Antiquitopia

From T.S. Eliot's "Choruses from 'The Rock'" (yes, I have been reading a lot of T.S. Eliot lately): All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance, All our ignorance brings us nearer to death, But nearness to death no nearer to God. Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

Wisdom did not find a place where she might dwell, so her dwelling was in heaven. Wisdom went forth to dwell among the sons of men, but she did not find a dwelling. Wisdom returned to her place, and sat down among the angels. Iniquity went forth from her chambers, those whom she did not seek she found, and she dwelt among them like rain in a desert and dew in a thirsty land. (1 Enoch 42:1-3; trans. Nickelsburg). What a burn for Sirach 24! In fact, George Nickelsburg calls this passage a parody of Sir. 24, where Wisdom searches the whole earth for a place sto stay and lodges in Israel on Zion: "And he [the Creator] said, "Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance." (Sir. 24:8) Once Wisdom returns to heaven, Iniquity goes out. Iniquity clearly offers some sort of consolation as "rain" and "dew," but supposedly these would be temporary salves, pleasures that lead away from the eternal Wisdom, who, unlike in Sirac...

I personally do not have a Latin diploma. IWU and my current Columbia use English (yes, even Columbia). Dickinson College's Latin professor, Christopher Francese, says, indeed, Latin diplomas must go : Latin is a beautiful language and a relief from the incessant novelty and informality of the modern age. But when it’s used on diplomas, the effect is to obfuscate, not edify; its function is to overawe, not delight. The goal of education is the creation and transmission of knowledge — not the creation and transmission of prestige. Why, then, celebrate that education with a document that prizes grandiosity over communication? .... I know that getting rid of the Latin diploma will not be easy. While most colleges and universities now issue English diplomas, some prominent holdouts — including Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania — still use Latin. Many students and alumni cherish the tradition. In 1961, when Harvard switched to English diplomas, about 4,000 students pr...

With little need of introduction, here's Socrates! My own wisdom is of no account--a shadow in a dream.... (Plato, Symposium 175E)

If there is any ancient reflection on the dangers, or perhaps terrors, of knowledge, particularly self-knowledge, self-realization, it would have to be Sophocles' Oedipus the King . On my reading, the true tragedy of the play is not that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother (both unknowingly), but the tragedy is gaining knowledge of this, realizing he is who he is. Whereas, if he did not seek out this knowledge, presumably he could have lived out his life in ignorant bliss. Thus, Teiresias, although verbally abused by Oedipus, at first protects Oedipus from this self-knowledge with a reflection on the brutality and horror that can come from wisdom: Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that's wise! This I knew well, but had forgotten it, else I would not have come here. (Oedipus the King 316-9; trans. David Grene) In fact, many people in Thebes already know who Oedipus is, know his true origins, but refuse to tell him. In addition to Te...