‘Hillsdale’s FREE philosophy course’

    

Hillsdale College offers a 14-part Introduction to Western Philosophy free of charge. This isn’t anything new, but click here if you’re interested. From the publicity:

Explore the great ideas and philosophers of the West.  

Philosophy—a word that means “love of wisdom”—teaches us to move beyond the prevailing opinions of our age and gain a deeper understanding of reality.

A good education in philosophy provides the joy of answering fundamental questions that give meaning and direction to our lives. It also serves as a bulwark against ideas that are destructive to human life and freedom.

“Introduction to Western Philosophy” is a 14-lecture online course that invites you to explore the works of the most important philosophers of the West, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, and Nietzsche, as they wrestle with the fundamental questions that all human beings are called to answer. 

Enrollment in this course gives you free access to lectures by Professor of Philosophy Nathan Schlueter, lecture study guides, readings, and quizzes to aid you in the examination of Western philosophy from its birth in ancient Greece through C.S. Lewis’s efforts to combat the postmodern rejection of reason and truth.

Enroll in this free online course from Hillsdale College and begin the pursuit of knowledge about human nature and the best way of life today!

Taught by: Larry P. Arnn, President of Hillsdale College, Professor of History and Politics

Nathan W. Schlueter, Professor of Philosophy and Religion

Click here to get started.

If you are unfamiliar with Hillsdale, it is one of the very few independent liberal arts colleges in America—independent as in not accepting any money from any layer of government. In its own words:

Hillsdale College was founded in 1844 with a mission to provide “all who wish to learn” the education necessary to preserve the civil and religious liberties of America. The founders of Hillsdale College understood, like the founders of our great nation, that free government requires independent, virtuous, and knowledgeable citizens.

In 2011 Hillsdale launched its online courses program to extend this mission and to teach the core subjects of a Hillsdale education free of charge. Since that time, more than 4.2 million Americans have partnered with us in this effort. 

     

‘The Prestonian Lecturer for 2021 will be…’

     

This just in: The United Grand Lodge of England decided its Prestonian Lecturer for next year will be Bro. George Boys-Stones!

Bro. George, of course, is the current Prestonian Lecturer. His lecture, titled “A System of Morality: Aristotle and English Masonic Ritual,” is available in book form via Amazon.

“My failure to deliver the 2020 Prestonian Lecture has proven so popular that I am to be reappointed for 2021,” he says. “People just can’t get enough Aristotle, it seems! Or any.”

I had had Bro. George booked to speak at two events in and around New York City next week, but the pandemic changed our plans. We will get those rescheduled, but it is great there will be even more time for other lodges everywhere to make their own arrangements.
     

‘2020 Prestonian Lecture book now available’

     

The book of the 2020 Prestonian Lecture was published a few days ago, and now is available for purchase via Amazon.

A System of Morality: Aristotle and English Masonic Ritual by George Boys-Stones can be had in Kindle format and as a paperback. From the publicity:


English Freemasonry defines itself as a “system of morality,” but what does that phrase mean? This new study traces it back to the work of William Preston (1742-1818), who argued that Freemasonry teaches a philosophical approach to virtue. According to Preston, the rituals of Freemasonry are designed to lead the initiate through the ethical thought of Aristotle. His view proved popular, and was decisive in shaping the ritual approved for use by the United Grand Lodge of England shortly after its formation in 1813. Almost all English lodges, and many others throughout the world, still use a ritual derived from this one, and, perhaps without realizing it, continue to pay silent testimony to Preston and to Aristotle in their work.


I had Bro. Boys-Stones booked to present his Prestonian Lecture next month at my lodge in Manhattan and my research lodge in New Jersey, but Coronamania intervened. We’ll get those events rescheduled. In the meantime, I’m getting this book!

Every year, the United Grand Lodge of England selects a worthy brother to serve as the Prestonian Lecturer; in this capacity, he travels the jurisdiction to deliver his lecture in lodges and other venues. Sometimes they travel abroad. This tradition was commenced upon the death of William Preston in 1818 with a bequest to the new grand lodge, and has continued uninterrupted (excepting the years of the Second World War) since.
     

‘2020 Prestonian Lecturer’

     
And the envelope please…

Magpie file photo

The Prestonian Lecture for 2020 will be “A System of Morality: Aristotle and the Making of the Ritual” as presented by W Bro. George Boys-Stones, Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.

Congratulations, Bro. Boys-Stones! Please let me know if your travels bring you to the United States, particularly the New York City area. I have some experience in arranging Prestonian speaking engagements.

George Boys-Stones

W. Boys-Stones, unsurprisingly, is a professor of Classics, a member of the Classics Department at Durham University from 1999 to 2019 before joining the faculty of the University of Toronto for the 2019-20 term. He is a prolific author on subjects pertaining to the philosophies of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, and is managing editor of Phronesis, a journal of ancient philosophy. Earlier this year, he published Platonist Philosophy 80 BC to AD 250: An Introduction and Collection of Sources in Translation which, among other feats, puts into English for the first time a number of Platonist primary writings.

Click here to see other books.

A Prestonian Lecturer is appointed every year by the United Grand Lodge of England in a tradition commenced in 1818, thanks to a bequest to the Grand Lodge from William Preston, that has gone uninterrupted excepting for the years of the Second World War (if I recall correctly).

Having attempted myself to speak a number of times on the Four Cardinal Virtues, I’m very eager to hear this Prestonian Lecture because I glossed over Aristotle, jumping from Plato to Aquinas.