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Wisdom Before Information
09/17/2025
Wisdom Before Information
In his speech "Wisdom Before Information," delivered at Fordham University's Centenary in September 1941, The Very Reverend Robert I. Gannon, S.J., laments the decline of educational ideals in American universities, advocating for the motto "Wisdom Before Information" (Sapientia et Doctrina). Gannon critiques the shift from a pre-Civil War curriculum, which emphasized classical languages, logic, and a pursuit of deep understanding, to a modern system influenced by secular thought and German pedagogy that prioritizes accumulating credits and "undigested information". He defines wisdom as "knowledge of conclusions through first causes," acquired through tradition and "wisdom studies" like theology, philosophy, history, and literature, which foster maturity and understanding. Gannon argues that modern education's "exaggerated experimentalism" and "insidious kind of pragmatism" have marginalized wisdom subjects in favor of immediate utility and "the very latest" information, leading to "unprofitable speed," "dangerous and recurrent adolescence," and over-specialization, where graduates have narrow expertise rather than a "great, mellow mind". He contends that this overemphasis on Doctrina has recklessly undermined Christianity and Hellenism, contributing to an "annihilating war of ideas" and "intellectual slavery".
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