The Past as Enemy Country: Why Teachers of Great Books Should Be Teaching History, Too
- sofiapbaker
- Aug 2, 2023
- 1 min read
We need to study history as a subject in its own right, acquiring a deep appreciation for the story of Western civilization, with all its abysses of failure and all its deservedly celebrated achievements. We need to help our students understand old texts at a deeper level, in less anachronistic ways. Above all, we need to arm them against the hostility to their own tradition that has become such a destructive force in our culture.
Historical study and the study of Great Books are, in a sense, natural enemies. Please don’t be shocked; it’s true. It’s a bedrock conviction of Great Books educators that you don’t need to know any history to read a Great Book. You can pick up any book—even one written thousands of years ago—and connect with it, be moved by it, and be transformed by it.
Historians, on the other hand, think you need context to understand old books, whether Great or not. We use old books, Great and not so great, to find out about the past. We call them “sources”…