To the Editor — 

My name is Joseph. I’m a freshman. Adjusting to life at Hillsdale this last week has been like getting used to living in a heavenly dream — a dream full of fascinating lectures, hours-long discussions about the Good with random Olds girls and as much SAGA soft serve as I can manage every morning for breakfast. In short, Hillsdale has been everything I could have hoped for and more. 

Everything I could hope for with one exception, I suppose. Really, there’s just one minor thing that I’d like to bring to Hillsdale’s attention: the surprising paucity of people talking about Aristotle. 

Sure, we might discuss Aristotelian logic ad infinitum every day in Logic and Rhetoric. I suppose it’s also true that we’ve started our Introduction to Western Philosophy class by reading the greatest works of ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle’s “Physics,” “Metaphysics,” and “Poetics.” And I did appreciate it that our entire freshman orientation consisted of only lectures on the “Nicomachean Ethics” with occasional forays into the “Ars Rhetorica.” 

But nearly every discussion, conversation, and late-night dorm argument I’ve taken part in during this last week has shown a startling propensity to bring in the works of lesser authors like St. Augustine, Pope Benedict XVI, Martin Luther, St. John Henry Newman, Homer, or even — and this is the most unkindest cut of all — Plato. Shockingly, St. Thomas Aquinas was mentioned in 18 of those conversations, while Aristotle was only mentioned in 12. 

I was astounded to see this. Coming from a small, Christian, liberal arts high school where I breathed Aristotle, slept Aristotle, and wrote my freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior theses on Aristotle, I had high expectations for Hillsdale. Imagine my disappointment, then, when I realized that students and professors here often talk about thinkers other than Aristotle. It’s disgraceful — we claim to be a school that teaches the liberal arts!

What’s even more worrisome to me is the fact that my peers are discussing questions of modern applications of philosophy without even considering what Aristotle might bring to the conversation. For instance, I’ve heard other freshmen discussing how to form and maintain solid friendships. Tragically, only three people managed to bring in and discuss the relevant passages from the “Nicomachean Ethics,” book 7. Another time, I witnessed another group talking about democracy and how it plays out in our modern world and was shocked to see that just one single interlocutor chose to cite the “Politics,” book 3, to prove his point. 

And those are just a few of the many examples of missing Aristotelianism I’ve seen in my time here. My fellow Hillsdaleans, we have all of the answers firmly in the pages of Aristotle, if only we could think to seek them there. Searching for insight into the founding of the United States of America? Check Aristotle. Looking for the meaning and teleology inherent in mankind? Aristotle again. Need a solution to the age-old question of Natural Family Planning? You guessed it — Aristotle’s your man! 

So I urge you, my dear fellow scholars: Let’s get back to our roots by getting back to citing The Philosopher. Forget the “Four Quartets,” “The Four Loves,” and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — let’s memorize the Four Causes of Aristotle. 

After all, this is Hillsdale. We defend liberty and love the true, the good, the beautiful. We have the chance to ponder the best that’s been thought, written, and said. 

It’s not that hard. Let’s all talk more about Aristotle. 

 

Joseph Oldsboy is a freshman. He hopes to graduate with a double-major in Philosophy and Olds as well as an ex in Mac. 

 

This piece was edited by Zack Chen.