Liberal arts
The liberal arts (what we now call the liberal arts and sciences) were first defined by Aristotle as those arts which were acquired for oneÕs own intellectual pursuits, not to use for business or ÒusefulÓ pursuits. He said, in Politics:
ÒTo be always seeking after the useful does not become free and exalted souls.Ó
So the liberal arts were left to those
with the leisure time to explore nobler pursuits. That attitude persisted into
the Middle Ages, when specific liberal arts were defined, and assumed to belong
to the nobler classes. The liberal
arts were divided into the trivium and the quadrivium.
Studies in the trivium involved grammar, dialectic (logic), and rhetoric; and studies in
the quadrivium
involved arithmetic,
music, geometry, and astronomy. The term liberal
in this context is from the Latin word liberalis, meaning "appropriate for free
men" (social and political elites),
which separated them from the servile arts, such as crafts, agriculture, etc.
As
the world has become more complicated, it has become more and more necessary to
have a wider grasp of intellectual pursuits in order to progress, whether that
progress be in the sciences, public service, engineering, social construction,
or many of the other areas of employment that didnÕt exist in the Middle
Ages. A more complicated world
demands more complicated criticism and analysis.
What
is the purpose of a liberal arts and sciences education? What is
the difference between it and a technical or pre-professional education? A liberal arts and sciences education
is about conceiving of the world as a whole, and as a series of questions to be
explored. It is about
understanding that education is not about downloading areas of knowledge into
your brain unexamined. This quote
from former St. JohnÕs College president John Agresto illustrates both the
beauty of the liberal arts and sciences and why people find it so opaque and
confusing:
ÒRather than do what citizens naturally hope for from education -- namely, that all their questions will be answered -- the liberal arts seem to offer the exact opposite - that all their answers will be questioned.Ó
But
the impulse toward criticism, exploration, and questioning, is exactly what
makes the liberal arts and sciences education so valuable in todayÕs
world. Knowledge bases in most
employment fields are so vast as to be impossible to completely master. What is more important is to be able to
acquire knowledge and communicate with others, as well as to evaluate new
findings. Transferable skills are
the key - writing and speaking
ability, flexibility, independence of motivation and learning, knowing how to
think (creative problem solving, application of knowledge to new areas,
critical analysis). This type of
education provides a context for new information: with a wider sense of the
world, it is easier to get perspective on new information and new
experiences. A broader world view
allows you to work better with different types of people and to collaborate.
You
may have heard that the average person changes careers (not jobs) seven
times. IÕve been unable to find a
source for that info, but it certainly is a widespread belief. What good will technical skills be when
suddenly you need new skills?
Leaning how to quickly acquire and use new skills will serve you
better. Many of the careers you
may move into 15 years from now donÕt even exist today. ItÕs probably not even important what
major you choose. That major is
really just providing you with a lens through which you are learning about the
world. If you choose to go on to graduate school, your all-around academic
performance and intellectual curiosity is going to be more important than the
classes you took for admittance.
You might have to take a few make-up courses, but if your education has
been truly well-rounded, a good liberal arts and sciences education should get
you into nearly any field.
A
couple more great quotes about the liberal arts and sciences. The first, from John Agresto again:
"The liberal arts are the method by which we seek to discover the truth about the most important matters of human life through reason and reflection."
And from John Henry Newman, a note about the goal of a truly well-rounded education:
"A truly great intellect . . . is one which takes a connected view of old and new, past and present, far and near, and which has an insight into the influence of all these one on another; without which there is no whole, and no centre."
John Agresto quotes from ÒDo the Liberal Arts Serve a Public Function?Ó
LiberalArtsOnline
Volume 2, Number 1
January 2002
John Agresto
Past President
St. John's
College
https://liberalarts.wabash.edu/cila/home.cfm?news_id=1436
John Henry Newman
quote from –The Idea of a
University (London: Longmans, Green,
and Co.) 1907.