temporarily soothed, rejection is avoided, but at a cost. The viewer must see the sex actors, from the outset, as mere objects among many other objects that are used until their usefulness is used up. By emotionally attaching his sexual self to objects, the viewer objectifies not only the porn actors, but himself as well, so that a nonthreatening, fantasy version of intimacy can be held in the mind. And when the porn image that excites becomes banal, as it must, the viewer is progressively desensitized to sexual pleasure. Porn seems to yield benefits in the short term, but it is a losing strategy in the long term for pleasure- loving people. Being insulated from our deepest emotions is living small, which increases the risk of anxiety, depression, and old-fashioned unhappiness. Porn use is hostile to the examined life. It leaves one dependent on untruth, the crutch of fantasy, and, over time, more lonely and less capable of emotional connection with a true intimate. As an overall contributor to life satisfaction, porn is a thief disguised as a philanthropist. The path that values emotional honesty and intimacy is admittedly risky and requires persistent courage, but the rewards have to do with true love. Love is sublime, based on the truth, and very likely the best thing out there. ! �06 The Gadfly !"#$%&!'"(&) +$,#-.,! * Tim McClennen W A’14 e need to talk about government debt. latter, and did in fact make a profFirst, let’s separate “deficit” from “debt.” Deficit cre- it). Increasing tax revenue is also ates debt. The deficit is the amount by which government painful, or so people keep saying. spending exceeds revenue (ie. taxes). If the deficit is positive, This is where the similarity the debt is increasing. If the budget is balanced, the debt re- ends. mains constant. If there is a surplus (a negative deficit), some Now let us examine borrowing. When a private individual of the debt gets paid off. Since 1950, only Bill Clinton’s admin- (or family) borrows money, the lender sets the interest rate. istration saw a balanced budget (in 1997). In 1998 and 1999, he The lender also decides whether to give or not give the loan. managed a surplus. A person can come begging for a loan and get turned down. A lot of people like to compare government finance to pri- In stark contrast, the government sets the interest rate that it vate (or family) finance. The comparison is wrong. I will con- offers on the bonds that it sells. As for getting turned down, sider what government debt is, then the ways that it is unlike there happens to be a large appetite for government bonds in private debt, then what we should do about it. the market. If this appetite wanes, the government can offer Government debt is composed of bonds. Bonds are pur- higher interest rates, and the appetite will increase. This guarchased for a face value, almost invariably $1,000. At their antees that the market appetite for bonds is indefinite, if not “maturation date” the bond’s issuer returns the exact face infinite. Of course, the better our credit rating, the greater the value to the holder (not necessarily the purchaser, who can market appetite for bonds, despite the lower interest rate. sell the bond on the secondary market). In between the purOur government, unlike a family, also has the power to print chase date and the maturation date, the issuer pays interest money. This is a power that the government uses sparingly, bepayments to the holder. cause overuse will cause runaway inflation. Still, it is an availWho holds these bonds?—that is, who owns the debt? Who able power. are we paying back, and can they “call it in”? To begin with, the Finally, we come to credit limit. A family is bound by the largest share of the federal debt is held by U.S. citizens or U.S. credit limit that a lender imposes on them. If they take out a institutions (such as corporations): 31.7 percent. The second- credit card, that company imposes the credit limit. Of course, largest share, 16.0 percent, is owned by the Social Security if they max it out, they can apply for a credit card from a differTrust Fund. The Federal Reserve owns 12 percent, and retire- ent company, and use that to pay off the first. If the family keeps ment funds for various types of government employees (the improving their credit score (by being timely on payments and civil service and the military have separate retirement funds) having any income at all), their second card will have a higher hold 6.9 percent together. China owns 8.4 percent, Japan 6.5 credit limit than the first. This cycle can continue for quite percent and 4 percent total is owned by OPEC members, Bra- some time, until they get refused for the next new card that zil, and the U.K. Other foreign governments own they need. In contrast, the government imposes a total of 14.6 percent. its debt limit on itself. That is, Congress authoWe have nothAltogether, 33.5 percent of the federal debt is ing to fear from rizes the sale of a certain number of bonds. If owned by non-U.S. entities. The rest of owned that limit is reached and people still want to buy the owners of by us. Either one part of the government owes bonds, these buyers go away disappointed. As money to a different part, or the government long as there are buyers lined up, and Congress the national owes money to the citizens. So, who is going to authorizes the sale of the bonds, then there is debt. destroy America by “calling in” our debt? Given no limit to how many can be sold. the above data, no foreign government has the Thus, any comparison between government power to harm our nation by calling in their share. This leaves finance and private (or family) finance is absurd. Families candomestic powers. Neither the Federal Reserve nor the Social not print money, or set the interest rate that they pay on loans, Security Trust Fund are going to act to destroy this country. or arbitrarily set their own credit limit. That leaves U.S. citizens and corporations. No single one of So, this leads us to what ought to be done. One might imagthem has enough of the debt to do anything. If they all acted ine that I will propose a plan to reduce the debt, but I am not together they could do it, but that is absurd for two reasons: offering that. The idea that we must reduce the debt implies First, if all of the citizens and all of the corporations in the that the debt will cause us problems. The first imagined probUnited States wanted to destroy the United States, our nation lem is that our debt can be used to control us, which I have would have bigger problems than the debt. Second, how do refuted above. The second imagined problem is that there will you get lots of small-time investors to act in concert? We have come a point at which we will be unable to borrow any more, nothing to fear from the owners of the national debt. and thus not be able to pay off the old loans with new (as we Now let us compare national and private finances. have been doing), so we should pay down the debt before that First, revenue. Private revenue is salary, or return on pri- happens. As I have shown above, that point will never come vate investment—and both are difficult to increase: One must unless we impose it upon ourselves. invest more money (which is perhaps unavailable), ask for a So, what ought to be done about the debt? Let it get as high raise, or find additional employment (which may also be un- as is necessary to accomplish the tasks of the government, inavailable, and can be exhausting or stressful). Thus, revenue cluding lifting the economy out of recession. Personally, I find increases are painful. On the national side, revenue is tax reve- low debt aesthetically pleasing, and I would appreciate if it nue, unless the government invests in financial instruments or were to be reduced, but there is no advantage to such reducin industry (our government has done the former, but not the tion other than aesthetic pleasure. None at all. ! “ �07 The Gadfly Ian Tuttle I A’14 ’m not much one for scaremongering, but you wonder when incidents become trends—and when trends become warning signs. Here’s the most recent incident, described by Mark Steyn in a troubling column at National Review Online: First they tased him, but that didn’t work. So they fired a shotgun, hitting him in the stomach with a bean-bag round. Wrana was struck with such force that he bled to death internally, according to the Cook County medical examiner. Police claim that Wrana was endangering the staff, but an executive with the facility says that staff were cleared from the room when police arrived and not allowed to reenter, even after asking to intervene. Instead, five to seven police officers entered with riot shields and bean bag shotguns. There is unnecessary force, and there is recklessness, but this is beyond either. It is yet another example of the danger caused when military tactics become standard operating procedure for agencies that are not military. It is a trend that Steyn calls the “paramilitarization” of American life. And it’s not just the Los Angeles Police Department that has its own SWAT team. So does the Department of Education, which burst into Kenneth Wright’s California home at 6am—to investigate his estranged wife’s use of student aid funds. (I hope you’re paid up on your loans.) Earlier this year IRS agents were training with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles—this after that agency was caught systematically discriminating against right-wing political groups. During last month’s government shutdown, armed National Park Service rangers surrounded “There is a despotic trend a Yellowstone Park inn to prevent a group in American government. of elderly Australian and Japanese tourists Perhaps Deming, N.M., should consider Too many of our rulers rewriting “the book.” from venturing out to Old Faithful—illegal Steyn also considers Miriam Carey, the “recreating,” according to the NPS. and their enforcers reunarmed woman gunned down near the Steyn sums it up this way: “There is,” flexively see the citizenry White House last month. There were no he writes, “a despotic trend in American primarily as a threat.” indications that Carey, who led police on a government. Too many of our rulers and —Mark Steyn chase along Pennsylvania Avenue, presenttheir enforcers reflexively see the citied a deadly threat to officers—yet her car, zenry primarily as a threat.” But can we be and the young mother, ended up bullet-riddled. surprised? As government becomes ever more centralized, as These are examples that might bolster the thesis of journal- power is vested in an ever smaller proportion of the populace, ist Radley Balko’s recent book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The and as those who hold power become ever further removed Militarization of America’s Police Forces. Certain aggressive from the people who elected them (if those with the titles tactics, combined with ready access to military-grade weap- were elected at all), law becomes less an incorruptible founonry, have created cops that, in many circumstances, are less dation for civic order and more an instrument of power—as cops than soldiers. do those who enforce it. When those in power forget that, in That was the case in Chicago this summer. Park Forest po- America, it’s We the People who rule, law, and law enforcelice fatally tased and shot with bean bag rounds John Wrana, ment, begin to be wielded against the unwashed masses—the a 95-year-old World War II veteran living in an Illinois senior ruled. As in Chicago, Deming, and D.C., those waving the living facility who was refusing to take his medicine. Per the weapons sometimes no longer deign to distinguish between Chicago Tribune: fellow citizen and foe. The United States is not a police state, of course. But The old man, described by a family member as “wobbly” we should start to expect more incidents like the above: on his feet, had refused medical attention. The paramedics They are the predictable result of statism super-sized and were called. They brought in the Park Forest police. weaponized.! David Eckert was pulled over by police in Deming, N.M., for failing to come to a complete halt at a stop sign in the Walmart parking lot. He was asked to step out of the vehicle, and waited on the sidewalk. Officers decided that they didn’t like the tight clench of his buttocks, a subject on which New Mexico’s constabulary is apparently expert, and determined that it was because he had illegal drugs secreted therein. So they arrested him, and took him to Gila Regional Medical Center in neighboring Hidalgo County, where Mr. Eckert was forced to undergo two abdominal Xrays, two rectal probes, three enemas, and defecate thrice in front of medical staff and representatives of two lawenforcement agencies, before being sedated and subjected to a colonoscopy — all procedures performed against his will and without a valid warrant. Alas, Mr. Eckert’s body proved to be a drug-free zone, and so, after twelve hours of detention, he was released….Deming police chief Brandon Gigante says his officers did everything “by the book.” “ �08 The Gadfly !"