Not just sharper arguments. A stronger you.
Three pillars taught in small groups in the living room. This is the crown jewel of the whole thing, and it is what people mention first at reunions.
- Where
- The living room of the house
- How often
- Weekly and biweekly, an hour and a half
- Group size
- Eight to twelve students
- Cost
- None, ever
The Reasoning Mind
Think clearly. Argue well. Never get talked out of something true.
- 01
Logic and clear thinking
Spot fallacies, biases, and weak arguments on sight. And learn why flinging fallacy names as buzzwords is its own kind of sloppy thinking.
- 02
Rhetoric and persuasion
How to make a case people can actually hear. Steelman the other side, hold the room, and debate hard without a drop of contempt.
- 03
Intellectual self-defense
Handle peer pressure and bad-faith gotchas with grace. Weigh every claim on its merits, no matter whose mouth it comes out of.
Knowing the World
Understand the ideas that shape your campus, and the ones that built the country.
- 01
The big ideas on campus
The influential theories of the moment, understood on their own terms. You cannot answer an argument you have only heard in caricature.
- 02
Media and digital literacy
How algorithms shape your attention, what the feed is optimizing for, and how to protect your focus and your peace.
- 03
The canon and first principles
The Western tradition made accessible. Homer to Aristotle to Burke, read closely enough to be useful, never as decoration.
- 04
American civics and the founding
The documents themselves, read from the sources rather than secondhand. What the design was, and why it holds.
- 05
Economics and personal finance
How markets actually work, plus budgeting, debt, saving, and the unglamorous math of building a life.
The Whole Person
Not just sharper arguments. A stronger you.
- 01
Character and virtue
Prudence, fortitude, temperance, self-command. The old words, because nobody has written better ones.
- 02
Becoming an excellent man or woman
Responsibility, courage, integrity, strength, and grace. What it looks like to be the person others rely on.
- 03
Faith, meaning, and the moral tradition
The questions worth taking seriously, taught with genuine respect for the range of belief at our table.
- 04
Relationships, marriage, and family
How to love well, choose well, and build something that lasts longer than a semester.
- 05
Health, fitness, and self-mastery
Sleep, strength, discipline, and the habits that make everything else possible.
- 06
Etiquette and social grace
Table manners, introductions, how to dress, how to host, how to hold a conversation, how to dance. Poise in any room.
Four years of this adds up
- 01Hold your own in any room, calmly and on the merits
- 02Read a hard book and get something real out of it
- 03Know what the other side actually claims before you answer it
- 04Run a budget, a table, and a conversation with equal ease
Know what the argument actually claims, then weigh whether it holds. That habit is worth more than any single opinion you will pick up in college.
From the first session, Pillar One
Begin the series
The first session is a conversation, not a lecture
Come to dinner, stay for the hour after. That is how almost everyone starts.