The Liberal Arts and Intellectual Freedoms

Bryttani Payton

PORT 122 Liberal Arts Seminar: Final Essay

Mr. Wansink

May 8, 2006

Many children wonder what the purpose of school is. Why go to college? What does it do for me? Why go to a Liberal Arts college? What makes it so different? They usually only go to college or obtain higher learning because of the influence of their parents. The most common answer to these questions is to get an education, to gain more opportunities in the real world, i.e. the “job world”. “Completing a college education now came to represent climbing another rung on the ladder of opportunity, a necessary preparation for the challenge of making one’s way in the new world of corporate business and industry.”[i]Although this seems like a plausible answer, the underlying meaning of the purpose is missed. The liberal arts do things that cannot be obtained without it. It provides individuals with intellectual freedoms that would be lost otherwise. The liberal arts free individuals from self. It also provides the freedom for individuals to advance as a whole.

The liberal arts comprise of seven components that were derived in the middle ages. These seven components (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music) actually is the basis of an individual’s freedom. [ii] These components are not the components that are the modern day meanings of the words. In fact, “grammar speaks, dialectic teaches truth, rhetoric adorns words, music sings, arithmetic counts, geometry measures; astronomy studies stars.”[iii] The liberal arts provide the foundation for an individual’s ability to survive in society. It frees one from self by diminishing any ignorance or narrow-mindedness that one might inherit from isolation. Before being exposed to any components of the arts, one only has his or her views, values, and morals to follow. By becoming enlightened to these skills and the possibility that other values might be more plausible than others, it changes the disposition of any person and pushes them to want to learn more.

One a person opens their minds and strays from their selves; they will be able to obtain an endless amount of knowledge. This intellectual accomplishment is only obtainable if the individual is willing to admit that their views are not the only truth. The liberal arts actually allow individuals to have “the free search for truth.”[iv] If an individual knows that they can search for truth, then they will be inclined to want to learn what else is out there. Their dispositions will be altered in ways that is beneficial to the society. “To be free…to practice the truly ‘liberal arts’ is to be open to something that is not ourselves, or not made by ourselves.” [v] Through the education of the liberal arts, one will be able to acknowledge that their skills are not the only skills that are effective, and they become open to new views that were previously not accepted.

“The liberal arts seek to ‘liberate’ us from such things as ignorance, provincialism, and limited perspectives.”[vi] Freedom from limited perspectives allows individuals to begin to understand one another. Understanding leads to accepting. Accepting leads to the freedom for advancement. Once a person is given the freedom from self, they now have the skill to be able to help each other advance as a whole. The liberal arts give those freedoms by incorporating all aspects of life. The humanities, social sciences, religion, history, etc, instills in individuals the knowledge of other countries, ways of life, societies, morals, values, and ethics. The ability to learn about one another allows a common understanding to form. As Diana Schaub states in an article titled, “Can Liberal Education Survive Liberal Democracy?” these common understandings will eventually “[remind] oneself of human excellence, of human greatness.”[vii] By understanding another view or way of life different from what is practiced, one will appreciate the diversity of the world and its greatness.

When thinking about the knowledge that can be obtained from liberal arts, one might be inclined to disagree with its intentions. However, the only way to disprove something is to become exposed to it first. Take the study of languages for example. Prior to studying another language, one will not understand its importance. Being educated in foreign language open’s a person’s eyes to the possibilities that can be out there. Being closed-minded only inhibits the capacity to expand one’s knowledge. Preconceived notions of a culture might distort one person’s views of another’s culture. With that preconceived notion, that individual will not have the will to try and understand a foreign culture. Learning foreign languages will open the minds of individuals and shatter the prejudices that hindered them from expanding their horizons.  With the education of foreign languages it also “bridges to others from cultures around the world.”[viii] The possibilities of travel are endless, integration becomes second nature, and an acquired respect for one another cultivate from the learning of another language.

            The liberal arts give individuals things that cannot be taken away from them. To have the freedom from self is a skill that cannot be altered in any way. Stancil states “the liberal arts should set us free from self preoccupation with only our concerns and motivate us to a selfless service to others.”[ix] Once a person’s dispositions are changed in ways that improves their well being, they are able to better themselves as well as others.

Everything in the world is connected in one way or another. If someone does not desire become more knowledgeable, those that come in contact with that person will be affected by their negativity. Learning about others only improves and individuals life. Schaub says “liberal education supplies us with experience in things beautiful.”[x] Being free to learn enables an individual to accomplish anything in life. Once they are equipped with the knowledge that cannot be taken away, only great things will come.