The Goal of Education

In St. John Henry Newman’s The Idea of a University, he describes a liberal education as being “a comprehensive view of truth in all its branches, of the relations of science to science, of their mutual bearings, and their respective values.” This ought to be the goal of all educational programs: fostering the truth in the minds of all students. In order to have a free society, all members of the society must have the same foundation in the truth, which ensures they live justly and righteously.

For hundreds of years, this idea was understood and accepted. The pursuit of the ultimate truth in all of its forms was the end goal of the medieval education system, which has evolved into our modern concept of a liberal education. Classics and mathematics, both of which St. Newman studied at Oxford, would not have been seen as competing branches of education, but rather two fields that pointed towards the same eternal truth. Education was rooted in belief and pursuit of God, acknowledging that all truth has its source in something beyond the material world. How would it even be possible for classics and mathematics to compete in this system? Both point towards God; the former sees Him in language and moral teaching, while the latter sees Him in the organized workings of the physical world. Both go hand-in-hand, not fighting for one to be more correct than the other. This search of truth in all branches is the goal of liberal education. In order to understand the highest truth in the fullest way possible, one must have an understanding of many of the branches of truth. This is not to say that there are different truths; there is one, eternal, unchanging, ultimate truth which can be seen in a wide variety of ways. To take the analogy of the Apostle of Ireland, education is like a clover with dozens of leaves, all of which are rooted in the stem of truth, making one coherent system.

However, modern academia does not seem to believe that this is so. Of course, academics do not believe that each discipline is at war with each other, counteracting everything that another says. The liberal arts education is still very much alive, with many touting the benefits of learning multiple subjects in order to be a more well-rounded and successful student. However, the goal of such an education is no longer seen to be pursuit of an ultimate truth. Look at any article about the purpose of a liberal arts education, and you will see phrases such as “increased critical thinking capabilities,” “flexibility in a changing society and economy,” and “examination of problems from multiple points of view.” These are all important things, to be sure, but they pale in comparison to St. Newman’s idea of a “comprehensive view of truth in all its branches.”

How has this happened? Where has this idea of truth gone? That is a much broader concept that has been discussed by far smarter people than I in much longer essays than this, but I believe the rise of reductionism is at least partly responsible for this change. Reductionism has provided the modern academic with a sense that everything should be explained according to the simplest explanation. This can certainly provide a good method for technical, scientific research, but it does not provide a good metaphysics. Any notion of purpose, of an eternal truth, the true object of liberal education, is gone. A reductionist education system can provide students with good information on what something is and what has caused it to exist (Aristotle’s material and efficient causes), but refuses to accept that there is a right answer to the nature of a thing and the purpose or goal of the thing’s existence (Aristotle’s formal and final causes). This modern emphasis on reductionism and empiricism has therefore eliminated half of the foundational causes and led to a complete neglect of the consideration of the goal of education. Consider again the answers listed above that describe the purpose of a liberal arts education. They do not describe a final purpose of such education, but instead simply material-focused results. In the eyes of many, a liberal education is only as useful as its most practical benefits. They cannot ascribe a goal to education, but can only describe further actions that one can take after having received this education. These are not purposes, but simply more actions.

This lack of purpose, this lack of acknowledgement of an absolute truth that is present not just in academia, but everywhere, has led to an equally omnipresent relativist mindset. If there is no purpose underlying things, no eternal truth to rely upon, then it is up to the individual to define the truth for themselves and frame everything according to their own worldview. This is what the modern education system fosters; professors are not encouraging a belief in any higher ideals, but for students to live out “their personal truth” (a truly horrible oxymoron). Instead of teaching how to see the truth from a variety of different perspectives, teachers are now teaching students how to take different perspectives and create their own truth. It is a backwards process. One cannot create a personal truth from experience, but can only uncover the eternal truth in its different branches.

