Classical Moment

The Classical Moment: Selected Essays on Knowledge and Its Pleasures by James V Schall, 155 pages

The Classical Moment is a collection of essays from the octogenarian Jesuit philosopher Fr James Schall.  In the first essay, Schall introduces the idea of the "classic moment", an encounter with a great work of art which the subject could not have made himself, a moment which therefore includes the realization that there are things of value beyond the self.  Much of the rest of the collection expands this into a classical worldview, which Schall defines as simply an encounter with what is.  Knowledge is to know of what is that it is, and as man was made to know as well as to love it is a source of joy to be open to what is and to allow it to speak to us. 

For Schall's expansive mind and long experience, what is ranges from the sight of Georgetown University at dusk to the dialogues of Plato to the wonder of a hot baked butter bun.  Sadly, the book is marred somewhat by errors somewhere in the editing and printing process which resulted in portions of words disappearing at several points ("...free to spin out any confi    h    e chooses...").  Still, this is a trivial difficulty to overcome in order to enjoy a series of walks with such a wise professor of the belief that, to quote Schall quoting Chesterton, "comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel; but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which through God shall endure for ever."