Two valuable responses on "What is truth?"
What historians and writers can we rely on to tell the truth? Those of us who are not professional scholars or wealthy men wouldn't have the time to learn Latin or Greek or even French to read original sources, much as we might like to, as even if we did, we may never achieve the proficiency in those languages to read original material anyway. (R. Cort Kirkwood)
I've spent years looking for non-existent shortcuts to the knowledge that I failed to gain in the first three decades of my life. Your essay shows clearly that there is no quick and easy way. (Michael Ezzo)
I admit that I have set an impossibly high standard even for fairly learned men and women. My point was to establish the ideal. Although there are no safe shortcuts, as Mr. Ezzo realizes, there are valuable secondary works of history and scholarship that can guide our readings and direct our minds. I recommended and continue to recommend older books that tend to be less dominated by the ironclad liberal/leftist ideology of the modern academy.
Dr. Thomas Fleming
Lee Kochel, a veteran student of our programs, writes to ask:
Could you give a short list (4 or 5) of Cicero's works most worth reading for someone who has never read him? Also, are there any translators (I'm sure the original Latin is better) who are better than others?
Cicero is among the very few writers who define the West. At another time, I'll post a short appreciation of his career. Cicero is more than a political intellectual: He was a leading politician in a very troubled time when unscrupulous plotters were attempting to seize power. As consul, he saved his country from the revolutionary schemes of L. Sergius Catilina. In doing so he made an enemy of P. Clodius Pulcher, who drove him into exile and incited a mob to burn down his house. In old age, he opposed the unlawful actions of M. Antonius, who, as a member of the Second Triumvirate, had him put do death.
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A student, troubled by conflicting views of Islam (religion of peace or religion of terrorism), writes in to ask:
"How does one weed through the often contradictory and opposing information found in our history books? Theories and opinions are always open to debate, but how can we ensure that at least the "nuts-and-bolts" facts upon which we base our theories and opinions are reliable and factual?"
"'What is truth' said jesting Pilate and would not stay for an answer" is the famous beginning of Francis Bacon's essay on truth. Pilate was smart enough to know at least one of his limitations, and it is probably foolish of me not to wash my hands of the question. (I hope the joke will not be taken as blasphemous.) Since this column is about teaching and learning and not about epistemology (the philosophy that studies how we know what we think we know), I'll try to keep this simple.
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I have been taking your Introductory Latin and was doing well until this week when the various passive voice forms are all jumbled in my mind. Do you have more exercises or should I get a workbook?
This question comes from a young assistant who is going off to graduate school (in German) in the Fall. When I asked him how rapidly he had been going through the course, he told me had done 12 lessons in a bit more than three weeks. This is much too fast. One lesson per week would be the goal to aim at, though if one had one time might do two.
Click here if you wish to submit questions for Dr. Fleming to answer for The Autodidact Blog.