A Timely Untimely Education

A Timely Untimely Education

Audio recording of a lecture given by Dean Sarah Davis on August 25, 2023 as part of the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean's Office has provided this description of the event: “I hate everything that merely instructs me without augmenting or directly invigorating my activity.” Nietzsche opens “The Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life” with this quote from Goethe. It appropriately frames Nietzsche’s own meditation, which does not just walk us through different ways to relate to the past, giving us a schema for making sense of history, but invigorates and leads to a quickening within us. But how? This lecture investigates Nietzsche’s claim that the “excess of history” in modern times compromises the health and vitality of human life. It then considers “The Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life” itself as presenting an alternative way to relate to history. Finally, it asks how, if at all, this alternative informs a St. John’s education.

Santa Fe, NM

2023-08-25

Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online.

sound

mp3

English

SF_DavisS_A_Timely_Untimely_Education_2023-08-25

m4a

00:54:21