We are now experiencing the fruits of such backwards teaching. Our society has fully embraced the relativist label. Having removed a higher truth, relativists claim to believe that all belief systems and “personal truths” are equal, and everything is simply based on relative subjective experience. That is, everything is subjective until another person’s beliefs contradict their own. Then the absolutism kicks in. By removing a common idea of a higher truth, the relativists cannot rely on anything but themselves to discern what the truth is, and so they find themselves free to shape the truth, and therefore reality, as they see fit. The truth is no longer beyond them and higher than them, but within them. To them, everything is indeed relative, but only relative to “their truth.” If another’s beliefs are contradictory, then the other person is absolutely wrong.

This is a dangerous and very unfree society to have. If everyone believes that they can shape reality according to what they believe to be true, then reason cannot change someone’s mind, only force can. The modern education system, under the guise of tolerant relativism, has created a very intolerant generation of students that have no concept of the purpose of education beyond furthering their own personal beliefs. The clover of education is no more. It is not that each leaf now fights another in order to prove that its methods are more correct and more true, but that each leaf has torn itself from the stem, encouraging students to root themselves independently from the original plant. This is why Newman’s concept of liberal education is so necessary for a free society. Students must be educated on how every discipline of art, of science, of reason, points to the truth. Without a common ground that acknowledges the higher truth, then we cannot see each other as equals, as we would all believe ourselves to be the sole holders of truth. When everything is seen as relative to one’s “personal truth,” then there can be no collaboration, no understanding, no compromise. There can be no freedom except what can be obtained by forcing others to submit to you.

St. John Henry Newman’s idea of a liberal education is vital now more than ever. We need a return to the belief that every branch of science and art has value in comparison to another, in that they all point to the same eternal truth of God. We have gone far beyond this idea, with a reductionist mindset that severs education from its purpose, only able to teach the bare minimum of what a concept is and not what a concept is for. Students are no longer taught to seek the truth, but taught to create their own subjective truth, and compare everything to their beliefs. In this way, each student becomes an arbiter of what is true, leading to a mindset that all opposing beliefs are false. This creates a society where no freedom can be found, but where ideas are implemented and passed on based on the force of those holding such ideas. To have a free society, we must repair the clover of education, grafting the torn leaves back to the eternal stem, and ensuring that all find a comprehensive view of the truth.

Date: 2024-02-29 19:19:33 - Views: 58

Obfuscation of the Truth

obfuscation: noun. the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.
from Latin obfuscare: 'to darken or obscure'
Oxford Languages

As an aspiring linguist and classicist, I have long desired to have a comprehensive philosophy of language that I can apply to the many issues facing the world today and use to advance toward solving these issues in our expected New Renaissance. I truly believe that language is at the center of every aspect of our world, and has been for the entirety of humanity's existence. There is no more important thing than language; if you control the language, you control the society. My thoughts on the philosophy of language are still not entirely worked out, and I have uncovered many of these thoughts without myself really realizing it, and so I hope to build on this idea in the future.

But what is the current philosophy of language for our modern society? I do not mean "philosophy of language" as in the very analytical, logic-based branch of philosophy, but rather how language is viewed and approached by linguists, other intellectual types, and most ordinary people. How is language appreciated? What is its purpose? What is its importance? Throughout all of my official studying of language, the answers to these questions is that language is a tool for communication. Language is a complicated simple thing to many people. It is complicated in that we still do not fully understand how language is processed, that there is an incredible variety of languages, and that each language has an extraordinary amount of depth and beauty. This admiration for language still exists among linguists and intellectuals, and that is something to be commended. However, despite all this, language is also seen to be simple when considering its purpose. Many students and researchers of language just accept the proposition that language is a mere tool. Over generations, humans happened to evolve a greater capacity to understand and produce more complex messages, and from there we developed language in order to help us communicate with one another. This premise is nothing remarkable and not terribly objectionable. After all, why should there be a higher purpose for language above communication?

