Radical Thoughts on Human Nature | Dr Stephen Blackwood at Hillsdale College

Ralston College Humanities MA:
https://www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma

In this lecture, entitled "'What a Piece of Work is a Man’: Radical Thoughts on Human Nature" and delivered on March 30, 2023 as part of the Drummond Lecture Series at Hillsdale College, Dr Stephen Blackwood—the founding president of Ralston College—argues that we must first understand something’s nature before we can properly care for and cultivate it. This principle holds true for all living things, including plants and animals, but it is seen in its fullest complexity in human beings as they seek to realize their unique potential through the concrete challenges and conditions of their individual lives.

Drawing richly upon both text and images, Dr Blackwood explains that the actualization of our potential is not inevitable but instead relies upon us being rooted in a culture that can nurture, sustain, and challenge us as we seek to orient our subjective and finite experiences of the world toward eternal and infinite realities. Dr Blackwood’s lecture is a call to action for both individuals and institutions, reminding us of our sacred duty to both realize our own gifts and to accompany and support others as they seek to do the same.

Authors, Ideas, and Works Mentioned in this Episode:

radix (Latin, “root")
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
The Biblical book of Ezekiel
Ugo da Carpi
cultus, (Latin, “cultivation, culture, education, devotion”)
Aristotle, De Anima
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
St Augustine
Anthony Daniels / Theodore Dalrymple
thaumazein (θαυμάζω: Ancient Greek, “wonder”)
Sigrid Undset, Kristen Lavransdatter
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo”
Homer, Odyssey
Pythagoras
Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy
Cal Newport, Deep Work
Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “As Kingfishers Catch Fire”

This recording is the property of Hillsdale College and all rights are reserved.

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