#$%&'%!!%()*%+$,-' !"#$%&'() Why Was My Broccoli Gritty? *+*',Leslie Howard Tuesday 11/19 Old-time Music with Mr. Stickney Music Library 12:30 PM Kunai Netball 4 PM Wednesday 11/20 Basketball 7 PM St. John’s Chorus, Great Hall 7 PM Friday 11/22 Kunai Netball 4 PM Lecture: “Dwelling in the Land of the Confessions” by Mr. Michael Brogan FSK Auditorium 8 PM Saturday 11/23 Basketball Game 1 — 1 PM Game 2 — 3 PM Sunday 11/24 Basketball Game 1 — 1 PM Game 2 — 3 PM If you would like to see your event on the weekly schedule, please email sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com. I A’15 did it. I wore sweatpants to the Dining Hall. And the scary part is that I’m only moderately ashamed about it. As this semester comes to a close, and winter break is on the horizon, I can feel myself slowly (or not so slowly) trending into the zombie-like state of being a junior. You see, the thing about zombies is that they’re in that in-between condition of being and non-being, dead and alive: they’re the undead. And that’s basically what it’s like to be a junior. All the things that used to invigorate you, like going to exciting new classes and learning exciting new things and having exciting new conversations about said things, suddenly cancel each other out in the junior year. But you’re not allowed to curl up and die. So you keep on going, eyes glazed over. I recently looked “zombie” up in the OED, and the second definition given is exactly what I’m referring to: “A dull, apathetic, or slow-witted person.” As you can see, this is in stark contrast to—and therefore ought not to be confused with—senioritis, which is merely a disinterest in current happenings on account of anticipation of the future. Someone with junioritis has no such hope of future life. It is an undead, dark, sweatpants-wearing time . . . . . . which helps me understand why the dining hall always becomes nigh unbearable right before Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. You really have to see it from its perspective: every single day, for every single meal, it provides the Polity with an abundance of food for omnivores and herbivores alike. The beginning of the school year, as for all of Someone with juus, is an exciting time, and everyone is invigorated nioritis has no such from the summer for a fresh new start. All things behope of future life. come mundane, however, and right around week ten of the semester, everything falls to shit. Papers start It is an undead, being assigned, freshmen are homesick, sophomores dark, sweatpantsare bored, juniors are dying, and seniors are antsy. wearing time . . . And the Dining Hall gets junioritis of the worst kind. Unlike the students, the Dining Hall doesn’t see a dawning St. John’s-free future. It is destined to perpetual servitude to the polity of the next generation. It becomes dark, it becomes hopeless, it becomes undead. But that still doesn’t explain why my broccoli was gritty. I have been blown away by the improvements that the dining hall has made since the beginning of last year. The vegetables, although occasionally undercooked (you can’t have everything), are no longer served in pans full of oil. There was a delicious chicken dish just this past week for some occasion which I have yet to identify. But on your any-ol’-day, it honestly is a struggle to find anything good enough to eat. Someone told me just today that the only reason he got a certain dish from the hot line was on the off-chance that he would get more than two pieces of shrimp in the mix, which is really just sad. I was excited to see a pan of only broccoli that hadn’t been cooked with random shit like peppers, and it really was perfectly cooked too, but I soon realized that it must’ve been cooked in sand water. Thankfully, they had all the ingredients for a root beer float. I think we should all keep the dining hall in our thoughts and prayers as it goes through this dark, pre-holiday depression. I’m sure I haven’t been the nicest to people since incurring junioritis, but for a department that affects so many of us directly, I think this is a crucial time in the life of the dining hall for us to do our best not to upset it. Perhaps we could suggest it make an appointment with Jerry. But in the meantime, dining hall, we juniors would appreciate it if you served more brains. ! “ !"#$%!"#$%&%'()(*+(,%-. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 6 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-11-19 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 6 of The Gadfly. Published on November 19, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.06 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/65e26a193b662a31dc17b640e6520d9b.pdf 0bdb0ae0a2adcec55a14f3878dd21331 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !!"#$%#&!'()*+,!-*(.$+/0!1!23 !!-45(674/!8&9(++&:!1!2; <=9!'467(+*05*6!'(/+400!1!2> !"##$%!&#'()&?!@!A*#.!"6944+*+,!1!2B ! !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$7,*#$903$809;$.$2&+#$<<<2$.$5!!=,$0> photo by Sarah Meggison photo by Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. As of December 10, 2013, the Gadfly is on hiatus, pending new leadership. No meetings will take place during that time. Articles can continue to be sent to sjca. gadfly@gmail.com. They will be held until the Gadfly returns to a regular printing schedule. Staff Nathan Goldman • Editor-in-Chief Ian Tuttle • Editor-in-Chief Hayden Pendergrass • Layout Editor Sasha Welm • Illustrator Will Brown • Staff Andrew Kriehn • Staff Robert Malka • Staff Sarah Meggison • Staff Contributors Jessica Benya Eric Evans Brian Liu Tim McClennen !"#$"%&'()*+,&-*(.#+/0 Jessica Benya W A’17 inter break is almost here. Already the campus is filled with chilled air running across your face, leaves dancing through the wind, and a mixture of trees—some barren, others as full as the magnolia. Every night continues to have its own little twist, as if the campus somehow became a realm of Grimm, filled with a fairy tale of some type with a moral at the end of each one. Some stories take longer than others, and some stories barely last a day, but as soon as you finish one, you can’t help but fall right into another. Only a semester. It’s only been a semester, but so On the first day, much has already occurred. Socially, academically, the second I everything seems to have escalated to a new degree. walked onto Then there is a funny word that comes to mind: recampus, an empty strictions. You were thrown into a completely new string fell into my environment, and as you adjust to it, those who are hands....That string used to the change or who have been here for a while claim you have put too many restrictions upon youris a string for diaself. But that is simply not the case. monds. On the first day, the second I walked onto campus, an empty string fell into my hands. I did not see it, nor was I able even to fathom it, but it was there. Everyone received one unknowingly, and all of a sudden college life began. It took a while to see the thread: it took the harsh realizations I had when I came here after such an array of experiences. But now I see it. That string is a string for diamonds. Such beauties are earned, though, and not only by experience, but by what you have learned after the fact. If the knowledge that follows an experience is not acknowledged, then a diamond has yet to be earned. Therefore, each diamond is different, from the way it is shaped to its texture. Nor can you rush a diamond in the making. It remains undiscovered how long a diamond takes to form, for some take days , some months, some even a million years. Just like a personal realization. You can’t rush that, either. What may come as a realization to you could take much longer for someone else, or vice versa. Those who own some diamonds may have forgotten that fact and try to rush others to earn them. Go and earn those diamonds on your own time; don’t feel pushed into trying to make one when you’re already in the process of creating another. ! “ !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",- W elcome back to the pages of the Gadfly. We hope you have enjoyed this semester’s issues, and we cannot thank you enough for your contributions. However, we want to offer a much broader thank you: for your readership and support during our nearly two years as editors of the Gadfly. It has been our privilege to work with talented writers, artists, and photographers, to produce a newspaper that, we hope, provided a forum for the expansion of the conversation that, at St. John’s College, takes place in and out of the classroom. We inherited the notion that the Gadfly was “the voice of the Polity”; we hope that the many voices that have spoken through our pages have started a new discussion, furthered the dialogue—or, as has often been the case, provided a much needed dose of humor when tensions rose, when bleak midwinter rolled around, or when Dining Hall food had you down. We Johnnies are used to talking and listening, but, of course, that takes place only after writing and reading. The Gadfly has sought, over its lifetime, to ensure that the reading and writing around here are not restricted to the authors on the Program, but that every member of our community has the opportunity to scribble—to ponder, to contemplate, to challenge, to provoke. We believe that providing that outlet serves the health and growth of our Polity. It is our hope that other students believe the same, and will ensure that the Gadfly remains a vibrant part of the community for years to come. We want to offer a special thanks to Hayden Pendergrass, our layout editor. Without him, this newspaper would have been impossible—or, at least, impossibly ugly. Hayden: Thank you for contributing your talents, your late nights, and your Spotify password. Best of luck in the new year, Johnnies! —Nathan Goldman & Ian Tuttle �The Gadfly 03 Detached Tyranny? D.C. Accountability Zeke Schumacher A’15 S t. John’s has resurrected ancient Athens. Second, the Council showed that it does not believe that the Has this noble goal been accomplished through Socrates’ Polity supersedes the Council in authority and right. For if the teachings of Virtue? Has our regimen of reading and reflection authority of the Council comes from the sole fact of its prior instilled a love of the Good in us? Has Solon made us work existence, and not from its constitution by the Polity whentirelessly toward our own betterment, unflinching in the face ever the Polity last voted to exercise its rights to “establish an of adversity? instrument of governance,” then the Council had no need to No. We have instead allowed a once-democratic Delegate allow the Polity to exercise its rights. This is precisely what Council to rule over us oligarchically, as though we were its occurred. subjects. Third, the Council showed that it believes itself to have I shall return again to the Preamble of this new constitu- some sort of eternal and immutable existence, authority, and tion, as it serves to lay out the ideological foundations for the right above the entire Polity. For since the Delegate Council entire work and is a lens through which remained the same in a visceral sense— to view what the Council thinks itself to no new elections were held to appoint be: This is the entire aim of my representatives or officers under the “We, the students of St. John’s Colwriting: to push the Council new Constitution—then it is easy for the lege in Annapolis, Maryland, recognize: Council to fall into the illusion that its to become truly represenour right to establish an instrument of power comes from its members themtative by communicating governance; and our privilege, vested in selves, and not from the play documents with the Polity at large.... us by the Dean, to have an active role in that define their purpose