- Published: September 26, 2022
- Updated: September 26, 2022
- University / College: University of Aberdeen
- Language: English
- Downloads: 15
My Journey Out of the Cave In pursuing a Liberal Arts education, a student enters what is, in fact, an educational journey shaped to instruct an individual not only about academic knowledge, per se, but in regard to the process of generating a self-identity, and an individual world-view. With philosophical insight gained by the study of classic thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle, a Liberal Arts student learns from the very beginning to question their assumptions about everything, up to and including the nature of reality. While questioning human perception or the ways humanity shapes knowledge, ideas about social adn political themes such as justice are also given free reign.
A student who encounters Plato’s Republic will read “ a parable about justice. Justice is the end in view; the Republic as it grows and is built up in Plato’s hands, or rather in the hands of his dramatic agent Socrates, makes a new and better view of justice grow up in the mind of the reader” (Plato, 1938, p. 279) and such an evolution in personal views is gained in a Liberal Arts education. Likewise, a Liberal Arts student will learn to recognize the ties between the separate categories of knowledge: such spiritual and philosophical or scientific insight. Plato’s Republic is about justice, but “ Plato’s chief interest undoubtedly was in the ideal of personal salvation, which he derived mainly from the Orphic religion;” (Plato, 1905, p.
455) so the student will learn to make connections between one intellectual discipline and another quite easily. Intellectual individuality is also another thing to be gained from a Liberal Arts education, By studying history and the biographies of important historical figures such as Galileo, the student will learn to see that intellectual freedom is won at a cost in human society. As one scholar noted “ Galileo’s significance for the formation of modern science lies partly in his discoveries and opinions in physics and astronomy, but much more in his refusal to allow science to be guided any longer by philosophy” (Drake, 2001, p.
xvii) so rtaher than emphasizing merely a particular theorem or idea, Liberal Arts education allows a student to grasp ideas from a holistic perspective. Part of understanding knowledge is to understand that human knowledge has limits, is often self-contradicting and incomplete, and is advanced slowly at great pain throughout history. By studying writers such as Albert Camus, the student learns to glimpse the “ absurdity” notonly of human life but human thought and aspiration; as Camus once wrote: “ One lives with a few familiar ideas. Two or three. By the chance of worlds and men who are encountered, one-polishes them and transforms them. It takes ten years to have an idea fully ones own–about which one can talk.
Naturally, this is a little discouraging.” (Hanna, 1958, p. 3)However, through a Liberal Arts education, a student may realize a far greater number of “ fullideas.” Studying Camus brings about an even larger realization of personal autonomy in the face of the absurdity of the human condition: Camus’ “ success is easily accounted for. His automatic assumption that life had no meaning, his denunciation of hope, his determined refusal of any comforting transcendence” (Thody, 1957, p.
1) not only challenges the student but prepare the Liberal Arts student for life, not simply employment or position — but life itself, which often proves to be as spiritually bereft as the novels of Camus while simultaneously and spiritually bountiful as the religious transcendence described in the Bible. By learning to see a multitude of perspectives and also by learning to join these perspectives together into an individual vision is the goal and bounty of a Liberal Arts education. Outline
- Experience of a Liberal Arts Education.
- Self knowledge and Self-reliance.
- Plato and perception.
- Galileo.
- Challenge to Social Assumptions.
- Albert Camus.
- Spiritual Growth Through Education.
- Philosophical basis.
- Bible.
- Individual World View.
ReferencesPsalms.
(2007). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.).
New York: Columbia University Press. Crombie, A. C. (1952). Augustine to Galileo: The History of Science, A. D. 400- 1650.
Melbourne, Vic: William Heinemann. Drake, S. (2001). Galileo: A Very Short Introduction.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hanna, T. B. (1958). The Thought and Art of Albert Camus. Chicago: Henry Regnery. Huttar, C. A.
(2005). Psalm Culture and Early Modern English Literature. Christianity and Literature, 54(4), 609+.
- (1905). The Myths of Plato (Stewart, J. A.
, Trans.). London: Macmillan.
Plato. (1938). Plato: Phaedrus, Ion, Gorgias, and Symposium, with Passages from the Republic and Laws (Cooper, L., Trans.
). London: Oxford University Press. Rizzuto, A. (1981). Camus’ Imperial Vision. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Thody, P. (1957). Albert Camus: A Study of His Work.
London: Hamish Hamilton. 2 pages 8 sources w/ outline APAI need a paper with the following: Elaborating on what a spiritual and educational journey one can have through a liberal arts education? Support with evidence from readings such as, Galileo; from the bible, The absurdity of human existence; from albert camus, psalm 8; from the bible, out of the cave; by platoe, and pedogogy of the oppressed; by freire. Use citations please, quotes if possible. Also, explain, how these different readings can can impact ones life? I need an outline as well. Thank You
