Henry Adams (1838-1918)

Henry Adams's Education recounts the author's life up through the year 1904. The book wasn't published until 1918, the year Adams died. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography/Autobiography in 1919.

Our selection this month consists of four chapters from the Education covering years he spent in four places: Quincy (1838-1848), Boston (1848-1854), Washington (1850-1854), Harvard College (1854-1858).

Adams was the great-grandson of President John Adams, grandson of Quincy Adams, and son of Charles Francis Adams, a politician and diplomat. Henry made his mark with his pen as a political lobbyist, journalist, and historian. For many years he circulated in elite circles of American politics and cultivated friendships with leading artists, scientists, and intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic.

Adams is pictured here in his Harvard College graduation photo.

Questions re: "The Revolution in France," by Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (1727 to 1797) was an English statesman, philosopher, and writer. He was a Whig member of Parliament for many years. In the year 1790, during the early stages of the French Revolution, he wrote an extended letter to a young Parisian acquaintance, Charles-Jean-François Depont, stating his views on the Revolution. Also intended as a rebuttal to London societies that had arisen in support of the Revolution, his "Reflections on the Revolution in France," was published in November of that year as an extended pamphlet. It was a golden age of the political pamphlet, and Tom Paine's "Rights of Man" was written as a rebuttal to Burke.

Interpretive Questions

What is a "manly, moral, regulated liberty" (p.1), and why does Burke tell us that he loves it "as well as any gentleman."

What are Burke's beliefs on meritocracy (i.e., that citizens achieve their rank through personal ability and accomplishment), and how does he react to some who came to the fore in the revolution (p. 18-19)?

On p. 18 Burke writes of hairdressers and tallow-chandlers, "Such descriptions of men ought not to suffer oppression from the state; but the state suffers oppression if such as they, either individually or collectively, are permitted to rule. In this you think you are combatting prejudice, but you are at war with nature." If Burke is against workers assuming positions of power, what would be his criteria for a suitable leader?

Why does Burke think the "principle of property" (p. 19-20) so important to the political system?

P. 20: "Some decent, regulated preeminence, some preference (not exclusive appropriation) given to birth is neither unnatural, nor unjust, nor impolitic." Do you think preference given to birth is (a) natural, (b) just, (c) politic, (d) all three?

P. 24: "What is the use of discussing a man's abstract right to food or medicine? The question is upon the method of procuring and administering them. In that deliberation I shall always advise to call in the aid of the farmer and the physician rather than the professor of metaphysics." Can there be any argument here?

What, according to Burke, caused the revolution (p. 28)?

Why does Burke say that in a government not headed by a hereditary monarch, "Men would become little better than the flies of summer." (p.32)

What is meant by Burke's use of the phrase, "the sense of mankind" (p. 36), and does it reflect on the role of philosophy in sorting out the many challenges inherent in human society? Given his earlier critique of placing reason over sentiment, is there a contradiction?

Burke at various points invokes a divine power (p. 38, "parental Guardian and Legislator", p. 30, "Master Author and Founder of society"). What role does this power play in his politics?

Why at the end of the piece does he take a dig at people who are too busy finding fault with things to try to make them better?

Based on what you know of French history, could the French truly have sustained themselves on memories of more glorious past rulers than Louis XVI and refrained from revolution?


Evaluative Questions

P. 17: "Believe me sir, those who attempt to level, never equalize." Do you agree?

Is Burke's discussion of civil society, (p. 23, "Men cannot enjoy the rights of an uncivil and of a civil state together. That he may obtain justice, he gives up his right of determining what it is in points the most essential to him. That he may secure some liberty, he makes a surrender in trust of the whole of it," etc.) a good assessment of civil society's the costs and benefits?

Is Burke's essay, in its explicit critique of the events in France. an implicit defense of the English system? Is the piece really more about England than about France?

Is this a great book or an important book? Is it both?


Passages to Discuss

Pages 3 to 5, beginning, "You will observe that from Magna Carta ... to "...for the great conservatories and magazines of our rights and privileges."

Pages 13 to 16, beginning, "Judge, Sir, of my surprise ... " to "the natural landed interest of the country."

Pages 17 to 19, beginning, "Believe me, sir, those who attempt to level ..." to "by some difficulty and some struggle."

Pages 28 to 30, beginning, "History will record that on the morning..." to "with fervent prayer and enthusiastic ejaculation."

