Definition And Development Of Liberal Arts Education

This essay explores the history of liberal arts education, focusing on what constitutes a liberal arts education, when it was first acknowledged, and how it developed. The historical foundations of a liberal arts curriculum and the advantages it provided to individuals who sought a liberal arts degree will be the main topics of my study. The influence a liberal arts education continues to have in the modern world will serve as the conclusion to my investigation.

It might be challenging to articulate the value of a liberal arts degree since there isn’t one universally applicable easy answer. To educate the full person, the concept of a liberal arts education was developed. A person would be molding themselves into a valuable and valuable member of society by studying the liberal arts. In order to engage in intellectual risk-taking and develop into lifelong learners, a liberal arts student would learn to think critically, evaluate situations, and express oneself artistically. The results of this study will show how and when this school reform idea first appeared.

Seven historical views were found as a result of study into the past of a liberal arts education. These seven viewpoints date back to Socrates in the age before Christ and continued through the 1970s and the 20th century. Idealism, realism, pragmatism, reconstruction, existentialism, behaviorism, and analytical philosophy are identified as these seven historical viewpoints.

The liberal arts, according to Greek thinkers, are the fields of study that “create both moral perfection and increased intelligence for man” (Roen, 2018). Each of these elements had a crucial role in determining the objectives of education.

Greek philosophers of this time taught certain subjects as a part of a liberal arts curriculum based on what they thought would be important for the gentlemen of the time. The “Seven Liberal Arts” were what they were called (Roen, 2018). The Hellenistic Age is when liberal arts first emerged. This covered the era from the eighth century B.C. through Alexander the Great’s death in 323 B.C. (Wagner 1983). According to Robert Holmes Beck’s A Social History of Education, the ideal education would have emphasized character (morals), physicality (body), and the intellect (reason) during this period.

The phrase “Seven Liberal Arts” or artes liberales, in Rodriquez’s opinion, alludes to the particular “branches of knowledge” that were taught in medieval schools. The Trivium and the Quadrivium were used to classify these seven branches. Grammar, rhetoric, and logic were the three areas of language-related study known as the Trivium. Mathematics and its applications in the fields of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music were the emphasis of the second division, or Quadrivium (Roen, 2018).

Athens emerged as a wealthy, strong city-state towards the conclusion of the Persian Wars, and democracy started to flourish there. The Rhetorical Sophists used this chance to instruct young men who wanted to become powerful and affluent in rhetoric and oratory. Conservatives of the period, like Plato, believed that young men should be growing in character, intellect, and physically. While Plato and the Sophists had slightly different ideas on education, it cannot be denied that the Sophists’ main goal was to develop pupils into intelligent, capable citizens who would endeavor to better society as a whole. The educational philosophy of the Sophists was founded on two distinct curricula. One was founded on the scientific sciences, and the other on political science and rhetoric.

Socrates was one of the prominent Sophists of his day. Socrates is remembered by his disciples, among whom were Plato and Xenophon, rather than by any particular work that has been preserved in writing. Socrates desired an ethical framework based on human reason as opposed to religious ideology. He made an effort to develop an ethical framework devoid of religious ideology and based on human reason. Socrates held the view that the pursuit of pleasure was the driving force behind human decision-making. As the “Father of Ethics” and “The Father of Western Philosophy,” Socrates was known for his ideas that people should be educated and concerned with society’s well-being.

The concept that men who mastered a profession or a technology were unworthy of becoming gentlemen and had no business in a liberal education was fostered by Plato. Plato believed that mankind were destined from birth to either a high or low social position, acting in a role of servitude or leadership. The pursuit of truth is one of the aspects of Plato’s idealist ideas that is still in use today. While the ultimate solutions may never change, the quest of wisdom is essentially a pursuit of truth, one that each new generation of students must undertake (Ozmon & Craver, 1976). Some men are born to be slaves and are destined to be slaves by nature, according to Aristotle, a pupil of Plato’s (Beck, 1965). The best way to remember Aristotle is as one of the greatest philosophers.

Although the Sophists did not hold this opinion, any impact on this notion throughout time was lost, and even today we may see a division in education between skill-based or technology-based education and a college degree. The introduction and study of grammar and rhetoric, which has had a lasting impression on contemporary culture, are what sophistry is most famous for.

Aristotle’s thoughts had an influence on a movement inside the church to teach and educate as time passed and society underwent transformation as a result of conflicts. From the sixth through the ninth centuries, all educational activities were carried out by the Church. During the medieval ages, the church was the organization that promoted the expansion of brotherhood to assist the hungry, destitute, and vulnerable.

The advocate of human experiences was provided by pragmatic philosophy. According to John Locke, “man’s mind is blank at birth, a tabula rasa.” To put it another way, a man does not have any guidelines for how he should process ideas at birth; rather, these rules are formed via bodily experiences. He compared this concept to a computer, noting that it cannot be used until it has been programmed.

There were two premises introduced during the rebuilding phase. One is that society is always in need of reconstruction or reform. The second was that social transformation required both remaking education and remaking society via education. John Dewey believed that education might be utilized as a tool to alter people and society throughout the 1920s and 1930s. People first learned about this ideology as a result of the dramatic social change that acknowledged relativism while rejecting the norm.

Existentialism, the fifth viewpoint, is interpreted in a plethora of perplexing ways, making it challenging to determine a meaning. The notion that “the person does not find ideas; rather, he produces them” is one of the key lessons learnt from the readings. According to this study, even the concept of God is a creation of mankind, in addition to the view that “concepts like beauty, truth, and justice are all man-made.”

While not often the same as the other viewpoints, behaviorism has roots in a number of different philosophical ideas. Psychology’s “nature of man and society, values, the good life, and guesses or assumptions about the nature of reality” is the subject of behaviorism. To be clear, behaviorism is based on how our reactions to environmental cues influence how we behave.

Analytic Philosophy is the next viewpoint of the seven mentioned. The “meaning” attached to particular language is one of the primary challenges that this phase highlights. The concepts of “What is real?” and “What is meaning?” are examined. These viewpoints have influenced how and what is taught in our current liberal arts curricula.

In some ways, our goal of giving pupils a well-rounded education that will affect their character (morals), physique (physical), and mind hasn’t changed (reason). In order to better prepare students for “the ever-changing job market,” according to Professor Greenberg of Trinity College’s history department, “the ability to think creatively, read critically, construct effective arguments using persuasive evidence, write clearly, remain flexible, and look at issues with an open mind” is necessary (Smm, 2012). These values are comparable to those of a number of the philosophers we have covered, including…… (Names added)

A liberal arts degree is still a crucial component of the educational system today, and companies prefer recruiting workers who have developed crucial abilities that are absent from other degree programs. The student is taught to seek economic progress based on humanitarian principles via a liberal arts education. Additionally, humanity’s existence and prosperity depend on empathy and human ideals, which are fundamental human traits. (2018) Krishnaswamy The students’ path of thought aligns with the deeper demands of life.

Arts (fine arts, music, performing arts, and literature), philosophy, religious studies, social science (anthropology, geography, history, jurisprudence, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology), mathematics, and natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and earth sciences) are currently included in a liberal arts education (Krishnaswamy, 2018).