The Past and Future of Classics

Gibbon

"Classics as traditionally defined is a sinking ship, because the social and cultural conditions which created the field no longer exist" argues Christopher Jones (@cwjones89)  3 mar 2019:

The idea that Greece and Rome were beacons of Reason before they were destroyed by irrational monotheism, setting civilization back 1000 years until the Renaissance and Enlightenment happened, has been thoroughly deconstructed over the past 50 years. / This was concurrent with the decline of the Enlightenment itself, and of narratives of Western exceptionalism. The combined effect was to remove the factors which made education in the Classics socially valuable. /Of course, people are still interested in Greece and Rome, but the Classics are no longer useful for social advancement. The public views studying Classics largely as a personal eccentricity. / And so it is. People study it because they are interested in it. But it is increasingly difficult to make the case for it having value to society as a whole. New approaches are needed. / [...] The only way to avoid sinking is to build another ship. There are plenty of parts sitting around, they just need to be assembled.