AN EXERCISE FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS, SPRING 2013
Why Read?
by Mark Edmundson (New York: Bloomsbury, 2005)
“Religion is the right place to start a humanities course.”
The idea of a “Final Narrative” (Richard Rorty): “All human beings carry about a
set of words which they employ to justify their actions, their beliefs, and
their lives. These are the words in
which we formulate praise for our friends and contempt for our enemies, our
long-term projects, our deepest self-doubts and our highest hopes.
They are the words in which we tell . . . the story of our lives.”
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How do you imagine the good life?
How do you picture your life in ten years if all turns out for the best?
Are you among the 90% of Americans who (poll-takers tell us) believe that God
knows and loves you personally, as an individual?
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R.W. Emerson: “The life of [a human being] is a self-evolving circle, which,
from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger
circles, and that without end.”
“[T]he function of a liberal arts education is to use major works of art and
intellect to influence one’s Final Narrative, one’s outermost circle of
commitments.”
“[L]iberal education puts everything at risk and requires students who are
willing to risk everything.”