as servants of deciding policies and priorities.” the Polity. Let us demand accountI will not here go into the differPerhaps this is why there is now an ability from the Council, ence between right and privilege. That Oath of Office. Article III, §1, states : “All starting with the rejection should be, at least in kind, apparent to delegates and officers…shall recite before of this constitution, and us all. the Delegate council an oath of office to ending with a Council that be determined by the Delegate CounIf the Council believes that it is the truly represents the Polity. cil.” Representatives on the Council are right of the students to establish an instrument of governance, then why did not representatives of the Polity—they the Council run this right down? The are oath-bound to the Council, not to us. Council, in passing a new constitution while denying the right What oath need there be except to serve the Polity in accorof the Polity to establish its government, sent several disturb- dance with the Polity’s will as expressed in the constitution? ing signals. And why should it not be sworn before the true holders of First, the Council showed that it does not believe that the power—the Polity? Polity Constitution actually constitutes anything. If the Polity But this is not possible, as serving the Polity is not the aim does not have to vote on the new constitution—or the amend- of the Council any more. Its aims are to “manage funds…sancment granting the Council the “authority” to pass it—then ob- tion and regulate all student clubs, organizations and activiviously this constitution is not “establishing an instrument of ties; create and manage Polity Law; and appoint committees… governance.” So what is happening? to further the execution of its duties.” Article I, §3 of the new constitution is entitled “Authority.” And the largest failing of this council is found in the PreamIt states that “the authority of this constitution is the basis for ble: “we hereby institute an undergraduate government to…esthe conduct of all business in the undergraduate government. tablish a forum for the free exchange of dialogue,” presumably The Council is an established, organized body with authority to “represent student interests.” But the Council has shown vested in its representatives and officials.” This is its whole that it cannot effectively communicate with the Polity, either text. to inform the governed of what the government is doing, or to This Article reveals that the Council thinks itself an entity receive meaningful feedback from the Polity as a whole. that exists above any Constitution or consent of the Polity. This is the entire aim of my writing: to push the Council There is no explicit statement of the source of authority— to become truly representative by communicating with the there is only the intimation that, because the Council “is an Polity at large. By giving opportunities for consideration and established, organized body,” it has authority already by virtue discussion to the Polity at large—that is, by keeping students of its existence. Reading the past tense here, we must conclude informed—we can break down the barriers to governance and that no new “instrument of governance “is being established, cognizance that exist and undo the detached tyranny that the because it already has been. And if it has already been estab- Council has become. Let us demand accountability from the lished, then this new constitution is nothing more than a for- Council, starting with the rejection of this constitution, and mality of restructuring powers. ending with a Council that truly represents the Polity. ! “ �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%&'()*+&'$,--.&/$01$+2&$3"*4/ Eric Evans A’14 T he Great Hall is a better space than the BBC computer lab. But consider, for example, Rivendell from Lord of the Rings. We can feel it. It allows us to be free, whole, and at peace. It’s an eccentric example, but that’s okay. Its design is a testaIt lets us flourish. Yet we spend a good portion of our lives in ment to this proposition: If it makes us flourish as beings, there spaces like the computer lab, which make us feel dead and must be something true about it. This is why we feel that we wasted inside. It is important to note that this is a feeling, and would flourish if we could be there. This is the opposite of stothat we all have it. So say we’re trapped in a world with lots of icism, and indirectly a counterpoint to Descartes and Bacon. It places like our computer lab: What are our options? There are feels like a much more beautiful proposition than Descartes’s, only two: 1) stoicism, or 2) architecture. and is a more sensible place to start philosophical/scientific Stoicism takes that feeling we all have, plugs its fingers in inquiry. its ears, and says, “I’m not listening!” Or, less harshly: “I don’t But the West didn’t take that route—instead, we say that rerecognize my feeling about this space as real—who’s to say my spectable knowledge is what can be mechanically modeled; evfeeling is relevant, valid, or actually informative about the way erything else is either not knowledge (a belief, opinion, preferthings really are? I say it’s not.” Stoicism is nothing but a giant ence, or taste) or not really scholarship (metaphysics, art, etc.). problem, because not only does it try to label as unreal feelings Yet the mechanistic model is not rich enough to account for all that everybody throughout all time feels, but also because it of our experience. For example, as Alexander argues, it leaves cripples the world by denying the existence artists in the cold. It also cannot tell us what of problems that need solving. is good. In fact, the two are related: that is ...we say that reStoicism is architecture’s degenerate twin. why modern architecture seems so arbitrary. spectable knowlArchitecture says, “I recognize this feeling as As Alexander says, “Architects make differreal and as valid. Furthermore, we all agree ent idiosyncratic choices because within the edge is what can on it (so it is likely objective). Rather than mechanistic worldview it is not possible to be mechanically retreat inwards and ‘solve’ the problem by function mentally without making some primodeled.... Yet the severing my relation with the world, I acvate choices of this kind.” mechanistic model knowledge that spaces really do have an efThe mechanistic view cannot furnish us is not rich enough fect on me, so I will make good spaces.” Only with statements about value because in a by this architect’s manifesto are we whole. If to account for all of mechanistic world the good is not an absowe are stoics, then we are attempting (and lute, accessible to rational discourse, but a our experience. calling virtue) the amputation of the part of matter of opinion. The mechanistic worldourselves that feels one way or another about view limits what kind of statements can be a certain space. I see something ugly, so I will gouge out my considered true or false. Alexander says: eyes. We read a few stoics on the Program, but no architects. This So far the 20th-century response to the arbitrariness inheris not because architecture is an inferior practice to stoicism. ent in mechanistic thought has been to keep on asserting It is because of an historical accident: Philosophy came up the dignity and privacy of value: … ‘Science only tells us with a new idea that justified the proposition that our feelabout facts. It is your natural right to work out your own ings are invalid, retroactively legitimizing the philosophy of values. Not only will our scientific worldview not tell you stoicism instead of the philosophy of architecture—that idea is anything about value, it is your democratic obligation to do the mechanistic conception of order. it for yourself.’ But [this] makes cooperative work, collaboChristopher Alexander, a philosopher-architect most active ration, and social agreement very difficult in principle. It has in the 1970s who believed that modern architecture systema superficial permissiveness which seems to encourage difatically falls short, attributes this mechanistic conception of ferent opinions. But what is encouraged, really, is only the order to Descartes. (I would point another finger at Bacon.) essential arbitrariness of ideas rooted in a mechanical view. According to Alexander, Descartes’s method was this: “If you want to know how something works, you can find out by preThis is a giant problem here at the College. To believe that tending that it is a machine. You completely isolate the thing value, that the good, is a matter of personal discretion, deteryou are interested in...and you invent a mechanical model... mined only by unaccountable, idiosyncratic internal forces, which obeys certain rules and which will then replicate the is effectively to believe that what we do here is useless. If we behavior of the thing.” The mistake of Descartes’s populariz- believe in “the dignity and privacy of value,” then we believe ers, then, was to confuse actuality with mechanism, to say that that philosophy can only be done alone, that its fruits are only reality actually is mechanical. To what effect? Alexander: “The for us to eat, and that philosophical discussion cannot lead to picture of the world as a machine doesn’t have an ‘I’ in it....The knowledge of anything except other people’s opinions. inner experience of being a person just isn’t part of this picThe poverty of the mechanistic worldview in dealing with ture. Of course, it is still there...but it isn’t part of the picture Continued On Pg. 05 we have of how things are.” “ �The Gadfly Continued From 05 Pg. 04 determinations of value banishes the most important ques- even give accounts of what these feelings are and how they tions from serious academia—“What is the good?”, for exam- act. These feelings are not relative; they are objective as the ple—since they cannot be answered by mechanistic inquiry. truth is objective, and that is likely because our feelings acTheir answers become a private matter, aided only by the arts, tually are informative about the way things truly are, though which in a mechanistic world have to do only with essentially most of us have trained ourselves to mistrust them. idiosyncratic regions of ourselves. There are no longer grounds to conceive of the world, or Yet the very formulators of the mechanistic worldview— of ourselves, as actually mechanical (though that is not to physicists—became its most potent critics. The say that mechanistic modeling cannot be apmechanistic view only gained traction and repropriate for certain applications; only that ...there was scispectability by analogy to the hard sciences, ence before there it should never be confused for a faithful deespecially physics, but it is precisely there, in scription of what is really going on). Hence, was a mechanis- there is no reason to deny the validity of our quantum mechanics, that such a worldview is tic worldview, overthrown. As it turns out, the basic, underlyfeelings. But where does that leave us? What and it may have ing composition of the world is not like a maconception of order is the right one, or at least chine, which can be analyzed into independent a better one? gotten someparts, but like a living thing, whose parts defy We can look to quantum physicists, who thing truly right analysis because they are proper to the whole. continue the intellectual arc of Bohm and that we’ve been It may even be that the whole can feel (nonStapp. Modern quantum physicists know that getting wrong for the world isn’t mechanical, and we can look to local causality recalls Aristotle’s Prime Mover). 400 years. Yet we did not need quantum physicists to see what kinds of things these scientists untell us that the mechanistic conception of order earth in the future. We can look, in the presis inadequate: All we have to do is go into McDowell to re- ent, to Christopher Alexander, who attempted to broaden member that our feeling is real, even though no machine could science to account for feelings and value judgments that the recognize it. We encounter this truth unimpeachably during mechanistic model was too impoverished to explain. (Alexansophomore year. We note that no oscilloscope can register or der lays out a new worldview in his four-volume series The model dynamic qualities, but that these are nevertheless feel- Nature of Order; the earlier quotes came from the first volume, ings that we all have. These feelings are objective, even though The Phenomenon of Life). But we can also look back, before they do not submit to mechanical modeling. These feelings are Descartes and Bacon, to those like Theophrastus and Aristoscientific in the sense that one can observe them as universal tle. After all, there was science before there was a mechanistic phenomena that possess such precision and consistency that worldview, and it may have gotten something truly right that all of Western music can be built on them, and that we can we’ve been getting wrong for 400 years. ! “ �06 The Gadfly !"