Another Sort of Learning: A Lifelong Pursuit of Wisdom Through Great Books

James Schall's "Another Sort of Learning" is less a traditional literary critique and more a manual for cultivating a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration. It serves as a stirring, albeit whimsical, defense of the intellectual life, guiding readers on a journey to discover the value and purpose of seeking higher knowledge.

The Student and the Teacher: Beginning the Intellectual Journey

Schall initiates the reader into the intellectual life by exploring the fundamental relationship between students and teachers. He emphasizes the importance of seeking out good teachers, understanding our obligations as students, and recognizing the responsibilities of teachers. This initial exploration lays the groundwork for understanding what we ought to teach and learn.

Finding the Right Guides

The book emphasizes the importance of finding mentors who can guide us on our intellectual journey. Schall prompts us to consider not only "Why Read?" but also "What a student owes his teacher," delving into the reciprocal responsibilities that foster a fruitful learning environment. He also touches on the role of teachers through the essay "Grades".

Engaging with Great Thinkers: A Conversation Across Time

Schall introduces readers to the ideas of influential figures like Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Shakespeare, and Chesterton. Rather than offering exhaustive analyses, Schall provides glimpses into specific aspects of their thought, inviting readers to engage with their ideas through the lens of his own experiences and reflections. Schall's familiarity with these thinkers is both offhand and disarming, inviting the reader to feel at home in their company.

Schall on McInerny on Aquinas: A Hierarchy of Scholarly Engagement

The essays showcase Schall engaging with a hierarchy of scholarly work, energized by the thought of the original author, carried through the conduits of these scholarly essays, an informal engagement that allows for digressions that participate in rather than distract from the point of the book. Reading how and why others smelled those roses before us gives the reader models of what the intellectual life looks like, and the simple pleasure of young and old minds grappling with life in pleasant conversation, both in and out of the classroom, is one of the primary joys.

The Intellectual Life: Smelling the Roses

Schall emphasizes the importance of savoring the intellectual journey, encouraging readers to "smell the roses" along the way. By sharing anecdotes from his life as a teacher and scholar, he offers models of what the intellectual life looks like, highlighting the simple pleasure of engaging with great minds in stimulating conversation.

Auxiliary Works: Guiding the Uninitiated

Recognizing that many readers may be unfamiliar with the canon of great books, Schall provides lists of auxiliary works at the end of each chapter. These works serve as intermediaries, guiding the intelligent but unschooled reader through the complex ideas and arguments presented in the great books. More challenging to find are works that guide an intelligent but unschooled reader’s thinking on the questions that arise from great books. Here is where Schall’s book gives abundantly.

Addressing Concerns About Education: Truth and the Great Questions

Schall addresses the widespread concern about the quality of education. He questions the fundamental premises in our culture which do not allow truth to be considered. Schall lists various important books to read, and why. He questions the values and priorities of contemporary education, lamenting the neglect of fundamental questions about truth and meaning. He notes the widespread concern about the quality of education in our schools, Schall examines what is taught and read (and not read) in these schools.

The Dangers of Myopia and Prejudice

Schall argues that many modern students never learn to raise, much less answer, the great questions, thus are uneducated in the deepest sense; and that great books, past and present, which wrestle deeply yet non-technically with these questions rather than passively mirroring popular culture with its myopia and prejudices, can fill this vacuum for anyone, in or out of school.

A Conservative Approach to Learning: Seeking Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

"Another Sort of Learning" embodies a deeply conservative approach to education, one that emphasizes the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. Schall advocates for a "reactionary perspective" that looks to the past for wisdom and guidance, rejecting the fleeting trends and shallow values of modernity.

Read also: Exploring Alternative Terms

Reclaiming a Mathematical Inheritance

Like Schall’s book, it is not a curriculum. It is, however, a list of some things from mathematics you should experience but probably were never required to experience. There is something unique in the human soul that can only be satisfied by wondering about mathematics. And that means, regardless of your background, this book is for you. Reclaim your mathematical inheritance. Embrace the mathematician within you.

The Enduring Relevance of "Another Sort of Learning"

One of the interesting benefits of reading a book like this over thirty years old is that it skips a generation. The authors that I recognize are mainly the ones still being discussed today, so Schall’s reading lists can point us back to older books of substances that may further help clear away the cobwebs of the contemporary cacophony. There is nothing new under the sun, but Schall provides access to the ongoing debates that doesn’t include the gaps and blind spots of the latest cycle of blogs. Another benefit of Another Sort of Learning is that Schall describes the same sorts of problems being lamented by thoughtful people today. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun. On one hand, the continuance of this concern about the loss of the transcendentals is discouraging because we have not made much progress. On the other hand, the continuance of concern on this issue shows that we have not altogether lost the fight. This is an encouraging volume that is worth the time to read. The essays are no worse for being more than thirty years old.

The Clean Sea Breeze of the Centuries

C. S. Lewis recommends reading old books “to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds.” (Lewis, “On Reading Old Books”) It is by reading old books that we gain a corrective to the characteristic blind spots of our own culture. I’m not sure if James Schall’s book, Another Sort of Learning, counts as an old book, since it was published in 1988, but it had a revealing effect for me.

Conclusion: An Invitation to Intellectual Exploration

"Another Sort of Learning" is an inspiring and thought-provoking work that invites readers to embark on a lifelong journey of intellectual exploration. By emphasizing the importance of great books, thoughtful conversation, and the pursuit of truth, Schall offers a roadmap for cultivating a rich and meaningful intellectual life. Schall’s book is worth considering on its own, but it also provides evidence that today’s cultural battles are not really that new. More than thirty years ago, Schall was calling out the same problems that might be the source of concern in The American Conservative, First Things, or National Review today. That doesn’t mean that the concern is not warranted, but rather that we might be better served by recognizing that this election or this court case or this movie may not actually be the straw that broke the camels back. It may be, but that seems less and less likely the older I get. There is nothing new under the sun. In Another Sort of Learning, Schall writes “about being a student, about reading, about the fact that each of us is called to understand. . . ‘the truth about our lives.’” This is a book that discusses other books that can help shape the mind. It is a book about thinking well, appreciation of the transcendentals, and recommendations of others who are thinking along the same vein.

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