Learning a language is a matter of hours of study. The primary function of the method therefore comes down to keeping the student stimulated, so that he can study more and therefore learn faster. Secondly, it is up to the method to guide learning according to the student’s objectives, i.e. among the four fundamental skills in the study of a language (oral and written comprehension; oral and written expression), it is up to the method to focus more on the one or ones that are most desired. In all cases, progress won’t be very far without a solid foundation in all four. In all cases, progress is directly proportional to dedication. The rest is useless talk.
The Problem With Utilitarian Man
The problem with utilitarian man is that he believes that everything is necessarily for sale, just waiting to be negotiated. That is why he ends up, sooner or later, breaking his face when he comes up against his will against a nature that does not share his convictions. So he lashes out, wages war and sometimes insults what he does not understand; in all cases, however, whether he thinks he is triumphant or not, he is forced to swallow his own smallness.
The Rational Foundations of Common Sense
Perhaps the most important and necessary function of philosophy is to lay the rational foundations of common sense. It is necessary, again and again, to travel the same paths and repeat the same age-old arguments in favor of common sense; otherwise, how easily it is dispersed! and how regrettable the consequences of this dispersion! In fact, Edward Feser is right: all the moral ills that modernity suffers from can be traced back to the estrangement from Aristotle, Plato, Aquinas and the other thinkers who, for many centuries, formed the basis of Western thought.
Religion Is Almost Always the Basis…
Religion is almost always the basis for the greatest deeds performed by men of all civilizations. It is easy to see the importance of religious education and how useful it can be in shaping character. It is very difficult to imagine the average atheist being able to withstand the very harsh trials that we so often find in the lives of great religious men, when what is needed is precisely what they have not been taught to do: lean on something greater. In the face of difficulties, the atheist is always at a disadvantage, and the utilitarianism he most often cultivates is a guarantee that, sooner or later, it will be convenient for him to opt for corruption.