<p>…and have a meaningful intellectual conversation with them?</p>
<p>Talk about philosophy, politics, science, theology, etc. etc.</p>
<p>I’m currently reading a biography about Karl Marx and I’m delighted by his University years. He knew a lot of intellectuals which would eventually gain fame as well, maybe not much as he, but still. They had philosophical conversations and could pull references to Greek philosophers and other well known German philosophers like Hegel. Seems like many of them knew Greek and Latin and would often mix in Latin phrases as if though it were natural, as if though it were their original language. </p>
<p>But the funny thing is that they also drank and did a bunch of crazy things.</p>
<p>His first year he went to Bonn University were Marx joined a drinking club and would often have saber duels with rival drinking club members, he was even cut above the eye once ( I mean he was a 17 year old kid). He then went to the University of Berlin, where during the 3 years he was there only attended 2 classes and the rest he studied by him self or learned while conversing with his fellow peers and then wrote his doctorate thesis and received his PhD when he was 23. </p>
<p>I would like to go a University where I could find a group like Marx’s, but then again I’m not smart enough to actually hold an enlightening conversation with someone. </p>
<p>At most American colleges these days, you won’t find much of a following for Greek, Latin, and drunken saber duels. But check out St. John’s College, the “Great Books” school with branches in Annapolis and Santa Fe. Every SJC student learns a little Greek. If they still require ballroom dancing classes, maybe you could persuade the instructor to allow you to wear your saber (sheathed).</p>
<p>It’s much more difficult today than in Marx’s day for a variety of reasons. First of all, Latin was the dominant academic language for like a thousand years. In fact, when new scientific species are discovered, they’re still named in Latin. Given Latin’s dominance, many people involved in academia knew latin and were able to quote famous latin phrases. Today, the dominant academic language is English, and many people who are involved in academia know English. </p>
<p>If you took classes with classics majors, many of them would likely know Greek and Latin and would be able to recite famous quotes from both languages. I actually took Latin in college with a ton of classics majors, and still remember some latin phrases. I use poenas dedi from time to time, and I can identify the grammar in certain famous latin phrases like fiat lux and *habeas corpus<a href=“they’re%20both%20jussive%20subjunctives.”>/i</a> And although I’ve read that you can introduce latin into even into formal papers in classes like English, I doubt most people do that anymore. Unless your paper is very specialized, it would be very odd, imo, to include a phrase like aude sapere.</p>
<p>While classics majors undoubtedly take classes in philosophy, they’re more focused on the ancient stuff, which is largely Plato and Aristotle. And of the two, the latter is so esoteric its doubtful most students could have a meaningful conversation on his texts unless they have a lot of background knowledge. And this ancient philosophy (with roots in Plato and Aristotle) is different than the continental philosophy you’re referencing (with roots in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.) There are certainly American universities which teach the latter and have strong programs in it, but most U.S. universities focus on the analytic tradition (with roots in Frege.) Continental philosophy is much more common in europe than it is in the U.S.</p>
<p>Most universities with intellectual student bodies will have students with interests in most of these subjects. Whenever I’ve had one of these conversations, I always view it in terms of both contribution and consumption: You try to give your interlocutor information which they do not possess, and they try to do the same. Don’t worry about not having enough information. You’ll likely learn a lot in college and you can do additional research on topics that interest you.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on what you mean by “meaningful” and “intellectual.” First of all, most people don’t walk up to random students; they form groups of friends. But I think there are tons of colleges at which this can happen and honestly, most college students at most top colleges (and when I say “top” I don’t mean elite - I mean in roughly the top 25% of college in the nation, which is about 1,000 of them) go to college because that’s what they want. At my undergraduate college we weren’t spending our free time discussing Greek philosophers, thank the Lord, but we did have intellectual conversations about social justice, community engagement, giving back, as well as historical and social issues that contributed to the political, social, and economic climate of our current world.</p>
<p>Those were the things I was interested in, and my people. I wouldn’t have chosen a place where some random I didn’t know would walk up to me and challenge me to discuss Hegel. But a conversation with friends, acquaintances, and unknowns about sociological theory and K-12 education? Sure, sign me up. My point is that while the majority of your classmates won’t be fluent in philosophy, they will be able to bring their separate interests and fields of study to the fore when having discussions. And there’s a group of these nerds at every college; the only thing that will change is how big the group is and how difficult they are to find.</p>
<p>And college students are really good at drinking and doing a bunch of crazy things. So there’s that.</p>
<p>Edit: You may like the honors college of your state’s flagship university. Or a small liberal arts college may appeal to you. Both environments usually have small classes in which discussion is valued.</p>
<p>I don’t think they only talked about Greek philosophers. Germany at that time was going through a heavy political climate, with a lot of censorship and political oppression, so I’m sure their conversations were filled with every-day occurrences as well. </p>