Trivium Education

HomeAboutAudioVideoReading & BookstoreLecturesTutoringLinks For if you [the rulers] suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves [and outlaws] and then punish them.
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), Utopia, Book 1
Alex Jones interview links:

Go here for Jan Irvin's www.gnosticmedia.com

Go here for: www.popupfallacies.com

Go here for www.tragedyandhope.com



The Trivium method: (pertains to mind) - the elementary three.

— [1] General Grammar, [2] Formal Logic, [3] Classical Rhetoric

[1] GRAMMAR — (Answers the question of the Who, What, Where, and the When of a subject.)

Discovering and ordering facts of reality comprises basic, systematic Knowledge- not only the rules developed and applied to the ordering of word/concepts for verbal expression and communication, but our first contact with conscious order as such. This is the initial, self-conscious technique used in properly (discursively or sequentially) organizing a body of knowledge from raw, factual data for the purpose of gaining understanding (through logic) and; thus, also organizing the individual human mind. It is the foundation upon which all other "methods of organization and order" are built.

Special grammar properly relates words to other words within a specified language like English, Russian, or Latin.

General grammar relates words to objective reality in any language and applies to all subjects as the first set of building blocks to integrated or fully mindful, objective knowledge. A body of knowledge which has been gathered and arranged under the rules of general grammar can now be subjected to logic for full understanding, which, emphatically, is a separate intellectual procedure.

[2] LOGIC — (Answers the Why of a subject.)

Developing the faculty of reason in establishing valid [i.e., non-contradictory] relationships among facts yields basic, systematic Understanding- it is a guide for thinking correctly; thinking without contradiction. More concisely, it is the art of non-contradictory identification. The work of logic is proof. Proof consists of establishing the truth and validity of a concept or proposition in correspondence with objective, factual reality by following a self-consistent chain of higher-level thought back down to foundational, primary concepts or axioms (i.e., Existence, Consciousness, and Causality). It is a means of keeping us in touch and grounded to objective reality in our search for valid knowledge and understanding. Logic brings the rhythm of the subjective thoughts of the mind, and the subsequent actions of the body, into harmony with the rhythm of the objective universe. The intention is to amicably synchronize individual mental processes, and their attendant actions, with the processes of our surrounding natural, factual existence over the period of a lifetime.

[3] RHETORIC — (Provides the How of a subject.)

Applying knowledge and understanding expressively comprises Wisdom or, in other words, it is systematically useable knowledge and understanding- to explore and find the proper choice of methods for cogently expressing the conclusions of grammar and logic on a subject in writing and/or oral argumentation (oratory). The annunciation of those conclusions is called a statement of rationale, the set of instructions deduced from the rationale for the purpose of application (of those conclusions) in the real world is called a statement of protocols.

The Trivium Method with Gene Odening, Gnostic Media Podcast episode #049 (start here)
(audio): http://gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_049_Gene_Odening_p1_low.mp3

Study notes: Download

Logical Fallacies (common types of errors in reasoning):
Fallacies are broken down into two categories: formal and informal. Formal fallacies are based strictly on the logical formation of an argument (deductive). Informal fallacies, which are the most commonly recognized and easiest to learn, take into account the non-logical content of an argument (inductive); are false for epistemological, dialectical or pragmatic reasons; and typically fall under three categories: relevance, presumption, ambiguity. The first formation of logical fallacies comes to us from Sir Thomas Aquinas and "The Scholastics".

Informal only:

Dr. Michael Labossiere - 42 most common informal fallacies: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

List of 90 informal fallacies - http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html

(audio): Informal fallacies with Dr. Michael Labossiere, Gnostic Media Podcast episode #062
http://gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_062_Michael_Labossiere_low.mp3

Formal and informal: (Intermediate to advanced)
Taxonomy of Logical Fallacies



General Grammar
(audio): General grammar with Dr. Michael Labossiere, Gnostic Media Podcast episode #063
http://gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_063_Michael_Labossiere_low.mp3





The Quadrivium:
— [4] Arithmetic, [5] Geometry, [6] Music, and [7] Astronomy.
The Quadrivium (which pertains to Matter & Quantity)- the advanced four.

