by Annie Abrams in Slate (May 23)
With a readership of 20 million or so, Slate provides an indicator of mainstream, liberal views on a variety of cultural subjects. Last month in its pages, an English teacher from New York City argued that “right-wingers believe in the importance and impact of literature”—and so, she argues, the left needs to defend “pluralistic democracy.”
Several classical providers and players are mentioned in the article, which provides some insight to the outsider’s political perspective on classical education. Particularly fond of Toni Morrison’s work and not finding it in the classical schools she surveyed, the author attacks classical education as “demand[ing] conformity to what it calls ‘objective standards of truth, goodness, and beauty’.” Somewhat predictably, this teacher proposes to challenge canonical standards with what Morrison described as “a provocative healthy, explosive melee.” Throughout the article, the author styles herself as questioning “incontestable aesthetic standards” in favor of “cultivating individual perspectives.”
Surely very little is “incontestable” in today’s public square, with aesthetics barely receiving an honorable mention in most educational circles. But, perhaps that is where the conversation must begin afresh.
Given the support of classical in red states like Texas and Florida, the classical renewal continues to provoke speculation on the relationship between liberal arts education and conservative politics.