Because language is amazing. It is what makes us human. Many animals have complex communication systems, including dolphins, whales, and even prairie dogs. However, none come close to the variety and depth of human language. This is due to a process of "abstraction." This particular term has had many uses in different fields of Linguistics, but for the purposes of my thoughts here, a simple definition will suffice: 'talking about things that aren't there.' With human language, we are able to talk about events that happened thousands of years ago, our hopes for retirement in fifty years, or entirely imaginary worlds with invented people, customs, and even invented languages. We are also able to discuss abstract concepts, such as the nature of love, the flow of time, or divinity itself. Some animals may be able to communicate what they did yesterday or what they would like to eat for an upcoming meal, but to my knowledge, no animal has been able to talk about what constitutes love and what does not (and perhaps we should be frightened if they ever do gain that ability!).

Through abstraction, we are able to move beyond our current time and space. We become separated from what is physically happening, and gain the ability to talk about events in the past that we have never seen, events in the future that might never happen, and concepts, people, or places that might not exist at all. That is the difference between humans and animals: we are able to place ourselves beyond space and time, if only in our words. It is for this reason that I believe language to be something given to us by God. There is a divine spark in every word, for just as God is beyond time and space, a being far beyond our physical world and idea of time (as attested by many philosophers over many generations and cultures), so too do we gain the ability to go beyond the current moment through linguistic abstraction. This ability is so far beyond any other system of animal communication and so similar to our ideas of God that the only possible reason for its existence within us seems to be some form of divine intervention.

Many others have commented on this same topic, and I do not by any means claim to be the first to make the connection between abstraction and God. Some have overcomplicated it, making this concept of moving beyond time and space to be more than it really is. Others have simplified it, pointing out that much of what humanity does is beyond time and space, such as the concepts of math. The idea of 1 and 1 equaling two is eternal, unchanging no matter what time or location you are in, or even if we are thinking of two real or imagined things. In fact, we use abstraction all the time. Take these simple sentences: "I think my dad went fishing yesterday." "I hope we have burgers for dinner tonight." "Love is complicated." Each of these sentences is fairly ordinary, and yet each takes us beyond our current time and place to discuss the past, the future, and an abstract concept. We abstract constantly. Perhaps a mixture of overcomplication and simplification is the best way to appreciate abstraction: language allows us to move beyond time and space, and we do it in the simplest sentences. This idea is everywhere in human language, for perhaps we always yearn for something other than our current situation, something eternal, something forever outside of this. Perhaps even in our very thoughts, in our very words, we always yearn for the eternal Truth of God, who is always beyond time and space.

So what then is the purpose of this beautiful gift that we have? Something that is God-given cannot be a mere tool, a mere product to be used for communication. It is far more beautiful than that. No, I believe that the point of language is to uncover the Truth. We are uniquely equipped to look beyond ourselves and beyond the physical world and ask, "What is the point of all this? What can I do with my life? Why has everything led us to this moment?" Through language, we are able to ponder these thoughts and, indeed, communicate them with others. Communication is of course a critical component of the purpose of language, but language is not just a tool for this purpose. We are called to so much more, to examine the world and find what is the ultimate Truth, God Himself. Because language is how we are most like God, we should be using it to always focus on that original gift-giver.

However, we have come now to a time where the Truth is not always the goal of language. Politicians are an obvious target here, but almost too obvious - their job consists of avoiding telling the truth, and this is nothing new. What is new is the use of widespread obfuscation in academia, the media, and other powerful institutions. I use the word 'obfuscation' for a very specific reason - it is an intentional obscuring of the Truth. It is not for the sake of politeness, or correctness, or kindness; no, this obfuscation has its roots in a sweeping wave of relativism, subjectivity, and a hatred for tradition and the wisdom of the past. Academia now saws, "All is subjective! There is no truth, besides the principles that we agree upon. Do not bother finding the Truth yourself through your God-given abilities! You are not qualified to do so; don't you know you need a PhD for that?" Most people also recognize that it is impossible to get a straight answer from any major media corporation. In the past, we were (at least in theory) able to rely upon media and mass communication to get around the lies of politicians. Widespread distrust in the media and recognition of bias indicate that this is no longer the case.

