Paul Begin Publishes Intellectual Foundations: Classic Readings

Seventy-eight classical texts. Three distinct themes. One compendium of classical thought: Intellectual Foundations: Classic Readings.

This new publication represents the latest effort by Seaver College to prepare students for lives of enriched intellectual inquiry, servant leadership, and character development. In the fall, each incoming Pepperdine undergraduate will be given a copy of the book. Intellectual Foundations is a collection of seminal texts that have shaped Western culture, the Christian tradition, and the American project. While the book was developed specifically for Pepperdine’s first-year course, Foundations of Reasoning, it has the potential to serve as a consistent through line, linking classes across the institution’s Seaver Core, the Great Books Program, and broader studies. 

In this cultural moment, when higher education is viewed by some critics as increasingly more transactional, coauthor Paul Begin (‘99), reports that his publication distinguishes the school’s commitment to developing the whole person. Overall, the senior associate dean hopes the book serves as an intentional step to meet undergraduates in their questions and create a formative, lifelong dialogue between the great thinkers of yesterday and the problem solvers of tomorrow.

“With this book Seaver College is emphasizing what matters: an engagement with what is good, true, and beautiful,” says Begin. "Yes, we will prepare our students for their professional lives, but we also want to engage them in citizenship, in the life of the mind, and the cultivation of their souls. Intellectual Foundations contributes to this dual commitment."

Intellectual Foundations: Classic Readings is built around the three themes of:

• Western foundations
• the Christian intellectual tradition
• American democratic foundations. 

Exploring these topics, Begin and his coauthor Caleb Clanton, the Distinguished University Chair in Philosophy and Humanities at Lipscomb University, developed a list of 78 classical readings from some of history’s most renowned authors. 

Whether it's Homer, Aristotle, or Kant; Aquinas, Luther, or Pascal; Thomas Paine, Emily Dickinson, or Langston Hughes, the book introduces many of the important voices from throughout the centuries to a new audience in Seaver College’s first-year students.