Philosophia is the Greek word for philosophy, which means "love of knowledge." Indeed, very few things on earth can be more virtuous than the pursuit of knowledge. As our technology advances ever more rapidly, a liberal arts education remains the best way to cultivate a passion for ideas and discover ourselves.
"The central purpose of the University is to enrich the mind by stimulating and sustaining a spirit of free inquiry directed to understanding the nature of the universe and the role of mankind in it."
That mission statement of the University might sound lofty, or even idealistic to some. College students today are content with simply getting good grades, and have lost the appetite for pursuing after high ideals such as truth, beauty and goodness. As Aristotle said, "All men by nature desire to know." We are designed by our Creator to strive for aspirations worthy of the highest aim. Unfortunately, we are trapped in the everydayness. Our vision has been blurred. Too many of us are interested in pursuing a specific lifestyle - getting through college, getting a good job, getting a good house in the suburbs and then vanish from history. Careerism, instead of genuine intellectual discovery, shapes the ambiance of American college campuses. The University is no exception.\nServing as a fourth-year mentor in a number of organizations, I encounter many students who introduce themselves as pre-law, pre-med, or pre-something. Their responses baffle me. Before you are pre-anything, are you not foremost a human being with natural curiosity that desperately needs to be fed? Since when have we become almost solely concerned about our careers, instead of real learning? Education helps one's career, but there is much more to it.
Echols Scholar Dean Bill Wilson states that the purpose of college is to cultivate the students' intellectual virtues - knowledge, wisdom and understanding - by developing a habit of free inquiry. Equally essential, those virtues are to be guided by a moral compass that the College should foster. To answer such an encompassing question as to the purpose of the universe and our role in it, we need to possess a fundamental understanding in many branches of knowledge. This is the appeal of a liberal education. The classical Western tradition defines the seven Artes Liberales: the audrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music) and the trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric), which form the basis of the modern liberal arts curriculum. Those disciplines are believed to be essential in humanity's intellectual instruction to fully understand the world. Social sciences inform us about the failures and successes of human institutions. Theology and philosophy guide us in our quest for the meaning of our existence. Literature and fine arts cultivate our appreciation for beauty. The sciences enable us to understand the physical workings of the universe. Commerce teaches us the modes by which we exchange goods.
Most importantly, the College ought to link all those disciplines in a cohesive manner so that students will realize the unity of knowledge. Plato, Aristotle, DaVinci, Pascal and Newton are all pillars of Western civilization. Moreover, many of them were simultaneously mathematicians, philosophers, painters, scientists and theologians. They had an unquenchable curiosity in many subjects because they celebrated the unity of knowledge.
Although the University offers abundant academic resources, the students themselves ought to embody the vision of a liberal education to attain the full development of their minds. Looking four years back, I rarely had to contemplate how my classes were related to each other if I only studied for good grades. Subtle curricular change at the University may have contributed to students' inability to see the unity of knowledge. When Dean Wilson was an undergraduate at the University between 1968 and 1972, every student had to take a math and a lab science in conjunction with classes in humanities and social sciences. But the requirement became increasingly lenient as students struggled with the most basic college-level math classes. By deleting seemingly difficult disciplines from the graduation requirement, we risk altering the very idea of a liberal education.
Finally, a liberal education best enables students to flourish in a world that is changing faster, becoming increasingly complex and growing more diverse than ever. Former governor of Virginia and current Miller Center Director Gerald Baliles emphasized the value of a liberal education during a speech given by the Jefferson Society this semester. He believes that a liberally educated person possesses the critical thinking skills to analyze causes and effects of current issues, look at available options and make appropriate recommendations. Ironically, a person who has amassed skills that are too specialized may find himself mercilessly unemployed as new technologies render his entire service obsolete. The man who has studied many subjects and sees the unity among them is always able to adapt to changing environments.
In the epic book "The Closing of the American Mind," the great Allan Bloom wrote, "a good program of liberal education feeds the student's love of truth and passion to live a good life".
May our quest for truth always lead us, wherever it might be.
Paul Chen's column appears Thurdays. He can be reached at p.chen@cavalierdaily.com.
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