The Republic: A Real City?
Wes Callihan explains that Plato’s Republic is not about a real city, or a blueprint for a real city, but rather a picture of the human soul, and how the soul should work. Many people throughout history have mistakenly treated Plato’s Republic as a guide to the perfect physical city, which is a gross mistake, and not what Plato had in mind. This is an excerpt from The Philosophers, unit 4 of The Greeks in the Old Western Culture series, a great books video course for high school students. YouTube version HERE.
"I'm giving my kids the education I never received"
“I’m giving my kids the education I never received.” Is that a familiar statement? Most parents who give their children a classical education did not receive a classical education themselves. But it’s not too late! Old Western Culture is a Great Books video course intended for high school aged students, but is designed in such a way as to be conducive to adult continuing education as well! Even if you only have time to watch the lectures, you will get a sweeping overview of the Great Books that shaped Western Civilization. A classical education FOR your kids, WITH your kids, … Continue Reading “"I'm giving my kids the education I never received"”
Stories are a Bootcamp for Life | Wes Callihan (Old Western Culture)
In this excerpt from The Philosophers, unit 4 of The Greeks (Old Western Culture series on the Great Books of Western Civilization), Wes Callihan talks about how imaginative literature is like bootcamp for life. Children get to practice the emotions of life, such as pity, terror, pain, guilt, love, redemption, heroism, glory, honor, shame, etc. in stories. In literature we don’t have the demands for action on us the way we do in real life, giving us the opportunity to meditate on those emotions, and what is right and wrong, from a distance.