A Defense of the Humanities - "Pro Archia Poeta" by Cicero - Some Discussion Questions
Attached is Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta which is a beautiful short treatise on the meaning of the study of the humanities, something deeply needed in today's world. At some point I will write up a summary of it, but for now here are some discussion questions that I generated from my reading.
3) Why is the written word one of the main fonts of culture? What do you think happens to a society that loses or forgets its great works?
4) How does good literature help the human condition in youth, maturity, and old age? Likewise, does being well versed in the humanities help provide us with a good death? What would be some connections to Plato's view of this in The Phaedo which we read?
6) Is the poet, the artist, the philosopher, and the writer real professions in today's world of technological advancement? Often young people are discouraged from these fields because they will not be paid well. Is this wisdom or foolishness to guide young people away from dedicating themselves to these pursuits?
7) The popular atheist figure Sam Harris has called literature "useful lies" because they are not true according to a scientific view of the world, yet they can be helpful to us. What is the inherent contradiction in this phrase?
8) Popular intellectual Jordan Peterson (in a debate with Sam Harris on this topic) has called literature "more than true" or "meta-truths", what do you think he might mean by that?
1) What are the humanities about? What is the link that
binds the various disciplines together to be called part of the
"humanities"?
2) What is the difference between leisure/play/relaxation and work? Some have
called today's culture a "total work" culture in that everything is
somehow either geared towards work or some escapist type of pleasure from it.
Is there a third way of authentic leisure that we are missing in today’s
culture? What does that look like? Is there a parallel here between the
traditional distinction of active and contemplative lives here? What
connections can you make back to the lessons on this topic from the Odyssey?
What does Cicero mean that poetry brings us "all the best things in
life"?
3) Why is the written word one of the main fonts of culture? What do you think happens to a society that loses or forgets its great works?
4) How does good literature help the human condition in youth, maturity, and old age? Likewise, does being well versed in the humanities help provide us with a good death? What would be some connections to Plato's view of this in The Phaedo which we read?
6) Is the poet, the artist, the philosopher, and the writer real professions in today's world of technological advancement? Often young people are discouraged from these fields because they will not be paid well. Is this wisdom or foolishness to guide young people away from dedicating themselves to these pursuits?
7) The popular atheist figure Sam Harris has called literature "useful lies" because they are not true according to a scientific view of the world, yet they can be helpful to us. What is the inherent contradiction in this phrase?
8) Popular intellectual Jordan Peterson (in a debate with Sam Harris on this topic) has called literature "more than true" or "meta-truths", what do you think he might mean by that?
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