ISI Faculty Resource Center

The possibility of teaching political theory to the current generation of undergraduates certainly has its challenges.  Our students are often poorly prepared in high school for serious literary work, and are highly preoccupied with technological gadgetry, social networking, and other amusements that deliver high levels of stimulation designed to ward off the cardinal sin: boredom.  Nonetheless, I do believe that they are not only capable of learning political theory, but of doing so with relish. 

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In my last post I laid out some brief reflections on the sport of fly fishing and its relationship to Aristotelian natural law teaching. The reaction has been predictable among some of my close acquaintances. Evidently I have succeeded in living up to my reputation (undeserved!) for undue magniloquence. Well, I am sorry to report that I have more to say on the subject.

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I have heard it said that fly fishing is the only sport with its own literature. I am not sure what to make of this claim exactly, for I have acquaintances who insist that both baseball and golf have inspired some really fine writing. Fly fishing certainly has one thing going for it that the other two do not: it is a sport that always takes place in the most beautiful natural settings on earth. And I cannot think of any other sporting activity that is so satisfying to people of a contemplative disposition. Perhaps this more than anything else accounts for its allegedly unmatched literary aesthetic.

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