I am officially finished with school. The final exam today adequately terminated my two week session covering sixteenth century literature.
The crazy thing about the class was that it covered so much information. Only a teacher as amazing as Dr. Silvester could tie it all together into a comprehensive little package that included over a hundred years of literature, philosophy, and politics (not to mention the intricate family trees of the Brittish monarchs and the historical and cultural setting in which they lived).
For the first week or so of the class I thought I was possessed. All I could think about was what one author would have said in a particular situation or how people at one point or another were bevaving more neo-platonic than aristotelian. It was really bad. But as the lectures continued I gradually realized that the cannon of renaissance/reformation thought is still applicable today. Five hundred years ago they were thinking and writing abuot everything from philosophy of education to kissing. It wasn't that I was cramming all this stuff into my busy head that made it come up all the time. It is the fact that people ages ago have already thought through the same things that most of us are parcing together today. Pretty cool.
So here are some free tidbits from class:
-Read something that's over at least five hundred years old, don't fall into the self-help book rut.
-"'Sprezzatura' = 'Cool'" (from the chalkboard of the Great Silvester)
-"'Scruz' means basically to squeeze the life out of." (the word occurs twice in Book II of the Faerie Queen)
-Pets can go to heaven too, read CS Lewis
-don't discuss the matter of music standards, artistic taste, or the integral role of poetry in society with anyone until they've read this
Five hundred years ago they were thinking and writing abuot everything from philosophy of education to kissing. It wasn't that I was cramming all this stuff into my busy head that made it come up all the time. It is the fact that people ages ago have already thought through the same things that most of us are parcing together today. Pretty cool.
Umm Tim....this line in here about kissing--did you have someone in mind?
A
Posted by: Aaron at July 1, 2005 07:55 PMNo joke. There was a tiny little treatise on kissing in Castiglion's book 'The Courtier.' But he was neo-platonic, so it's more about how you transcend the physical than the act itself. He referenced the Greek idea that the senses are gateways to the soul (eyes are the windows kinda deal). So since the mouth interprets the thoughts of the soul, kissing is allowing two souls to communicate in the truest sense. The two souls, theoretically speaking, are united as one single soul while sharing two bodies. Thus, the kiss is the most direct form of relating two rational minds (free from base physicality of course). The whole platonic ladder comes into play and evreything, but that's the idea in a nutshel. He even uses Song of Solomon to support his idea!
Posted by: timf at July 1, 2005 08:36 PMintelectually stimulating
Posted by: timf at July 2, 2005 11:34 PMNothing like a good guffaw first thing in the morning amidst the office drudgery. That last comment 'done me good.
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