Pages 34 to 35, beginning, "Society is indeed a contract" to "madness, discord, vice, confusion, and unraveling sorrow."

Questions about Dante's Inferno, Cantos 17-34, for June 27th

Interpretive Questions

Why do Dante and Virgil descend to Lower Hell on Geryon's back?

Does Dante uniformly show pity ("pietà") towards the denizens of hell?

Why is Lucifer portrayed as a weeping demon frozen in the center of the Earth? Why are the betrayers of Julius Caesar (Brutus and Cassius) portrayed as being as wicked as the betrayer of Jesus Christ (Judas Iscariot)?

Why must Virgil and Dante ascend through the other side of the earth at the end?

Evaluative Questions

Has Dante constructed a just hierarchy of sins?

How well does Dante juggle his roles as pilgrim, judge, narrator, and poet?

What are Dante's views on Jews and Muslims (cf. cantos IV, XXIII, XXVIII)

Speculative Questions

Who was Dante's intended audience? How was the poem disseminated? Why has the poem become so wildly popular?

Who other than Virgil might have been a good guide to hell?

For Textual Analysis

V. Canto XXVI, pages 220 to 223 : the Fate of Ulysses, beginning "So when the flame had reached us, and my guide ... " to the end of the Canto.

VI. Canto XXXIII, pages 255 to 260, Tale of Ugolino and Ruggieri.

JFK and Dante

In Canto III of "Inferno," Dante and Virgil visit the Vestibule of Hell, an antechamber for indecisive souls. According to Dante, this place is reserved for "those sad souls who lived a life but lived it with no blame and no praise."

President John F. Kennedy is reported to have admired Dante's line about "the coward who made the great refusal," which scholars believe refers to Pontius Pilate. The Vestibule is reserved for those who could not make up their minds. Dante imputes a strong element of willfulness (the "great refusal") to this condition of moral indecision. He says,

Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out,
but even Hell itself would not receive them,
for fear the damned might glory over them.

In other words, sometimes a decisive sinner will outshine a namby-pamby fence-sitter, and Dante won't let this happen in his moral universe.

Illustration: Fresco by Domenico di Michelino in the nave of Florence's cathedral (1465). Though banished from Florence on political grounds in his lifetime, Dante definitely made it back big time later on. Note that with his right hand he gestures to the parade of sinners, and holds his poem in the left for the world to see.

Questions about "The Inferno," by Dante for May 23d

Gentle Readers: Dante's "Inferno" is the most ambitious project we've undertaken, which is why I decided to break it up into two parts. The cross section of Hell portrayed on page 124 is quite helpful. It shows you where the different categories of sinners and the various landmarks of Dante's hell are situated. On the 23d we'll work our way through some of these questions. Bring a favorite passage to share.

An excellent online resource about the Commedia is http://www.worldofdante.org. You can find extensive notes on the historical, religious, and literary background of the poem.
--Tom

Interpretive Questions

Why does Dante need Virgil as his guide?

What sin did Dante commit in the "dark wood" (p. 113) that necessitated his "pilgrimage"?

How does Beatrice's speech (p. 120 to 122) affect Dante?

Why are the rings of hell circular?

What differentiates Upper Hell from Lower Hell?

What do they do in the city of Dis? (Cantos VIII and IX)

Why are the Epicurean heretics placed lower in hell than the arch heretics (Canto X)

Why are suicides portrayed as trees? Why are they able to speak only when their limbs are broken and bleeding? (Canto XIII)

Why is Lucifer portrayed as a weeping demon frozen in the center of the Earth?

Why must Virgil and Dante ascend through the other side of the earth at the end of the story?

Evaluative Questions

What was Dante's intended audience?

What are Dante's views on Jews and Muslims (cf. cantos IV, XXIII, XXVIII)

Has Dante constructed a reasonable hierarchy of sins?

How well does Dante juggle his roles as pilgrim, judge, narrator, and poet?



For Textual Analysis

I. Canto V, pages 138 to 41 : tale of Francesca and Paolo, beginning, "After I heard my teacher call the names .. " to the end of the canto.

II. Canto XI, pages 165 to 170 : The Punishments of Hell

III. Canto XV, pages 183 to 186 : The Pilgrim and Ser Brunetto.

IV. Canto XXV, pages 214 to 217 : A Thief's Metamorphosis

V. Canto XXVI, pages 220 to 223 : the Fate of Ulysses, beginning "So when the flame had reached us, and my guide ... " to the end of the Canto.

