I want my kids to be able to understand the world they are in, how it came to be that way, and which parts are mutable, which immutable. I want them to be able to recognize truth from falsehood. I want them to want to find out more truths, as well. I want them to be able to communicate well enough to convey their ideas, their opinions, and their knowledge to others. I want them to experience joy.
That means they need to be able to think and reason. All of that means they need to know science, math, history, literature, rhetoric, art, and philosophy, as well as some economics, some engineering and a few other things. That's why I want the liberal arts education.
In case you might be interested, Allison, I read and enjoyed Martha C. Nussbaum's Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education, Cambridge, Mass, (Harvard UP).
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
John
Sorry, Catherine! I meant to use your first name.
ReplyDeleteJ
Oh, thanks very much for the title - I'm always looking for books & articles to make the case -
ReplyDeletefunny, but I found Nussbaum to be the typical gender/race/class academic that I really have no use for. 10 years ago, she "defended" throwing out the liberal arts canon. She didn't need to, it's already been done, and now it's pretty much irreversible.
ReplyDelete