Lumen Christi Institute | Aristotle's Great-Souled Man in Jane Austen, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Saint Augustine @LumenChristiInt | Uploaded February 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
A lecture with J. Warren Smith. Presented in Swift Hall at the University of Chicago, January 26, 2023.
Augustine famous referred to the classical virtues as "splendid vices". Although he stood in the tradition that valued virtue, he was concerned that the pursuit of greatness through the life of virtue - a theme dating back to Aristotle's ideal of the Great-Souled Man - could actually breed a sense of self-righteousness. Yet there is much to the Aristotelian ideal. The pursuit of greatness in the service of God seems preferable to complacent mediocrity that sadly characterizes so much of our life. This lecture, focusing on Dostoyevsky and Austen, seeks to discover the danger of the pursuit of greatness while examining how the category of "greatness" might be reconceived in Christian terms.
For more information on this event, see the event webpage here: lumenchristi.org/event/2023/01/aristotles-great-souled-man-in-jane-austen-fyodor-dostoyevsky-saint-augustine-j-warren-smith
Support our work to keep events like these free and available to the public. Donate today at lumenchristi.org/donate
A lecture with J. Warren Smith. Presented in Swift Hall at the University of Chicago, January 26, 2023.
Augustine famous referred to the classical virtues as "splendid vices". Although he stood in the tradition that valued virtue, he was concerned that the pursuit of greatness through the life of virtue - a theme dating back to Aristotle's ideal of the Great-Souled Man - could actually breed a sense of self-righteousness. Yet there is much to the Aristotelian ideal. The pursuit of greatness in the service of God seems preferable to complacent mediocrity that sadly characterizes so much of our life. This lecture, focusing on Dostoyevsky and Austen, seeks to discover the danger of the pursuit of greatness while examining how the category of "greatness" might be reconceived in Christian terms.
For more information on this event, see the event webpage here: lumenchristi.org/event/2023/01/aristotles-great-souled-man-in-jane-austen-fyodor-dostoyevsky-saint-augustine-j-warren-smith
Support our work to keep events like these free and available to the public. Donate today at lumenchristi.org/donate
