Those of you who attended our last conference on Teaching the Arts Classically already know Dr. Matthew Post. Matt heads up the Classical Education outreach efforts at the University of Dallas. So, if you are engaged in Classical Education or just interested in it, Matt is someone you should meet. And our conference on October 7 at the University of Dallas is the perfect opportunity. Matt will address The Unity of Truth and Beauty in Tragedy. Here’a preview:

We’ve often heard that “beauty is truth, truth beauty,” even though truth often seems ugly and beauty often obscures the truth. This problem is at the heart of education, in which we must choose which hard truths to present unvarnished and which to soften.

Aristotle addresses this problem through his treatment of tragedy, since tragedy offers not just a world in which the innocent suffer, but often one in which there is no innocence at all. Aristotle moves beyond the usual ways of finding beauty in tragedy: in artistic style, in emotional response, and in the rare figure who rises above their circumstances. He insists that the greatest beauty lies in tragedy’s truthful portrayal of the human condition, suffering and all, making the novel claim that the beauty of the poetic work is the same as the beauty of a living being.

Aristotle argues that beauty and truth indeed coincide, but that we must set aside our conventional notions to consider more deeply how beauty and truth are revealed in the life of a community, and in that community’s profound union with the awe-inspiring order of nature and the divine.

Conference details and registration can be found here.