Better Things: Articles from Memoria College

Christianity and Science: Partners in the Search for Truth Part 1: Roger Bacon Lays Out the Scientific Method

Dr. Loren Eiseley, the former Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and History of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, once wrote: “…we must also observe that in one of those strange permutations of which history yields occasional rare examples, it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear, articulate fashion to the […]

What do Philosophers Know?

Philosophers ask many questions about many things, including their own discipline. One of the important questions about the discipline of philosophy is this: Is philosophy a reliable means of knowledge? The question whether philosophy can amount to knowledge becomes particularly acute when it is considered in the contrast with the hard sciences. The history of […]

Erwin Schrödinger and Classical Learning

Non-scientists know Erwin Schrödinger best for his curious thought experiment of “Schrödinger’s cat”. But the Austrian quantum physicist ought also to be known for Physics In Our Time, wherein he outlines a basic philosophy of science. Those dedicated to the revival of the liberal arts have special reason to consider Schrödinger’s remarks, for this world-class […]

The Beckoning Path of Mahler’s Music

Meliora

A key precept of classical education involves understanding the development of Western literary genres through study of the acknowledged masterworks. Classical educators enthusiastically trace the lines from ancient literature through Dante and Shakespeare. Optimally, they continue to draw that line, examining Baroque style, moving through the era of timeless novels by Austen, Dickens, and the […]

Mark Teaches Julia Latin: A Meditation

Meliora

In academic circles, the study of “pedagogy” has taken a fair beating. This is not a recent phenomenon. In 1929, the literary critic Irving Babbitt proclaimed that professors of pedagogy “are held in almost universal suspicion in academic circles, and are not infrequently looked upon by their colleagues as downright charlatans.” The subsequent years have […]

The Cultivating Animal

Meliora

I would like to see fewer biographies of great individuals and more biographies of great families or villages. We tend to overrate the singular man of original genius, while ignoring the slow accumulation of culture built up layer upon layer, century upon century, that makes the individual man of genius possible in the first place. […]

Skip to content