#$%&!'"(&) +$,#-.,! * Tim McClennen T A’14 he principle of democratic (please note that this is a small self personally; he just thinks that “d,” and that I am not referring to any existent political a plan of his own imagining, or at party) representation is to elect the person who feels as simi- least choosing, is such a plan, and lar to you as possible about as many issues as possible, and will he wants his representative to imtherefore vote exactly as you would if you had their seat on plement that plan. as many bills as possible. The principle of republican (again, Finally, I seem to have erased any distinction between a resmall “r”) representation is to elect the person with the best public and a democracy, as long as there is universal suffrage. judgement, who will make the best decisions, even if you Certainly, in a representative democracy, a voter who is not would vote otherwise on the individual bills, through your a passionate patriot will want what is most good for himself, own limited judgement. even at the expense of a lesser good for the Of course, the definition of “best decision” nation as a whole (even if he does not want ...whether we is already an issue. That is: what is meant by what is good for himself at the expense of the posit passionate “best”? There is the decision that is best (most harm to the nation as a whole) and will elect patriotism or not beneficial) for the voter himself, without rea candidate who promises to do that when in gard to anyone or anything else. There is the office. In a representative republic, a similar passionate padecision that is most beneficial for the nation, tepid patriot will vote for the candidate who triotism, there is even if that decision is less beneficial for the will do the most benefit to them (the voter), no real difference particular individual voter. I am sure that otheven if they are not telling their representabetween republican er types of best decision are also possible. tive how to bring that about. But people disrepresentation and agree on what is beneficial to themselves, and Let us assume that all voters are passionate democratic reprepatriots and therefore want the most benefit so will vote for the representative who agrees sentation, except to the nation as a whole, not at the expense with them on what is beneficial to individuals, of harm to themselves (that would be radical or, to put it another way, will do the same as for honesty. patriotism, which is beyond passionate patrithat voter would, if he got the office instead of otism), but at the expense of lesser benefit to the candidate. So, whether we posit passionthemselves than the most possible. Therefore, if such a patriot ate patriotism or not passionate patriotism, there is not real is voting according to republican principles, then he will vote difference between republican representation and democratic for the candidate who he thinks is most likely to make the de- representation, except for honesty. That is, the one admits that cision that will most benefit the nation as a whole. he is only doing what his constituents want, while the other But there is not agreement about what will benefit the na- pretends to act according to some principle, while he is in fact tion. If two such republican patriots are voting in the same (in secret) a democrat. election, and disagree on what constitutes the good of the naLet us extend the analysis. When an elected representative tion, then they might make opposite decisions for the exact makes an unpopular decision, that is, a decision different from same reasons. what the majority of his constituents would do if they held the Thus, a candidate who wishes to get elected by republican seat, the result of that decision is an effect on the nation that principles must show that his understanding of what is good some will call a benefit to the nation and that others will call for the nation is the same as the understanding of the people not beneficial to the nation. Thus, when contemplating such whom he is trying to convince to vote for him. That is: that an unpopular decision, and athe will, when in office, do the same as these people would do, tempting to calculate what efif they had the office instead. That is, the republican fect it will have, the repreprinciple of choice is the sentative acts in such same as the democratic a way as to make principle of choice, the effect one with the added layer which the maof “for the good of jority of his conthe nation as a whole.” stituents will Of course, a democratic call beneficial to patriot also wants what the nation (if he was is good for the nation elected by passionate as a whole, even patriots, or beneficial at the expense to his constituents if he of what is less was elected by not pasgood for himsionate patriots). ! “ �07 The Gadfly Ian Tuttle I A’14 f despair comes naturally to conservatives, it is in the same way that obesity comes naturally: on the whole, as the result of too much of a good thing—the good thing being, for the conservative, what Spanish philosopher Miguel Unamuno called “the tragic sense of life.” That sense liberals don’t have. Despite a tendency to start from outrage at the world’s myriad injustices, liberals are constitutionally optimistic. History is a grand ascent toward Justice. We’re getting better (“evolving”) all the time. Once the human race sloughs off the knuckle-draggers, we’ll frolic our way toward Eden hand in hand. Some of that same reflexive optimism exists on the Right. Jonathan Tobin, senior online editor of Commentary magazine, edged toward such triumphalism in his recent web piece, “Rescuing Freedom from Despair,” at Intercollegiate Review: again. In the years succeeding the fall of Rome, it fell to monks gathered in scriptoria to preserve the learning that had accumulated over the previous centuries, and by their teaching were the works of Plato and Aristotle, Cicero and Virgil passed on. Even an unsympathetic twentieth-century scholar could say of the monks, “To them, both collectively and individually, was due the continuity of thought and civilisation of the ancient world with the later Middle Ages and with the modern period.” Their time and their task are not alien to the modern conservative. In his landmark volume After Virtue, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre concluded, “What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us….We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another—doubtless very If American exceptionalism means anydifferent—St. Benedict.” MacIntyre is not thing at all, it is that belief in individual despairing. He is articulating something “There is no such thing liberty is embedded in the political DNA conservatives already recognize: their as a Lost Cause, because monastic vocation to preserve, in Matof American society. The collectivist and there is no such thing utopian impulse that has ravaged other thew Arnold’s phrase, “the best that has as a Gained Cause.... societies...must always collide with that been thought and said.” When circumimpulse, and the result of such collisions stances are propitious, perhaps those We fight rather to keep is an inevitable if not always swift victory things can be taught, perhaps those truths something alive than in for those who stand for more freedom refined by the ages can be evangelized; the expectation that it against advocates of government as bewhen circumstances are not, the best we will triumph.” nevolent despot. can do might be to hunker down for the —T.S. Eliot long night. But amid the former we esI want to stand with Mr. Tobin in this chew talk of “victory,” and amid the latter declaration—it has such gusto—but his we do not despair of “defeat,” because we strokes are too sweeping. Conservatives ought not to despair recall that, in T.S. Eliot’s words, (it is, as William F. Buckley Jr. said, a mortal sin), but if they do, it stems from their crucial “tragic sense of life,” that conThere is no such thing as a Lost Cause, because there is no stitutional hypersensitivity to the precariousness of their posuch thing as a Gained Cause. We fight for lost causes besition. Conservatives are acutely aware that our gains are gotcause we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preften incrementally, when gotten at all, and are always apt to be ace to our successors’ victory, though that victory itself will lost at a blow. We do not see history as an inevitable ascent be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than toward Olympus, but as a struggle to maintain the garden in the expectation that it will triumph. against never-ending sorties of encroaching weeds. Liberalism struggles and strains toward new achievements. The barbarians are always at the gates, and conservatives There is always more to be done, progress to be made. But don’t presume that they will ever be stamped out. Rather, we conservatism strives to conserve. We are the custodians of accept that our task is simply to keep the flame of the eternal traditions tried and refined by history, and of those things things burning no matter how close the hordes come. ! within them that have, over the ages, enlivened and elevated the soul. We are the keepers of passé beliefs and old-fash- [An earlier version of this article appeared at the website of ioned ideas, which, though buried by the press of time, we are Intercollegiate Review. It remains available there, alongside certain will someday reassert themselves, strange gods come Mr. Tobin’s article, mentioned above.] “ �08 !"#$%&'() *+*',Tuesday 12/10 Kunai Netball 4 PM Collegium 7 PM Wednesday 12/11 “The Life and Legacy of a Proud Johnnie: Roberto Salinas-Price (A’59)” Library, Nutt Room 3 PM Basketball Championship 7 PM The Gadfly !""#$%&'()"'&**+',$-" Blood Brother: A Film Screening Brian Liu A’16 F or me, the first “torpedo fish” of freshman year is the staggering complexity of virtue. What is it?, and how does it manifest itself? Indeed, if we try to sum up the entire Program and these Great Books, some may conclude that the whole endeavor is really to discover what virtue is. More importantly, many of us came to this college to begin seeking out virtue in the hope that, uncovering even a bit about it, we might live in a better way this life we have been given. I know I did. In sophomore year (so far), I’ve seen authors and characters continuing to probe the question of virtue. Lucretius, Epictetus, and Tacitus all give accounts, though sometimes abandoning the moniker of virtue. One of the most provocative accounts is that of Jesus Christ, who tells of denying yourself and carrying your cross daily (Luke 9:23), claiming that in doing so, your life can be saved and your self preserved. I’ve wondered what kind of virtue he was getting at with that illustration. But in that passage, one thing is clear: there is an exchange involved. There is a cost. I remember Aristotle telling me what to do to live virtuously, but I do not remember him telling me about any price or sacrifice. I know that for myself I often fail to realize that there is a price involved in doing good in this world. I don’t often understand how painful a choice sacrifice can be—and I also often don’t realize how much worth and meaning there there can be in fighting and sacrificing. It is for this reason that on January 18, the Film Society and I will be hosting a screening of the recent Sundance-winning documentary, Blood Brother. Blood Brother follows the life of Rocky Bratt, a young man with a broken, abusive past, who finds something worth fighting for: he sells all that he has and moves to an AIDS orphanage in India. His decision is difficult; it entails suffering and even death—but through it all joy, meaning, and friendship emerged. The film has garnered rave reviews for its powerful, provocative, evocative portrayal of an incredible life. So, allow me to add another question to the pile of those about virtue: Is there a price to it? If so, what is the price? (And seniors still pondering post-graduation life, perhaps Rocky Bratt can help....) So please, join us—maybe we can find some answers together. Blood Brother will be screened in FSK Auditorium on January 18, 2014. ! � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 7 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-12-10 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 7 of The Gadfly. Published on December 10, 2013. