Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education

by David V. Hicks, Charles Scribner III (Foreword by), Andrew Kern (Introduction)

Overview

A reissue of a classic text, Norms and Nobility is a provocative reappraisal of classical education that offers a workable program for contemporary school reform. David Hicks contends that the classical tradition promotes a spirit of inquiry that is concerned with the development of style and conscience, which makes it an effective and meaningful form of education. Dismissing notions that classical education is elitist and irrelevant, Hicks argues that the classical tradition can meet the needs of our increasingly technological society as well as serve as a feasible model for mass education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538195352
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

David V. Hicks graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton and read Philosophy at Oxford. He taught strategy at the Naval War College while serving in the Navy and spent most of his life heading independent schools and serving on school, foundation, and seminary boards in America and abroad. He wrote his first book, winner of an ALA Award in Education, Norms & Nobility, while still in his twenties. Since then, he and his brother Scot, an international school head, have collaborated on a number of translations: The Emperor’s Handbook (Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations) published by Scribner, and an annotated series of Plutarch’s Lives, The Lawgivers, The Statesmen, and The Tyrant, published by CiRCE. Classical Academic Press will publish his new book, The Stones Cry Out!, in 2024. He and his wife Mary Elizabeth have four grown children and live on a ranch near Harrison, Montana.

Table of Contents

chapter 1 Virtue is the Fruit of Learning
chapter 2 The Word of Truth
chapter 3 Teaching the Father of the Man
chapter 4 The Tyrannizing Image
chapter 5 Saving the Appearances
chapter 6 On the Necessity of Dogma
chapter 7 The Ennobling of the Masses
chapter 8 The Promises of Christian Paideia
chapter 9 A Curriculum Proposal (What Might Have Been)
chapter 10 Some Questions and Assumptions (What Ought to Be)
chapter 11 Three Schools in One Academy
chapter 12 The School Within the School
chapter 13 Epilogue
chapter 14 Bibliography
chapter 15 Index

Editorial Reviews

In Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education, David V. Hicks presents a compelling case for education that goes beyond utilitarian purposes, exploring the ancient (and noble) idea that a classical education aims to foster the intellectual and moral growth of students, preparing them to contribute meaningfully to society and engage in a lifelong pursuit of truth, wisdom, and virtue. Norms and Nobility delves into the philosophical underpinnings of education, drawing from classical Western thought and the educational practices of ancient civilizations. Readers interested in American classical education will find this exploration resonant, as classical education seeks to revive and adapt these timeless principles for contemporary contexts.

Michael Rose

In Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education, David V. Hicks presents a compelling case for education that goes beyond utilitarian purposes, exploring the ancient (and noble) idea that a classical education aims to foster the intellectual and moral growth of students, preparing them to contribute meaningfully to society and engage in a lifelong pursuit of truth, wisdom, and virtue. Norms and Nobility delves into the philosophical underpinnings of education, drawing from classical Western thought and the educational practices of ancient civilizations. Readers interested in American classical education will find this exploration resonant, as classical education seeks to revive and adapt these timeless principles for contemporary contexts. —Michael Rose, Headmaster at Cincinnati Classical Academy

From the Publisher