VI. Canto XXXIII, pages 255 to 260, Tale of Ugolino and Ruggieri.

Questions on "Thus Spake Zarathustra," by Nietzsche

Interpretive questions

Prologue

Why must Zarathustra, like the sun, "go under" ? (p. 79) Was his ten years of solitude in the mountains a necessary precondition of "going under"?

Page 79 : Zarathustra to sun: "For ten years you have climbed to my cave: you would have tired of your light and of the journey had it not been for me and my eagle and my serpent." What do the eagle and the serpent represent (see also p. 93, section #10)?

Why does the saint whom Zarathustra encounters in the forest counsel him to "Give them [men] nothing! Rather, take part of their load and help them to bear it -- that will be best for them, if only it does you good!" (p. 81)

Zarathustra answers, "I give no alms. For that I am not poor enough?" What does this mean and why does the saint laugh when he hears it? (p. 81)

If Zarathustra has been in solitude himself for so long, why is he surprised to learn the saint doesn't know that "God is dead." (p. 81)?

P. 82: Zarathustra preaches to the people, "Behold, I teach you the overman. The overman is the meaning of the earth ..." Who is the "overman," and why is he the "meaning of the earth? What does Zarathustra mean by his next statement," viz., "I beseech you my brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes."

P. 83: What is the "hour of great contempt" and why is it "the greatest experience you can have"?

Does the tightrope walker represent the overman? Is there a symbolism to Zarathustra carrying his corpse and then finally placing it in a hollow tree to protect it from wolves?

Interpret this line on p. 84: "What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under.

Who is the "last man" referred to on page 86, and why is he contemptible?

Why is it an insight that Zarathustra will speak "not to the people but to companions"? (p.91) He also says, "Zarathustra shall not become the shepherd and dog of a herd." Why this apparent renunciation of a leadership role?

Zarathustra's Speeches

On the Three Metamorphoses

How does the spirit become a camel, a lion, and finally, a child (p.93)?

Zarathustra says (p. 93), "Why must he preying lion become a child?" Why, indeed?

What is the meaning of the "sacred Yes" (p. 93)

Why is the town in which Zarathustra sojourns for a awhile called "The Motley Cow" (p.93).

On the Afterworldly

What is Nietzsche's position on the "afterworld" as expressed in this section? Must people reject the afterworld to achieve the "overman"? (pp.95-98)

On the Despisers of the Body

What is Zarathustra's critique of the "despisers of the body." What does he mean when he says that they have become despisers of the body because their "self" wants to go under?

On the Preachers of Death

Who are "Preachers of Death?"

On the Thousand and One Goals

P. 103: "'To honor father and mother and to follow their will to the root of one's soul': this was the tablet of overcoming that another people hung up over themselves and became powerful and eternal therby'" Is this a reference to the Ten Commandments?

P. 104: Why does Zarathustra refer to good and evil as "lovers"?

On Free Death

P. 104: What does it mean to "die at the right time"?

What is the "golden ball" referred to on p. 105?

What is Zarathustra's critique of the life of Jesus (p.106)

On the Gift-giving Virtue

Is speaking in parables "the origin of virtue" (p. 108)

P. 110: "The man of knowledge must not only love his enemies, he must also be able to hate his friends." Discuss this alteration of a familiar maxim.

P. 110: "Dead are all gods: now we want the overman to live" Does this statement encapsulate Zarathustr's (Nietzsche's) message?

Evaluative Questions

Why does Nietzsche employ the literary device of an ancient Persian prophet to serve as his mouthpiece?

Is Zarathustra a poet? Philosopher? Prophet?

"A Book for All and None"

When Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra was first published in the 1880s by E. W. Fritzsch in Leipzig, it carried the subtitle "ein büch für alle und keinen," ("a book for all and none").

The philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote of Thus Spake Zarathustra in his introduction to Nietzsche's philosophy, "What Nietzsche regarded as his magnum opus resists all traditional means of classification; it is to be taken as poetry as well as prophecy and philosophy; and still it cannot be viewed as precisely any of these (emphasis added).

Scholars dispute whether any one of Nietzsche's books really encapsulate the Nietzschean philosophy. In any event, as you read this month's selection, ask yourself, "Why is this 'for all and none'?"