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.07 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/50428be28287f4116dc1a5dbca45d242.pdf 6bbed7c3533785228e5571434b36f976 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !!"#$!%!&'()*+!,++('--!.!/0 !!123!45(6!7'8!&9:;'-<!.!/= >((5*+!?--*3!>@9(3!.!/A !"#$%&'($)*$+"#$%&,+B!>!C':;'8!.!/D! !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$;,<#$8=3$809:$.$2&+#$>>>2$.$5!!?,$0@ photo by Matthias Marklin Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. The next Gadfly will appear March 25, 2014. Submissions are due by Friday, March 21. The next meeting will take place Sunday, March 23, at 7 PM on the first lower level of the BBC. Articles can continue to be sent to sjca. gadfly@gmail.com. Outgoing Staff Nathan Goldman Ian Tuttle Hayden Pendergrass Transition Staff Sebastián Abella Sebastian Barajas Noé Jimenez Allison Tretina Contributors Eva Brann Lucinda Dukes Edinberg Formaggio Elettrico Leslie May Howard Patricia Locke Esa Sclafani !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",- I t’s been awhile, Johnnies, so welcome back to the pages of the Gadfly! We remain in a period of transition, but we are pleased to present the first issue of the spring semester, and we look forward to printing a few more before our seniors walk the stage. If you are interested in helping out, please contact sjca.gadfly@ gmail.com, and don’t miss our next meeting, Sunday, March 23. The next issue will be out March 25, so get writing! — The New & Improved Gadfly Team !"#$%!&'(()# !"#$%&'()*$+&,,-.-$/(0$1-("/,$2,,(-** Esa Sclafani I A’12 was diagnosed with a mental illness during my Freshman year at St. John’s College. Throughout the next three and a half years, my life—personal and academic—was colored by depression and instability. I know this is not uncommon. St. John’s is an intense and difficult college and individual problems are magnified by academic demands. My time as a student was difficult and I would love for others to have an easier time. I don’t know how helpful I can be, but I need to at least try. With that in mind, I would like to share some personal advice. This advice is not exclusive to students with diagnosable mental illnesses, though there may be some information specific to them. One doesn’t need to have a disorder to have a hard time. In my experience, treatment for my illness was extremely helpful. Therapy is always your decision, as is medication. Neither helps everybody, but it helped me. Therapy and medication are not for everyone. Still, I need to stress that treatment is an option and it can be effective. Unfortunately, To anyone therapy and medicine aren’t magic. Treatment was only able to help me if I took care of myself. That’s struggling: You not easy. If you are not seeking treatment because of are strong. You financial reasons, keep in mind that the school will pay are brave. Don’t for three hours with a psychiatrist per semester. If you give up. Have can’t get there, the school has an arrangement with faith in yourself. Diamond Taxi to charge cab fare with the money you You can do it. pay to the school each semester. There is also an option to meet with psychiatrists in the Health Center. A professional is not the only person that can help you, however. The person that can help you most is yourself. There were long periods of time when my sleep patterns, eating habits, and, most importantly, ability to consistently prepare for or attend class went out the window. The amount of sheer willpower needed merely to take care of oneself can be extremely difficult to muster up when you feel awful. I understand that. Despite the difficulties, however, YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. Sometimes it can feel impossible, but if you just get yourself out of bed, eat some food, and do your Greek, it makes a huge difference. In fact, the mere feeling of exercising that will power can make you feel better. Incentivize yourself. Set alarms and reminders on your phone. Push yourself to do what you need to do. I know this can feel impossible but it helps. It helps more than I can say. If your state of mind is affecting you academically, don’t isolate yourself. Let your tutors know if your problems in class are due to medical or personal circumstances. Talk to the Assistant Dean if you need. Make it clear to the College that you aren’t lazy or uninterested. This next part is very personal, and may be touchy. I feel the need to share my own experiences with how my mental and emotional difficulties affected my personal relationships. I ended up creating a vicious cycle: I would have difficulties and look to friends for support; they would not know what to do, which overwhelmed them. I’m not saying that your friends will resent you if you go to them for support. It is extremely important to have a support network, and it is wonderful to have someone you can trust. My point is that friends aren’t professionals, and that can be an easy dynamic to stumble into. Communicate with your friends and understand what is healthy for both of you. I have one last thing to say. To anyone struggling: You are strong. You are brave. You are at a demanding college and you are fighting against the current to do well. Don’t give up. I have faith in you. Have faith in yourself. You can do it. This is all that I can give. I hope it helps. ! “ �The Gadfly !"#$%&'()*+",- 03 !"#$%&!'$$'()&*+,A summer trip to Greece changed Annapolis alumna Betsy Bassan’s life by bringing her face-to-face with true poverty. Several decades later, as founder and president of Panagora Group, Bassan is bringing help to impoverished persons across the globe. What is your current job? I am President and CEO of Panagora Group, a business I founded in January 2011 to create a new platform for global health and development consulting. It was fun reaching back into my St. John’s Greek to come up with the name, now explained in my byline as: “Pan means all, agora is the city center. Panagora! An inclusive space where ideas bubble and the best thrive and spread.” I’ve been working in this field now for thirty some years which takes me all over the world. For more on Panagora, visit our website, www.panagoragroup.net. Panagora’s mission is to make the world a better place for good. Did you attend other schools after St. John’s? I got my masters at the School of International Affairs and the Division of Urban Planning at Columbia University in New York City, in a program called “Planning in Developing Countries.” Did you know what you wanted to do while at St. John’s? I figured it out in a gap year between sophomore and junior year, during which I studied in Greece for one semester. For the first time, I saw real poverty and realized that I wanted to dedicate my life to poverty alleviation. Did St. John’s help prepare you for work in the field? St. John’s prepared me in so many ways! I am always grateful for the training I received there before I specialized. St. John’s helped me cultivate the most invaluable skills for success in work by teaching me to listen, to probe, to read carefully, to think logically, to communicate carefully, and to work well in groups. I could not have wished for more relevant preparation. It takes getting into the workplace to realize how valuable these skills are. Employers are always on the lookout for them. There’s no better education than St. John’s for developing these fundamental building blocks for success in the workplace. I was thrilled when one of my children selected St. John’s and graduated from the Santa Fe campus just a little over a year ago. How did you feel you compared, in graduate school or early jobs, to people from different educational backgrounds, particularly those with field-related degrees? I worried a lot about this when I went to Columbia, especially in taking courses in subjects like economics. But it didn’t take too long to realize that I could be equally competitive in courses with subject matter that was new to me. I have always felt that this is due in large part to the fact that at St. John’s we learned that we could tackle any subject or text through careful reading, thinking, and discussion. This has served me very well in work where I have been responsible for managing people and programs in very diverse technical subjects and geographical areas. Can you describe a general track someone from St. John’s might take to get into a career in this field There are many tracks: agriculture, health, democracy/governance, business, environment, finance, education, and more. The common thread for international development (also often called “foreign assistance”) is the international aspect. This requires going to the graduate schools with international programs that also have strong programs in the specialized area of your choice—for example, a school of public health, education, business, etc. Knowing a foreign language is also very important. Any general advice, especially for an upperclassman who is interested in this field but is not quite sure what to do? My advice would be to network with Johnnies in the field (a growing number of us!) and professional associations like the Society for International Development (SID) that are oriented to nurturing young professionals in our space. I also advise getting overseas field experience, which will make the graduate school experience much more worthwhile and will mean a lot to employers who want to see an understanding of the real context in which our work takes place. Peace Corps is most often cited for this purpose, but there are other, shorter routes to similar experience. Internships are also key ways to get the experience and contacts needed to get the best jobs. How did you market yourself with a St. John’s degree? Very much in terms I mentioned above: that we had an opportunity to study the evolution of Western thought with approximately equal weight to all the subjects, including some very hard ones like math and science, and in the process refined our ability to penetrate challenging material, think logically, communicate clearly, listen carefully, and work well in teams. How would you characterize your field as a whole? Is it accessible to newcomers or difficult to enter? Stable or fluid? Etc. The international development field is relatively stable and growing because, especially following 9/11, there is a clear realization among policy-makers, legislators, and the public that Continued on Pg. 4 �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%&$!'$()*+$,'-$.