May 2020
Cross Currents magazine: If you could meet anyone from history and have dinner with them, who would you choose? Would you want to meet ...
Fr. David Tracy of the University of Chicago Divinity School: No, I don't say Jesus. It's too much.
Plato without hesitation.
St. Augustine without hesitation. He's fascinating. His problems with the ****** drive just make him more complex and interesting.
And from the modern period, either Nietzsche or Kierkegaard.
Cross Currents: What would you talk about?
Fr. Tracy: Everything. As would they. But I think the essence of our discussion would be about the relationship between truth and beauty.
Cross Currents: What do you think they would think of each other?
Fr. Tracy: Plato would be very angry with Nietzsche, but, something tells me, Nietszche would respect him.
Fr. David Tracy of the University of Chicago Divinity School: No, I don't say Jesus. It's too much.
Plato without hesitation.
St. Augustine without hesitation. He's fascinating. His problems with the ****** drive just make him more complex and interesting.
And from the modern period, either Nietzsche or Kierkegaard.
Cross Currents: What would you talk about?
Fr. Tracy: Everything. As would they. But I think the essence of our discussion would be about the relationship between truth and beauty.
Cross Currents: What do you think they would think of each other?
Fr. Tracy: Plato would be very angry with Nietzsche, but, something tells me, Nietszche would respect him.
This conversation is from memory and not word for word. I read the dialogue long ago and have always remembered it. So this is a kind of dialogical poem or fragment based on the interview in the magazine. I highly recommend the writings of Fr. Tracy.