[4] MATHEMATICS —
Number in itself, which is a pure abstraction; that is, outside of space and time.

[5] GEOMETRY —
Number in space.

[6] MUSIC OR HARMONIC THEORY —
Number in time.


[7] ASTRONOMY —
Number in space and time.
a. Number
b. Geometry
c. Harmonics
d. Cosmology

The Quadrivium with Gene Odening, Gnostic Media Podcast episode #050 (start here)
(audio): http://gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_050_Gene_Odening_p2_low.mp3



(audio): Quadrivium - Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology with John Martineau, Gnostic Media Podcast episode #103 (intermediate)
http://media.blubrry.com/gnosticmedia/p/gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_103_John_Martineau_low.mp3


(audio): The Golden Ratio with Dr. Scott Oslen, Gnostic Meida podcast episode #108 (advanced)
http://media.blubrry.com/gnosticmedia/p/gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_108_Scott_Olsen_low.mp3

(audio): The Elements of Music with Dr. Jason Martineau, Gnostic Media podcast episode #109 (advanced)
http://media.blubrry.com/gnosticmedia/p/gnosticmedia.com/podcast/GnosticMedia_PC_109_Jason_Martineau_low.mp3





Topics coming to this site (in the meantime, all of the essentials are above):

· Classical education
· The Seven Liberal Arts (the trivium + the quadrivium).
· The True Definition of Liberal (Demonizing the word liberal is the key to hiding all thought.)
· Pythagorean, right-angled triangle (534)
· Five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell
· Letters: the philosopher's stones
· Implicit vs. Explicit knowledge (it's all in a name).
· Inductive (generalizing, building) vs. Deductive (start with what one knows)
· The Trivium: Grammar (Knowing), logic (understandng), rhetoric (wisdom) - the art of learning AND thinking.
· Grammar (Knowing): rule of definition or identification. The first step in a new exploration.
· Special grammar: the study of nouns, adjectives, verbs and all other forms of speech.
· General grammar: A study of the parts of speech - regardless of the language (research), the subject of a study. A method of organizing thoughts.
· logic (understanding) - possessing a critical mass of data with all contradictions removed (the elimination of contradiction).
· rhetoric (wisdom)
· Sentences - the foundation of a complete thought.
· Plato's allegory of the cave
· Paradox - The law of duality
· Modes of thought: 1) mythopoeic, 2) philosophic, 3) scientific
· Burden of proof - fallacy from ignorance.
· Pedagogy: Dialectic vs. didactic/mimetic.
· Dialectics: internal dialectic, positive and negative (conversation)
· Dialectic teaching: the Socratic method
· Didactic: parrot teacher or text book. Use up to age 11.
· Phonics
· The School House
· Prussian Education
· Philosophy
· Does the Trivium or "classical education" belong to Christianity or any other religion?
· Who Developed the Trivium?
· Aristotle - 10 categories from which you can form a subject and predicate.
· The Trivium's foundation in pagan origins
· Sophism: 2 branches (Isocrates vs. Demosthenes).
· Demosthenes: 322 (Skull & Bones)
· Hegelian dialectic: Problem, reaction, solution (thesis, antithesis = synthesis) both sides of politics, a contradiction, only possible in politics, not reality.
· Logical fallacies - formal and informal
· Syllogisms - A deductive argument consisting only of categorical constituents. Aristotle's discovery. (5 rules of validity)
· Quantity and quality
· Copula - the linking verb.
· Distribution
· Immediate inference - more than one premise. (minimum 3: Obversion, Conversion, Contraposition)
· The Sophists - Who's attempting to make the trivium method "trivial"?
· Sophists - Why it's not cool to be "sophisticated" any more.
· The Trivium Meme - One Mind at a Time.
· The Trivium - Can critical thinking save humanity? It may be our only chance.
· Quadrivium
· Golden proportion