Indeed, it seems as though Truth has long since disappeared as a goal for many who now hold power in our society. Amid cries of "This is 'my' Truth," we attach labels to people that make little (if any) sense to the average person. Under the guise of being accurate to a person's lived experiences, we hide the nature of the person under a slew of words coined to represent an untrue idea. Read an article about the same event from two competing news outlets, and the message that you receive will be wildly different. This is the result of the wave of relativism that has its stranglehold on our society; without a whole people that ardently pursues the Truth, regardless of one's own beliefs, the Truth all but vanishes, even for those who are trying to seek it. It is hidden under layers upon layers of obfuscation. It is still there, to be sure. The Truth does not change, it can just become harder to uncover from the slag heap of nonsense piled upon it. For someone who does not believe in an ultimate Truth, it is their foremost goal to ensure that this Truth is not dug up. There is indeed a hatred of the past among many in our society, an ardent belief that we are supremely better than our forebears. This belief holds that relative to us, our ancestors are uncivilized, uncouth, and dirty. We have the aid of progress on our side, and their belief in a Truth contained in tradition is revolting, and we must do our part to obfuscate this Truth in our modern language to preserve the ideal relativist society. Whosever controls the language controls the society, and these thinkers have given us a society of untruth and obfuscation. These thinkers are fools.

Wise are the thinkers that are brave enough to stand up and resolutely say, "No, I will not follow your untruth. No, I will pursue the Truth, and I will make sure that you all know what it is. That is the purpose of my language: to spread the beauty of the Truth that is beyond our world through my words, not to continue to communicate your lies." These people must be firm, stark, and forward. The Truth is unyielding, and it is vital to communicate it clearly, accurately, and unwaveringly, without compromising to an ounce of untruth.

"But Adam," you might say, "you say that we must be clear and accurate in spreading the Truth, and yet you have written this lengthy post that is titled with an incredibly obscure word. Does that not make you an obfuscator?" To that, I say no. It is important to be accurate, yes, but it is equally as important to use language in its full beauty. As it is indeed God-given, every paragraph, every sentence, every word should be formulated and created so as to enhance the glory of Him. Just as the purpose of language is to seek the ultimate Truth contained in God, so too do we see our full likeness of God in using language by moving beyond time and space, emulating the Creator. To borrow a phrase from philologist and philosopher J.R.R. Tolkien, our language should be an act of Sub-Creation. The Creator and Author has given us this gift, and we should use it to create our own small worlds of beauty, even if that world is contained within a single word. We should strive to choose the right word, the most beautiful phrase, and the most orderly paragraphs (although I doubt this post quite meets all those criteria). For if we are speaking about the right, beautiful, orderly Truth, our words should reflect the same. Just as the world seems to obfuscate Truth, it obfuscates beauty along with it, and we should work to ensure beauty is preserved in all deeds.

So how now do I summarize my emerging philosophy of language? It will certainly be changed, expanded, and reworked over many years, but the underlying principle is this: language is not just communication, it is a God-given ability to seek and spread the Truth. Language is what makes us most like God and what makes us able to pursue the Truth, and yet our society instead produces untruth and obfuscation. It is time now to seek a revival of the beauty and purpose of language; we should stand firm in our recognition of the Truth, and we should do so beautifully. And so beware of obfuscation, and ensure that each word you speak points to the highest Truth.

Date: 2024-01-08 05:06:53 - Views: 616

The Goal of Education

Obfuscation of the Truth

obfuscation: noun. the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible. from Latin obfuscare: 'to darken or obscure' Oxford Languages

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obfuscation: noun. the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.
from Latin obfuscare: 'to darken or obscure'
Oxford Languages