I am frequently asked to recommend books on classical education. While there are a lot of great ones that speak to classical education specifically, I generally recommend people start with The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis. I do so because it does a masterful job of laying out the philosophical contrasts between progressive and classical education and it does so in a format that is short and readable while being simultaneously profound. The Abolition of Man provided the introductory spark I needed to see the contemporary world of education with new eyes. The status quo I had previously accepted is quickly uncovered by Lewis and identified as a much deeper problem than I had understood. What I previously saw as simple matters of practice were identified as fundamental philosophical errors.

It was in this familiar little book that I first read what Aristotle wrote about education: “Education aims to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought.” Only sentences later, Lewis references Plato’s Republic, and only a few sentences before he references Augustine. These are thinkers that any moderately educated individual has likely heard of, but at least for me, they were not authors I had ever attempted to read. Thus, Lewis serves up a list of great works that any person who is searching for a better education should pursue. In The Abolition of Man, Lewis suggests that the most important thing of all is the “doctrine of objective value.” Without it, Lewis states, mankind “stepped in the void” and as such, “our final conquest has proved to be the abolition of Man.”

I would submit that abolished man is exactly what is described in Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s Harrison Bergeron. In service of absolute equality (which today we call equity), man has been neutered in the process and his reason, his intellect, and his humanity have been eliminated. Leo Strauss mentions this circumstance in Liberal Education & Responsibility. “Goodness became identical with compassion.” We find ourselves at this crossroads today: vague notions of compassion that serve as a counterfeit replacement for true goodness. This kind of thoughtless goodness also demands passion. Modern man must be a passionate advocate because advocacy is viewed as the only substance. Thus, in the face of the injustice of the rationalist, the passionate advocate

must do something. This something, however, rarely produces anything of value. Instead, the passionate advocate must deconstruct the institutions and traditions of the past while building nothing. This lack of self-control is widespread and as Aristotle suggests, “if lack of self-control exists in the case of an individual, it exists also in the case of a city.” Accordingly, many of our cities are in disarray.

If we wish to save ourselves and our children we must return to the Tao--objective truth--which Lewis discusses in The Abolition of Man. “In the Tao itself… we find the concrete reality in which to participate is to be truly human… we can speak of Man having power over himself in a sense truly analogous to an individual’s self-control. But the moment we step outside and regard the Tao as a mere subjective product, this possibility has disappeared.”

Nathan Phelps, Board Director

Kindergarten - Chicken Little

First Grade -House of Pooh Corner

Second Grade - Sign of the Beaver

Third Grade - The People Could Fly

Fourth Grade - Anne of Green Gables

Fifth Grade - Frederick Douglass

Sixth Grade - Count of Monte Cristo

Seventh Grade - Romeo and Juliet

Eighth Grade - Much Ado About Nothing

It was enjoyable seeing the creativity of our LionHearts as they dressed up

As 100-year-olds celebrate the

100th Day of School!

Music is an integral part of classical education, and it is a joy when students share their special talents.

If you want to know more about jiu-jitsu, make sure to email

chessclub@tulsaclassical.org 

Basketball

Congratulations to all of the TCA Basketball Teams on finishing their inaugural season. We are looking forward to a great season next year!