August 19, 2020
In this second of two videos, Dr. José Yulo continues leading us on a Grand Tour of the history of Western Civilization. In so doing, he utilizes the seminal book, "The Crisis of Western Education," which served as a capstone of the Christian historian Christopher Dawson’s thought on the Western educational system. Newly updated with a new introduction by Glenn W. Olsen, the book masterfully brings various disciplinary perspectives and historical sources into a complex unity of expression and applies them to concrete conditions of modern society.
FEATURED ARTWORKS:
1: "Lion Hunt Relief from Nimrud" (883-859 B.C.), Pergamon Museum, Berlin
2: "Crucifix," Giotto di Bondone (1290), Santa Maria Novella Church, Florence
3: "Persian Immortals" (330-323 B.C.), Pergamon Museum, Berlin
4: "Corinthian Helmets and Mirror" (6th Century B.C.), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
5: :Caino e Abele," Andrea Schiavone (1699), Palazzo Pitti, Florence
6: "Augustinerkirche" (1327), Vienna
7: "Salome," Henri Regnault (1870), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
8: "Sacrifice of Isaac," Stefano Pier (1585), Accademia Gallery, Florence
Watch Part One in this link:
• The Crisis of Western ...
Dawson argues that Western culture has become increasingly defined by a set of economic and political preoccupations ultimately hostile to its larger spiritual end. Inevitably, its educational systems also became increasingly technological and pragmatic, undermining the long standing emphasis on liberal learning and spiritual reflection which were hallmarks of the Christian humanism that created it.
In this important work on the Western educational system, Dawson traces the history of these developments and argues that Western civilization can only be saved by redirecting its entire educational system from its increasing vocationalism and specialization. He insists that the Christian college must be the cornerstone of such an educational reform. However, he argued that this redirection would require a much more organic and comprehensive study of the living Christian tradition than had been attempted in the past.
Dawson had reservations about educational initiatives that had been developed in response to this crisis of education. Among them, he expressed doubts about newly emerging great books programs fearing that they would reduce the great tradition of a living culture to a set of central texts or great ideas. In contrast, he insisted that a Christian education had to be concerned with “how spiritual forces are transmitted and how they change culture, often in unexpected ways.” This would require an understanding of the living and vital character of culture. As Dawson saw it, “culture is essentially a network of relations, and it is only by studying a number of personalities that you can trace this network.” Dawson offers a diagnosis of modern education and proposes the retrieval of an organic and living culture which alone has the power to renew Western culture.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
José Maria J. Yulo is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and teaches philosophy and western civilization at the Academy of Art University. Dr. Yulo received his Bachelor’s degree in the classical liberal arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, Master’s degree in political communication from Emerson College in Boston, and his Ed.D. in the philosophy of education from the University of San Francisco. Dr. Yulo is the author of "The Presocratic and Platonic Philosophical Influences on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Epic, The Lord of the Rings." His paper, “Being, in and with, Natural Law: Exodus and Parmenides” was presented at the American Jacques Maritain Association annual meeting at the University of Notre Dame. His articles have been published in "Ignatius Insight", "Review of Metaphysics" and "University Bookman."
ABOUT THE BOOK AUTHOR:
Widely praised as one of the most important Catholic historians of the twentieth century, Christopher Dawson (1889-1970) is the author of "The Crisis of Western Education" and numerous other books, articles, and scholarly monographs. He was lecturer in the History of Culture, University College, Exeter; Gifford lecturer; Charles Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University from 1958 to 1962; and editor of the "Dublin Review."
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28 ноя 2020
