My Plato Project

I mentioned I am working at working my way through "the classics". And it is slow going, let me tell you.

The Republic by Plato has been my pet project for, oh, a year. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that.

But, I think I'm doing it well! Or rather, to keep with my theme, doing it excellently. It has been a lonely adventure because I haven't found anyone who was up for forging ahead on this project with me. Can you imagine?

I'm just starting Book 9, so it's finally all starting to come together for me. Can you believe that I am actually curious to find out how Plato is going to resolve the logistics of establishing of this theoretical 'just' city? I tell ya, 15 years ago this would have been the slowest and cruelest form of torture I would have been able to fathom.

Resources I've used in "Kelly Learns Plato 101":

Obviously the text.

The translation I used was the one in the Great Books of the Western World collection. Oh be still my heart, that collection is a book list in itself. I very possibly love book lists more than the books themselves. Combine that with a collector personality....and you have yourself a lifelong project.

Actually, I'm not crazy about this translation. I have peeked into Allan Bloom's and I think I might be inclined to go with if I were picking a stand-alone volume. But of course that one doesn't look as good on the shelf with dozens of other volumes standing right next to it.

And I recognized I needed a helper, so I turned to Good 'Ole:

At one point in my life I would have been embarrassed to admit that. 

It's actually helped me a lot. But not as much as:

These courses are true gems! And you know I want to study through them all. They have a ton of courses. Tip: never ever ever pay full price. You can get them very steeply discounted. They rotate what is on sale, and you can also usually find a large collection of them at the library.

But, as excellent as these resources have been, they have not taken the place of a reading companion who will sit down and hash out the questions that inevitably arise with a careful study of a work of this magnitude. Perhaps if I pick a book a little more....universally enjoyable.... for the next project I can convince someone to plunge in with me!

Pursuing My Own Education

One of the channels I am pursuing excellence in is my own continued education. Since I have began homeschooling my kids, I've realized how much I undervalued the time that I had in my own traditional learning years to really get an education. My attitude was probably the same as many -- put in the time to get the degree I need to get on with "real life".

I really regret that I was in such a hurry during this life stage. Most likely, never again will I get an opportunity to have concentrated study time to learn about the great ideas that have been set forth and the great minds that are preserved through literature. Now my learning must come through 15 minutes of reading here, 20 minutes of podcasts there, in between preparing meals and tending to needs.

That's OK. My blessings in life abound. One of those blessings is being on this side of the Guttenberg press, and on this side of the World Wide Web, so I can pursue ideas to ruminate on anytime the chance arises, not just when I can be with an instructor or tutor. Ahhh...this makes me smile.

In my early youth I had no interest in reading anything that could remotely come close to being labeled "classic", especially if it was assigned by a teacher. Talk about drudgery! And having to remember what color hat was floating in the water when some random character drowned for the pop quiz that was sure to follow the next day....instead of reading the assigned selection I spent my time figuring exactly how low of a score I could make on said pop quiz and still squeak by with an 'A' in the class. I did spend a lot of time reading; it was just twaddle and junk that I poured into my mind.

But somewhat recently I decided I need to be better read, especially if I plan to really educate my children and to encourage the enthusiasm for learning that I didn't have while young. So, I picked up Jane Eyre. I think it was because a friend had suggested it as an easy entrance to the classics, one that I would probably find enjoyable. Once I got into the book, I was *hooked*! And I felt enlightened to have figured out that there was an actual reason books were considered "classics", and that was because they were actually really good and were worthy of lasting through the decades!

So here I am, several years later, working my way through the classics as my primary means to self-educating. It is slow going, especially since many days the only time I have to read is the whole 15 minutes I can stay awake before dosing off to sleep at the end of the day. But, it has been satisfying. Depth exists in these classics that is rarely seen in today's sound bite hungry culture. Fascinating ideas that I personally have never fathomed are sitting quietly waiting for me to discover them. I love it. I think I can finally call myself a reader.