R. Robin Finley

The Eternal Argument: A Framework for Understanding Western Literature and Culture by R. Robin Finley, which I recently read, addresses this progression. This author offers the premise that all great books of Western civilization participate in one great argument.

This discussion debates two positions:
1) “There is a God and He rules over flawed mankind by giving us rules by which to live” and
2) “There is no God so people decide what’s good and what’s evil, and human nature can arrive at the rules” (p. 3). Only by recognizing this overarching argument, states Finley, can readers better understand Western literature.

Just as it is easier to put together a jigsaw puzzle by studying the box top (unless you’re my husband. He thinks that’s cheating.), studying literature is easier when readers know how the written work fits into the larger framework of the Great Conversation of Western civilization. The framework for a given work, book, essay, poem, or play, is the cultural setting in which it was written and the worldview of the author.

https://lorindasponderings.com/2017/07/06/reading-about-the-great-conversation/… (mehr)