William C. Michael
How to Memorize by St. Thomas Aquinas
In the Summa Theologica, where St. Thomas Aquinas teaches on the virtue of Prudence, he explains that Memory is a part of this virtue. In that place, he explains how one exercises the Memory “There are four things whereby a man perfects his memory.” Let’s study and discuss how this knowledge of how a man may perfect his memory may be applied to our studies. Please note that I have written the applications, but St. Thomas write the rules and explanations. Step 1. Illustrate First, when a man wishes to remember a thing, he should take some suitable yet somewhat … Continue
What is Dialectic?
As you learn about the seven classical liberal arts, you’ll notice a number of different names used to refer to the art of reasoning– “dialectic”, “logic”, “analytics”, or just “reasoning”. These names seem to be used with no distinction, yet they do not mean the same thing. In this video, I explain what “dialectic” is and why we should not use it to refer to the second of the seven classical liberal arts.
God bless,
Mr. William C. Michael
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
three kinds of Intellectual Life
There are three different kinds of intellectual life: (1) the selfish life that does not study, but lives by desires and opinion. (2) the public life, which studies what is needed for gaining money or influence in society, and (3) the contemplative life, which studies for wisdom, privately. The first life has no interest in truth or the common good. It is interested only in self-gratification and is content to obtain it by force, at others’ expense. Even when provided a free education, these people will not study because study is not necessary for their way of life. The second … Continue
Why We Can Never Justly Criticize the Pope
“Stand in the multitude of ancients that are wise, and join thyself from thy heart to their wisdom.” (Sirach 6:35) “Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence.” (Proverbs 3:5) “It came to pass, that, after three days, they found [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions.” (St. Luke 2:46)
Why Does the CLAA Use General Questions for Assessment?
In Academy courses, I often assess student work with written assessments in which I ask general questions concerning each lesson in a course. For example, in the Academy’s Classical Reasoning course, I ask students to answer the same following questions for every lesson: Please state the name of the author, title, book and chapter studied in this reading. Summarize your recent/previous readings in the subject/course to prepare the context for this chapter. What is the principal subject of the present reading? (This is often stated by the author.) As you read and review the chapter, make a list/outline of the … Continue