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: 60
