Between Two Worlds: A Mix of Theology, Philosophy, Politics, and Culture



Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Reno on Harvard's Curriculum

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posted by JT at Wednesday, January 09, 2008


2 Comments:

Blogger diablaazul said...

I'm baffled by Reno's critique of this curriculum. Shouldn't philosophy, art, literature, etc., be understood in cultural context? Why ever not?

I fail to see how understanding ideas in their historical and cultural context is at odds with knowing one's self as a "rational animal." In fact, I find it hard to see how rational self-knowledge is at all possible without an understanding of how contexts shape ideas, meanings, and beliefs. As I say, I'm baffled.

1/09/2008 07:32:00 PM  
Blogger Nate Martin said...

Diablaazul,

I think you may be missing the point of Reno's critique. He is not saying that the humanities are not influenced by culture. However, he does argue that postmodern education emphasizes culture (economic, political, social, and religious influences) as the primary and only influence in the creation of the arts.

Historically, we see the arts as a quest for truth. Throughout the ages, poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, architects, theologians, philosophers, and writers have sought a truth independent of culture. Thus, any study of the arts must require more than cultural understand of the era; there must be a search for the truth which the artist was attempting to capture. Were the pursuits of each artist influenced by the culture in which they lived? Of course! Should a person seeking to understand Shakespeare's work also seek to understand Elizabethan England? By all means! However, a student's study of the historical and cultural time period should come as a supplement in his understanding of Othello or The Twelfth Night as a work of art, with influences outside of culture and society, such as an unchanging truth.

-Nate

1/10/2008 08:54:00 AM  

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