&/0'12 Sebastian Barajas W A’17 hen I sat down to watch the silent film, East Side, West are spent on new projects, and movie studios are not charities. Side (1927), I naturally expected it to be filled with Somehow, money is being contributed by viewers to fund new laughable anachronisms: lots of moustache twirling, fisticuffs, projects. Why? Why is the newness of movies so important, and captions reading, “Hey pal what’s the big idea?” More when we could so easily cut costs by watching ones that have than that, I imagined it would be amateurish from inexperi- already been made? ence with the (at that time) new visual medium. There is no sense in the argument that the However, I was surprised to find—not only actual experience of going to the theater is Movies have no why people enjoy new movies, for it has little that the silence wasn’t distracting—but that the expiration date film had a perfectly intelligible storyline, tasteto do with the movies themselves, and more [and] require fully adorned with quips and one-liners. Why, to do with the culture and aesthetic pleasure. I wondered, shouldn’t everyone watch movies How often, for example, does this conversamassive budlike this? After all, the characters’ problems tion take place: gets. So why were much the same as those of today’s charac“Hey, you wanna go see a movie?” should we make ters: love triangles, problems at work, and wor“Sure. Which one?” new ones when ries about the future. Many similar movies are “I dunno. Let’s see what’s playing.” we already have released every year, and the only changes are in It seems that one could replace all new thethe details: the phones the characters use, the a century’s worth atrical releases with titles from ten or twenty cars they drive, the clothes they wear, and peryears ago and hardly anyone would complain. of work to get haps one or two words or expressions. If it’s the Even if someone had already seen the most through? story and the characters that matter, why do we popular movies of, say, 1994 (The Lion King, care about details? The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump), Unlike other goods we consume, movies do not have to be thousands of other movies were made that year. In fact, no hufresh. Food, for example, must be continually made, because man being can see every movie that comes out every year (and we cannot eat food that was prepared 87 years ago. To a lesser no sane human being would want to). extent, our clothes and appliances must also be new (that is Similarly, we cannot accept the improvement of special to say, new enough to perform their basic functions). Movies effects as the sole reason new projects are funded. Plenty of have no similar expiration date, and unlike books or other art movies are released each year that do not require especially forms, they require massive budgets in order to be produced. modern technology in order to be executed well. Films like So why should we make new ones when we already have a The King’s Speech and Juno illustrate this point. The same century’s worth of work to get through? holds true for such recently accepted cinematic tools such as That’s not to wonder why artists create new things, for this nudity and explicit violence, neither of which is particularly is obvious. All artists have the drive to create, and I despise necessary for effective visuals. how the phrase, “There is nothing new under the sun,” is used We might more reasonably say that the appeal of new movto debase their efforts. Likewise, we might say nothing “new” ies is that they are specially tailored to our culture and appehas happened since the beginning of time, since the universe tites, whereas an older movie might fit us, but less well. At first is still filled with the same matter. What’s more, the act of be- it might seem absurd to spend so much money for such a small ing human and eating food is hardly an original one. Absolute amount of extra comfort, but it’s hardly abnormal, especially novelty is a standard that no one could or should aspire to. in America. In addition to the obvious suit analogy, this love Nor when I ask, “Why do we fund new movies?” am I intro- of tiny amounts of luxury is what makes us pay $150 for first ducing a debate about the ethics of piracy and the detrimen- class tickets on a 20-minute flight, or $35 to eat Domino’s in tal effects of lost revenue, or anything of that sort. The fact bed rather than swipe into the Continued on Pg. 6 is that new movies are funded. Billions of dollars each year dining hall 45 feet away. “ buttress the moral and economic argument for foreign assistance. I think this field is penetrable, but having interlocutors to help illuminate the way in and open a few doors is important. There are many different paths to take within the field of international development—many different subject areas, different platforms (donor, busi- Continued from Pg. 3 ness, non-profit, etc.), the possibility of working overseas or in a headquarters, policy versus practitioner, and so on. Each person has to sort that out for themselves and identify which strand fits them best. What is your favorite Program book? Oh dear, so many books that I have loved in different ways. Just thinking of an answer takes me down many wonderful pathways, thinking of the many books and how they present differently over one’s life. But I don’t land on just one favorite! Do you find that you lead a philosophical life? Of course. I can’t imagine a Johnnie that doesn’t continue to question, inquire, examine, and try to discern meaning in life. ! �The Gadfly 05 !"##"$%& '()& !$**+(*%%& Patricia Locke Tutor !"#$%&&'()*+#,'-'"".(/#&0(#.#$%--'""&%1#2**%.1#3""./4 M any are called to twist day into night, to argue, “all is pleasure of reporting in with friends.   Though we are writing permitted,” including unlimited amounts of coffee and about different books, surely saying out loud and even arguother caffeinated drinks to guarantee heart palpitations.  No ing about one’s ideas’ relations to one’s colleagues’ work is also washing of clothes and hair, no orderly regime at all.  In search exciting, and perhaps helpful. Channeling Nietzsche, we might of intense experience, we seek the unhealthy spiral into dark- don black garments and take brisk walks alone—or together.  ness, into genius.  Never mind that Nietzsche himself wrote for several hours in the morning, had a decent lunch, and then Mental anguish: went for a long afternoon walk before returning to his desk to In my solitary cell, it crosses my mind to compare myself to write down his reflections.  Emily Dickinson favored baking Kant. Hence, my ideas are shallow and not worth writing down.  as a time to let her writing develop on the back burner, so to Or, if I write something down, I polish its hubcaps to a fine speak.  What does one do with all the time NOT writing?  Ought sheen before I move on to paragraph #2.  Other people have we feel guilty that we are not writing?  Ought many more pages than I have at this point. we plunge into panic or paralysis?  Ought we . . . You know the script.  What if I cut myTime off from mental self some slack; say, two hours off from to work more hours, so as not to waste time?  anguish could yield Ought we play pool or seek other diversions personal harassment, and let my ideas run from being alone in our rooms?  Are bodily suffree?  What if I could pretend to be a tightdeep pleasure or at fering and mental anguish necessary for a sucrope walker, who is JOYOUSLY walking least clarity of mind. cessful essay?  across the rope suspended over a large . . . You can write a To explore this question, start small.  Divide pit?  What if the high stakes of my main thoughtful and inter- question really ARE high (Does God exist? it into two sections: bodily suffering followed esting essay without Can people actually be in contact with one by mental anguish.  Perhaps one will find that body and mind are inextricably intertwined another?  Is the world coherent?? What exaggerated sufferand that it is quite simple to make oneself misabout death??? Mr. Darcy*?*?)? Then I ing. erable—hence, more interesting, intelligent could feel excited and glad to be wrestling and deep.  (Sophomores: Does this conclusion with them.  Time off from mental anguish stand?) could yield deep pleasure, or at least clarity of mind.  Fretting and anxiety clog the mental pores, causing a buildup of sooty Bodily suffering:  vapors that get in the way of thinking clearly about the issues Is this a sprint, or long-distance running?  If the former, aban- at stake.  If we could take a mental-anguish break, more might don all personal health practices and fully immerse oneself in get written that is meaningful to writer and reader alike. the writing process, as one who is “mourante et qui cherche à I claim that you can write a thoughtful and interesting essay mourir.”  By interrupting sleep patterns alone, one will have without exaggerated suffering.  You may be stymied from time the illusion of profundity and can move in incredibly slow mo- to time, unsure of which direction to turn in the writer’s labytion.  Add disruptions to exercise, diet, and other good habits, rinth, but you have comrades with whom to sort things out.  and one can be disoriented in both time and space.  But isn’t You have a genuine question and desire. Just log the writing being human suffering enough?  Do we need to deliberately hours, take breaks, let the pages pile up. Write the first draft make ourselves suffer from neglect in order to feel intellectual- for yourself, but remember the reader in your later ones. Don’t ly alive?  Perhaps the drama of the starving artist/melancholic forget to spell check and include page numbers! I leave you, philosopher is a stereotype we ought to abandon as too cliché Gentle Readers, with Emily Dickinson’s guaranteed way to be for those who seek to examine our cultural presuppositions. popular and productive, when faced with a (transitory) writIf writing period is more akin to a long distance race, or per- er’s block. . . . Continued on Pg. 6 haps a practice run towards the goal of arranging one’s life over the long haul, one has to carbo load, strength train, and so on.  So mindful meals and physical exercise sustain the long-term effort.  The capacity to give attention to the cultivation of the mind and spirit rests upon these mundane grounds. now on the ground can mean only one thing—it’s a good By and large, we are very good at collaborative learning at time to make soup! Soup is the perfect comfort food, the board and at the seminar table.  We aren’t as skilled in transforming an evening from frosty and cruel to warm and the articulation of our ideas in an extended way in writing— heartening. It’s also not nearly as daunting to make as it might seem. Check out gastrokitty.blogspot.com this week all by our lonesomes.  So my current thought is that we need for simple and scrumptious recipes, fun facts, and tantalizto build bridges from what we do well to what we want to do ing photos of soup! well.  Feeling like one is connected to others physically proximate in the writing experience helps ramp up the intensity. We — “Formaggio Elettrico” might follow a designated block of writing time alone with the << “ S !"#$%&'$!""()'$)*$+", �06 The Gadfly style that has been preserved in cinematic history. If new films were not made, that cultural record would be discontinued and our decade would be left out. Think ! Leslie Howard, A’15 about decades like the 60s or the 80s, and O! to have a bag that fits! the marks they left on the world of film. That never slides and never slips! O! to have a bag that stays! I’m glad to think that in 50 years society My garbage rots beneath your sags: That never rips or falls or frays! might similarly be able to recognize our You are despised, ill-fitting bags. One time the bottom was a hole. decade by its work. The CETs we cannot blame; I sense it’s out of my control, But this ever-increasing reservoir of No matter what, t’would be the same. But is it too much to expect human achievement also bears with it Despite the corner-knot I tied, A garbage bag that isn’t wrecked? a kind of cost. For as time goes by, it beThis blasted bag does slip and slide. comes more difficult for the intellectual And though I’ve tried and tried and I speak for all the polity to fulfill his three traditional roles: to tried, When I proclaim this humble plee: study the past, to experience the presIll-fitting bags will not abide Please give us bags that do not slip. ent, and to build, that he might influence Inside my trash can (well, inside— Please give us garbage bags that fit. the future. Each day more history is creCollapsed, not neatly ‘round applied). ated that must be studied. The present grows bigger and louder as social media But I think there’s also someexpands. To create anything noteworthy Continued from Pg. 4 thing more fundamental fuelamidst such a torrent is a task both Herculean and Machiaing our desire to see new movies: our collective fear of being vellian. Yet the would-be intellectual must fight this battle on cut off. We spend hours a day reading the news and checking every front. In the time it took for me to watch East Side, West our five different social media accounts, unable to stand the Side, I could have seen any of the twenty or so new releases I idea that something big and important might happen while still haven’t gotten around to watching. In the time it’s taken we’re not paying attention. And new movies certainly seem to me to write this article, I could have finally read The Catcher in “happen” in a way old movies no longer can. Even if the mov- the Rye, or watched Donnie Darko, or learned something about ies themselves are timeless, they are shrouded in a kind of ar- Indonesia, or filled any number of other gaps in my education. tificially created timeliness. For example, we can enjoy watch- Which is noblest? Which is most worthy of choice? ing The Lord of the Rings anytime, but only upon its release do East Side, West Side was silent on these matters. It contained the people parade in its honor. only a dance of characters and circumstances. Perhaps every Perhaps there is no one field of human interest is merely such a dance: every film, evaccount for why we fund ery book, every math problem, and every science experiment. To create anynew movies. I myself could They are for us, and they are infinite. ! thing notewornot justify why I spent $12 to watch The Desolation of thy amidst the Continued from Pg. 5 Smaug, knowing perfectly torrent of the well how awful it would be. !"