Rescuing Socrates

A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgroundsWhat is the value of a liberal education? Tra ...

A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgroundsWhat is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the human