Why the Liberal Arts?

The renowned writer and apologist G.K. Chesterton said that education is the truth in the state of transmission. True education is a tradition which passes on the tried and true means of obtaining the truth and maneuvering amidst the false philosophies and treacherous ideas that clutter the intellectual sphere. This education is the liberal arts education. The proper study of literature, languages, philosophy, theology, history, mathematics, and science is the traditional introduction to the beautiful reality of God that encompasses us and guides us to our heavenly home. Literature teaches the student the realities of the intertwinings of human nature through the medium of tragedy, comedy, and drama. Language enhances the students' vocabulary and knowledge of its structure and use. Philosophy teaches the love of wisdom and the means to the end of Theology which is God. History teaches us the lessons of yesterday to form tomorrow while mathematics and science exhibit the wonderful structure and order of the universe.

The result of the study of these subjects is the strengthening and expanding of the human mind like the bodybuilder in a gym who, after dedication and perseverance, is more capable of overcoming bigger and better challenges. This expansion of the human mind not only gives the student experience in the various intellectual circles, but also enables him to see relations between them as well as giving the student tools which can transfer from one discipline to another. The versatility of this education conditions the student to meet new and unfamiliar situations in which a broad perspective is necessary while our technology-driven society stagnates man's intellect by its narrowness and entrapment in virtual reality.

Bereft of the benefits of the liberal arts education of our ancestors, modern man finds himself lost without the time or desire for reflection and contemplation in which he may withdraw from the activities of the day and ponder the meaning and object of his being. The question that modern man struggles with or ignores is the end of his being and the means to obtain it while tragically inept in its discernment. His vision is as narrow as the computer screen he lives in front of and the facts that he is fed in the daily news. Our modern world would be a completely foreign construct to our ancestors who, though they worked and slaved by the sweat of their brow, knew the meaning of such concepts as silence, leisure, and the pursuit of truth. They knew what it meant to suffer for the sake of a higher good, which was their object and desire.

Another aspect of education criticized by G.K. Chesterton was the concept of specialization. He once commented, “A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.” This great disaster in modern universities forces a student to wholly devote himself to only one area of study and therefore renders him incompetent when faced with a situation that is outside of his realm of expertise. The solution to this modern conundrum is the broad spectrum of the liberal arts which guide the student to see the world as a comprehensive whole, each field acting as a facet on a single diamond through which the student sees the world as it really is. It is through this process that man begins to repair the damage done by original sin by not only pursuing the path of virtue by fortifying the will but also enlightening the intellect by means of a true liberal arts education.

Having withstood the test of time the liberal arts education stands as one of the last bastions of our western civilization to challenge the coming generations to dare to face its enormity, its clarity, its broad-mindedness. It commands a respect and a love for this system which provides man the ability to play his role in the Divine plan. Popes, kings, saints, and scholars stand as a “democracy of the dead” whispering of the glories of the past and urging the prospect of the future under the banner of the liberal arts; to be broad when others are narrow, to regain the vision that others have lost, to have its head in the clouds while having its feet firmly planted on earth breaching the cosmos leading the natural to the supernatural. This is the liberal arts, a tower of defiance to our hedonistic culture while being a refuge to all that is great and beautiful. It is a way of life, a blueprint for both castle and cathedral while creating the hearth of home.