#$%&'#()#*+,*-+&.#*/0121034 present age is a This happens often. Is the entask both Hercu- tertainment industry someAs transcribed in Emily Dickinson: Profile of the Poet as lean and Machia- how exempt from—or at least Cook from Dickinson’s original manuscript: highly resistant to—human vellian. 1 quart flour 1 teaspoon soda logic? Or are our decisions 1⁄2 cup butter 1 teaspoon salt as consumers no less rational 1⁄2 cup cream Make up with molasses about movies than about cars, food, political candidates, fur1 tablespoon ginger niture, and knickknacks no reasonable person would ever buy, like beer funnels? We’re willing to pay upwards of four dolThe editors of the book add the following: “Cream the lars for a tiny amount of terrible coffee. We routinely shop for butter and mix with lightly whipped cream. Sift dry ingrecars—not based on each model’s performance or utility—but dients together and combine with other ingredients. The based on how we will be perceived as its owner. Every year, we dough is stiff and needs to be pressed into whatever pan spend billions of dollars on dieting programs and health prodyou choose. A round or small square pan is suitable. The ucts because we can’t figure out how to eat less food. Clearly, recipe also fits perfectly into a cast iron muffin pan, if you what is reasonable and prudent does not especially concern happen to have one that makes oval cakes. Bake at 350°F us. for 20-25 minutes. Yet perhaps it is not a bad thing that, against reason, we “Guides at the Emily Dickinson House, who expericontinue to fund new movies. Otherwise our greatest minds in mented with the quantity of molasses, have generally film would have no way to realize their visions. More imporagreed that a ‘cup or so’ is just about right.” tantly, each decade of this past century has had a distinctive Bonne chance!! !"#$%&$'(()*+%%+,-$./012$30-1 “ �The Gadfly 07 !"#$%&'($)*$+"#$%&,+ !"#$%&'(")'&"*+'$%',$-*.)/0'1.)23%4 Eva Brann Tutor K imo Mackey, Annapolis alumnus (1976) also father, broth- was representing the er, uncle to alumni, is a racing sailor, boat restorer, and United States. All reader of the kind of book I love—books by and for sailors. (I the boys belonged to used to sail a little sloop of my own, which now belongs to the the working class of college.) When he’s finished he sends me a copy. With this last the Northwest. Here one, he hit the spot, big time, and I want to tell about it, espe- again, there’s a percially since St. John’s is a rowing school. sonal note: I spent a glorious year playing hooky from St. It’s about the nine boys who won the gold medal for the John’s, teaching at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washingmain rowing event in Berlin at the Olympics that the Nazis ton. There I fell in love with Northwestern scenic beauty and mounted three years after they seized power. The book has so learned to respect just that Northwestern character depicted many resonances that I hardly know where to start. That’s in in the book. America was then, and still is, blessedly regional. spite of the fact that competition plays a huge role in it – a pas- It’s what you might call cultural philistinism with a descant sion which leaves me baffled; at most, I’d go for “personal best.” of moral heroism and a continuo of plain decency. By “philis(Decades ago I read a joke, probably in an old Reader’s Digest, tinism” I mean those good old tunes sung to a plunky banjo on that describes my state perfectly: Father takes little daughter to weekdays plus Italian opera on Sundays; in other words, what football game. Watching her first scrimmage, she asks, “Daddy, I’m not so fond of. couldn’t we buy each team its own ball?”) Competitive rowing is physically excruciating—real pain, Except for that, it’s a book I took personally but also a book and morally extreme—real self-sacrifice. But there is a huge refor us all. So first: I was born in Berlin, a German Jew in the ward, called being in “the swing;” we’d say “in the zone.” It’s a Nazi era. For the Olympics, Göbbels’ propaganda ministry had sort of ecstatic concentration—being at once beyond and withcleaned up the city; the “Jews not welcome” signs displayed in oneself. And the boat becomes a living unit, an organism. in most shops had been stored away. Now, To my mind, our college is one—of several the coxswain of the University of Washingpossible—model communities. Among the The element I liked ton shell, the Husky Clipper, was the, later topics we are all, students and tutors, in a best is the one that legendary, runt (that’s in the job description good place to reflect on, is this: What are the fills a lack in our lives for coxswains, as for jockeys), Bobby Moch. kinds of communion that may hold a comwith the Program: The coxswain is the practical wisdom (phmunity together, of which “the swing” is craftsmanlike produc- one, beautifully delineated in this book? ronesis) incarnate of a row boat. He receives tion, how it’s done the strategy from the coach and tweaks, even That brings me to my last item. Extremescraps it, in execution. That is, he calls the ly well-researched detail, put into batedwhen it’s done with strokes per minute, from a leisurely 28 to a breath order in visualizable language, is one expertise and love. flying 44. On the eve of the crew’s departure of the virtues of Brown’s book. Of these, the to Germany, Moch got a letter from his father element I liked best is the one that fills a lack revealing the family secret: They were Jewish. So when Moch in our lives with the Program. We are, after all, devoted to thestood on the podium to receive his gold, surrounded by swasti- ory and to amateurism—to living theory, to be sure, and to amakas, something was, unbeknownst to the world, being proved, teurism taken literally: “the lover’s way” (not to be confused an evil intention was being secretly nullified. Jesse Owens’ with amateurishness, that is, cluelessness). So much the more four golds in track were the more public counterpart, as was do I like to read about the ways of craftsmanlike production, heavyweight Joe Louis’s defeat of Germany’s Max Schmeling how it’s done when it’s done with expertise and love. The Boys a couple of years later. A Jew and two black men were under- in the Boat has a lot about building these slender marvels that mining the Nazi myth of Aryan racial superiority. “Whom the accommodate very skinny behinds and very long bodies. One gods would destroy they first make blind” say the Greeks; a less of the lovingly detailed heroes is George Yeoman Pocock, who deluded leadership would have read the omens: their nemesis built, with hand tools, these sleek shells, clad in paper-thin cewas readying in the West. One of the excellences of Brown’s dar shingles, and who was a fountain of rowing wisdom, from book is that, unlike some writers born in the later twentieth technical detail to transcendent insight. In his sayings you can century, he is vividly aware of the ominousness of these Olym- smell the pungent sweetness of the wood. pics and of that Germany, and so, of the service “the boys in A last delight: The Greek epigraph in front is from that most boat” did to human decency. magical of sailors’ books, the Odyssey: actually from Book V, And that’s the next point. It was the West of the West that Lines 220, 223. And all the accents are correct. ! “ �The Gadfly 08 !"#$%&!'"#(($)*!$+)((#*, !"#$%&'() Dialogues: Words and Images *+*',Lucinda Dukes Edinberg !"#$%&'()*)+ !"#$%&'$()*+,$-.&/0& & 12--*3*&4567*(+5$8&95*$+&:$-.&/0& & ;$#6*&<*((2#( =&/0& ,#%-#$%&'()*). >5+&?@A5*((8&0%+67*--&9$--*5B CDECF&/0& :$#G,$-H&I(J&98&.&/0 K+J&L27#M(&1725"(8&95*$+&:$-N&/0 '$()*+,$-;&I(J&:8&N&/0& & !/"0$%&'()*)1( '$()*+,$-17$OA%2#(7%A8&CPEQP&/0 203%&'()*)4 K/RST9&'R?>! 5"-%&'(6*) U*@$(&S#G*A*#G*#6*&;$B SV&B2"&W2"-G&-%)*&+2&(**&B2"5& *I*#+&2#&+7*&W**)-B&(67*G"-*8& A-*$(*&*O$%-&(X6$J3$GYBZ 3O$%-J62OJ T he Mitchell Gallery has opened Dialogues: Words and Images in Art, 1500-1924, an exhibition of 57 works that explore the rich and complex relationship of the word/image symbiosis from the Renaissance to the aftermath of World War I. Some of these images are simple titles for works of art; some incorporate words directly into the image; some are visual illustrations of texts or literary descriptions of objects (ekphrasis). Johnnies are well acquainted with ekphrasis, in part from Plato’s Theory of Forms and, perhaps, through something Socrates says in the Phaedrus: You know, Phaedrus, that is the strange thing about writing, which makes it truly correspond to painting. The painter’s products stand before us as though they were alive, but if you question them, they maintain a most majestic silence. It is the same with written words; they seem to talk to you as if they were intelligent, but if you ask them anything about what they say, from a desire to be instructed, they go on telling you just the same thing forever. Seen in this exhibition is Plato’s Cave (1604), an engraving by the Dutch artist Jan Pietersz Saenredam, while Aeneas’ escape from Troy is seen in Giorgio Ghisi’s 1545 print, The Fall of Troy and the Escape of Aeneas. John Boydell’s collection of scenes from Shakespeare plays, Dore’s interpretation of Don Quixote, and the iconic raven of Edgar Allen Poe’s poem are but a few of the works which explore the literary description of objects. It is worth considering the number of visual artists who were also poets and writers, such as William Blake and his Book of Job, in addition to Hogarth’s social and satirical commentaries on society through A Harlot’s Progress (1731) and A Rake’s Progress (1735). While this exhibition is not entirely devoted to ekphrasis, it does confront Horace’s famous claim: “as is painting, so is poetry” (ut pictura poesis). Furthermore, the collection asks: How does the history of language relate to the history of art? What is the relationship of words and images through time, and how do we process this verbal and visual information? Dialogues: Words and Images in Art, 1500-1924, which is on view through April 6, is curated by David Gariff, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer at the National Gallery of Art. Lenders for this exhibition include the National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Georgetown University Library Special Collections, Syracuse University Art Collection, the Greenfield Library, and several private collections. ! Plato’s Cave, 1604; Jan Pietersz Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607) !"#$%!"#$%&%'()*+%,- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 8 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 8 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-02-25 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 8 of The Gadfly. Published on February 25, 2014. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.08 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/789ce4f4e4545b4a58d0dfc8810c1a05.pdf daa067d60293a4d5a20bd7eba8ef4dd9 PDF Text Text !"# $%&'() !"#$""%&'()#"%&*&+,)#,"-)./&0&12& 3456"&*&3"77"48,4%)&0&19 3:#;$:/)<&'$:46)&0&1= !"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$61;$8<3$809:$.$2&+#$===2$.$5!!>,$0? !"#$#%&'%())*+#,%-./$*,0 photo by Johnathan Gooch �The Gadfly 02 The student newspaper of St. John’s College 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 sjca.gadfly@gmail.com Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student newsmagazine distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish a professional, informative, and thought-provoking newsmagazine. The next Gadfly will be the croquet issue. Submissions are due Wednesday, March 26, at 11:59 PM. Next meeting TBA. Articles can continue to be sent to sjca. gadfly@gmail.com. Outgoing Staff Nathan Goldman Ian Tuttle Hayden Pendergrass Transition Staff Sebastian Barajas Noé Jimenez Allison Tretina Contributors Patricia Locke Micaela MacDougall Career Services !"#$%&'(%)*+&#",- to We are excitedfirst present to you the Gadfly of the new season. Behold the Greatness! The recipes! The pictures! The articles! We serve them up with joy, and look forward to more. We accept donations in the form of articles, pictures, poetry, cash, all major credit cards, travelers checks, and cut or uncut precious stones. — The New & Improved Gadfly Team A Dictionary for Understanding Jane Austen and Fyodor Dostoevsky Micaela MacDougall A’14 The beginning of a conversation with a newly made acquaintance: In Austen: It is very fine weather for so late in the year, is it not? In Dostoevsky: And now you must bare your soul to me, tell me what you think about God and this life and the life to come, for we are brothers by our mother Russia! I love you. In Austen: Indeed, I should very much like to walk over the grounds with you. In Dostoevsky: Oh my angel, your beauty enraptures my soul and brings me into paradise! I am happy. In Austen: This day has been remarkably pleasant. In Dostoevsky: How glorious is the world, bound together in that perfect love that makes two minutes of paradise worth walking a quadrillion kilometers! I still love him, even though he no longer loves me. In Austen: I am quite indifferent to him. In Dostoevsky: Though he does not return my love and so puts me through great torment, yet I will rejoice in the sufferings of my boundless passion and so purify my soul! I am sad. In Austen: On the whole I am not altogether unhappy. In Dostoevsky: The anguish of my soul consumes me, and I despair of ever again finding any good in life! He is a bad man. In Austen: His pleasures are not what they ought to be. In Dostoevsky: He is the basest and cruelest of scoundrels, the darkest spot of the stain that is spreading through Russia! I’d rather not talk about that. In Austen: I’m afraid I must be going, for I have promised to visit a dear friend whom I cannot put off. In Dostoevsky: How dare you bring up that subject to me! You know nothing of this question that has occupied my soul and my mind for my whole life! I am sorry. In Austen: You must excuse my indelicacy. In Dostoevsky: I shall accept my guilt before all and for all, taking on the wickedness of the world in order to share in the forgiveness of the world! ! !"#$%&'"#'$ $ $$$()$*+,-&.,+/#0 ! Patrick Kelly, A’16 !"#$%&"'()*)&"+,-%"+%*#'.%'$%,'/"$!"#$%*+#%0+1#2+%$"+%(#3.-% 43.%5+3%6+,+%2#.+%7,)2%8*"%6")%1#2+ 9,)2%.+&$"*%)3$)%$"+%*#3.: % !"+%*+#%6+%1#,,;%6'$"%<*%*$'((: =+%>)#$%'3%2)$"+,*?%6)20*!)%")(.%)3$)%)<,%8*"'3+** @+7),+%)<,%0',$"%#3.%0())2:%% % 9),%A1+#3?*%6)20%1)31+'B+.%<*%#(( C3%/<(7*%)7%#31'+3$%$'2+ @+7),+%$"+%2'3.-%$"+%#,$*-%$"+%D#6 43.%='*.)2?*%('/"$%6)<(.%*"'3+: % ="+3%E#,$"%6#*%;)<3/%#3.%7,+*"(;%,#&$ C3%,#'2+3$%)7%$"+%*+#F<*$%1))(+.%7,)2%8,+-%2)($+3%,)1GH)6%#$)2*%1)<(.%#/,++: 4/,++%$)%$,;%#((%7),2*%#3.%*"#&+*-% !)%2#G+%$"+%*++.*%)7%('7+4*%8,*$%$"+;%2#.+%$"+%I<3%#3.%6),(.*% 9,)2%B),$'1+*%'3%*$,'7+: I)%I<3%#3.%"'*%#$$+3.#3$%")*$% A7%&(#3+$*%1#2+%$)%0+ ="+3%#$)2*%'3%#%1()<.%)7%.<*$ I6#2%'3%#2)3/%$"+%*+# A7%)<$+,%*&#1+%6"+,+%6),(.*%1)2+ !)%7),2%#3.%$"+3%$)%.'+: ='$"%'383'$+%2#$$+,%#3.%'383'$+%*<3*!"+,+%E#,$"*%<31)<3$#0(+%('+43.%5+3%('G+%<*-%1)31+'B+.%$"+%*#2+@),3%)3(;%$)%.'+%#3.%6++&4*%6),(.*%"#B+%1)2+%#3.%6),(.*%6'((%/) 9,)2%D'/"$%<3$)%$"+%J++&: �The Gadfly 03 !"#$%&'($&!%))%"*+"(, Patricia Locke G Tutor OSSIP OVERHEARD: Mr. Bingley to his sister: “As for the ball, it is quite a settled thing; and as soon as Nicholls has made white soup enough, I shall send round my cards.” Perhaps that white soup is not the most important of the attractions of a ball? Put the veal bones into a large pan, rest the chicken, breast down on top of them and add the remaining stock ingredients (including the chicken giblets) around. Add the water and bring to a boil, skimming off the froth and scum. Simmer slowly for 2–3 hours. Take out the chicken and reserve. Put a knuckle of veal into six When the soup has cooled, strain it quarts of water, with a large through a sieve and let it stand a few fowl, and a pound of lean bacon; hours or overnight. When it is quite half a pound of rice, two anchocold, skim off the fat from the jelly, revies, a few peppercorns,a bundle turn the jelly to a saucepan, and warm of sweet herbs, two or three onit, add the ground almonds and simion, and three or four heads of mer for 20–30 minutes. Add salt to celery cut in slices. Stew them all taste. Cool a little and strain again. together, till the soup be as strong To serve: The original soup would be as you would have it, and strain it quite smooth and thin, in which case through a hair sieve into a clean use the chicken meat for another meal, earthen pot. Having let it stand add the cream and heat to just below all night, the next day take off the boiling. Alternatively, shred some or scum, and pour it clear off into a all of the chicken meat, and return it tossing-pan. Put in half a pound to the saucepan to heat through with of Jordan almonds beat fine, boil the soup, adding the cream at the last it a little, and run it through a minute. If you wanted a heartier (and lawn sieve. Then put in a pint of less wasteful) version, discard the cream, and the yolk of an egg, and bones, giblets, and herbs, and blend send it up hot. rather than strain the white mixture. One traditionally garnishes this -John Farley, soup with pomegranate seeds or The London Art of Cookery, 1783 thinly sliced lemons. Oh for a ball supper! Oh for a full dance card! White Soup, aka Potage à la Reine Oh that infuriating Mr. Darcy! ! • • • • • • • 2lb/900g veal bones, chopped A boiling fowl (with giblets) 6oz/170g lean ham Heaping 1⁄3 cup/55g rice 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed of salt Black peppercorns Bouquet garni (or a bundle of sweet herbs — as many as possible of thyme, winter savory, parsley, bay leaf, marjoram) • 1 large onion, chopped • Half head of celery, chopped (you might also want to add a couple of roughly chopped carrots and leeks to the stock, although the author — John Farley, doesn’t) • 2 ½ quarts/2.35 litres water To finish • ¾ cup/85g ground almonds • Sea salt • ¼–½ cup/60–120ml cream (or to taste) Maids of Honour Makes 24 • 450g (1lb) shortcrust pastry • 100g (4oz) curd cheese • 75g (3oz) butter, softened • 2 eggs, beaten • 65ml (2½fl oz) brandy • 75g (3oz) caster sugar • 75g (3oz) cold mashed potatoes • 25g (1oz) ground almonds • ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg • Grated rind of 2 lemons • Juice of 1 lemon -'($&'(&'$$#.#+('/& .',.0&."%'.1&1&12"+3& .4%&+.4%"&,#$%&+2& .4%&*4'((%/5 A re you in the throes of l’admiration at the twists and turns of life at the French court? What might one wish to eat to provide proper atmosphere for La Princesse de Clèves? Perhaps the sweetmeats ingested by that gastronomical giant, Henry VIII, will support the international implications of M. Nemours denying himself the pleasure of an alliance with Elizabeth herself. It is told that while the king was visiting Anne Boleyn and her ladies one day, they were eating sweet tartlets from a silver dish. At the first taste, Henry VIII declared the “Maids of Honour” to be so delightful that he confiscated the recipe. He locked it in an iron box, with a trusted chef to create the tartlets at his whim for kingly consumption. Although no one knows for sure how Maids of Honour would have been baked back then, it’s likely ovens, themselves a status symbol, would have been involved along with ‘coffins’ – baking trays made from hardened pastry. There is nothing so tempting as a secret. This recipe has been whispered down the centuries, and this variation is from Traditional Teatime Recipes, by Jane Pettigrew, published by the National Trust. If making your pastry, chill for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4. Grease 24 patty tins. On a lightly floured board, roll out the pastry and cut 24 circles using a 7.5cm(3in) cutter. Use to line the prepared patty tins. Beat together the curd cheese and butter. Add the beaten eggs, brandy and sugar and beat again. In a separate bowl beat together the mashed potatoes, ground almonds, nutmeg, lemon rind and juice, and gradually mix in the cheese mixture. Beat thoroughly. Spoon into the pastry cases and bake for 35–40 minutes until risen, golden and firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 5–10 minutes before lifting carefully on to a wire rack to finish cooling. ! �The Gadfly 04 !"#$%"&'()*+,,-.' The Pathways Fellowship award is given to enable St. John’s students to transition into graduate study or careers that call for special or prerequisite courses. For 2014 we received 39 complete applications and made 21 awards. Please join the St. John’s College community in congratulating the following fellows: Jenna Alton ’16 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO Course: Intro to Cognitive Science Daniela Alavarez-Rodriguez ’16 Actilingua Academy, Wien, Austria Course: Intensive course, German for Adults Laura Bartram ’15 Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Rockport, ME Course: Basic Woodworking Esther Apraku Bondzie ’16 Boston University, Boston, MA Course: Chemistry I & II Blair Coppage ’14 Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Course: Independent Research & Course Research Training in Wildlife Biology Robert George ’15 Goethe Institut, Washington, DC Course: Reading Scholarly German Anyi Guo ’14 Goethe Institut, Washington, DC Alliance Francaise, Washington, DC Course: German B1 at Goethe Institut & French B1 at Alliance Francaise Nicholas Harner ’14 Wright State University, Dayton, OH Course: Math 2310, Calculus II Shayna Jenkins ’15 Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM Courses: B &W Film Photography, Digital Photography I, and The Memoir & Personal Essay Writing David Lincer ’15 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Courses: Quantitative Methods in Psychology, General Psychology & Cognition and Abnormal Psychology Sarah Marx ’14 Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel Course: Jerusalem Ulpan Nicole Pease ’15 Boston University, Boston, MA Course: Introduction to Creative Writing Michelle Porcelli ’14 University of Maryland, College Park, MD Course: Math III, Calculus I Leila Saad ’15 Esmod School of Design, Paris, France or Central St. Martin’s, London, or Paris American Academy, Paris, France Course: Fashion Design & Pattern making or various short courses Maxwell Silbiger ’16 Southern Polytechnic State University, Marietta, GA Course: Discrete Mathematics & Programming Problem Solving in Java Siqi Zhao ’16 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA Course: Calculus B, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations Jiayue Zhu ’16 Heidelberger Padagogium, Heidelberg, Germany Course: Intensive German courses Kelli Ann Zinn ’16 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Course: Elementary Linear Algebra, Calculus with Analytic Geometry II Also awarded but unable to accept: Chang Liu ’14: Harvard Summer School, Cambridge, MA Course: Intensive Intro to Computer Science Using JAVA Alexandria Wick ’15: Marchutz School of Fine Arts, Aix-enProvence, France: Core Art Program Victoria Wick ’15: Marchutz School of Fine Arts, Aix-enProvence, France: Core Art Program � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The Gadfly</em> Description An account of the resource Founded in 1980, <em>The </em><em>Gadfly</em> is a weekly student publication distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus.<br /><br />Click on <strong><a title="The Gadfly" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=16&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">Items in the <em>The Gadfly</em> Collection</a></strong> to view and sort all items in the collection. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context thegadfly Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 4 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Goldman, Nathan (Editor in Chief) Tuttle, Ian (Editor in Chief) Title A name given to the resource The Gadfly, Vol. XXXV, Issue 9 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-03-25 Description An account of the resource Volume XXXV, Issue 9 of The Gadfly. Published on March 25, 2014. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Gadfly 35.09 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Gadfly Student publication