To truly understand the American Liberal Arts Colleges, we need to go back to the origin of the concept of Liberal Arts, and work our way forward through history. Many modern authors attribute the concept of Liberal Arts to the ancient Greeks. However, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the actual phrase Liberal Arts gained much traction. The Latin expression artes liberales referred to the branches of knowledge that were reserved for free men in ancient Greece and Rome. Other forms of learning were reserved for slaves to prepare them to gain a livelihood or to assist in the economic pursuits of their masters. Although many ancient Greeks held this view of the liberal arts, this understanding was most definitely a Roman construct. Rome, as was their style, would borrow anything from the Greek civilization that they thought worked well, or could be modified slightly for their benefit.
Instead of reserving certain aspects of education for free men, and relegating other aspects to slaves, Aristotle held an opposing view. Aristotle believed that there were three primary forms of knowledge. Each of the three has its own unique avenue of approach. Aristotle believed that all free men should be exposed to and gain some proficiency in all three forms of knowledge. Aristotle was not opposed to opening up all education to slaves and women. Aristotle also believed that any slave or woman who showed a propensity to a particular form of knowledge should be permitted and encouraged to pursue it. The first of Aristotle’s three forms of knowledge was theoria, which is the word from which we get our words theory or theoretical. The way to approach theoria, was contemplative reflection on sensory observations. Aristotle and all other Greek philosophers of his day held that theoria was the highest form of knowledge and should be reserved only for those who could demonstrate a genuine proclivity to it. Aristotle was quite firm in his belief that if someone could not demonstrate a superior level of ability in the elementary search for theoria, that individual should be relegated to a pursuit of the other two forms of knowledge or to a life of service in the military.
The second of the three forms of knowledge was poiesis, which meant creation of a product of value, and is the word from which we get our words poetical and poetry. All students of Aristotle had to create products of value. Aristotle believed that this process would help students develop a system of values that was their own and not imposed on them by someone else.
The third form of knowledge was praxis, which meant doing, and is the word from which we get our words practice and practical. All students of Aristotle had to participate in practical or experiential exercises. These exercises might be related to a piece of theoretical knowledge or a particular value, or pertain to a new lesson Aristotle wanted the students to learn. Sometimes the exercises preceded the development of the theoretical knowledge or value. At other times the exercises followed the development of knowledge or a value. You may know all the rules of rhetoric, but to really know, rhetoric you have to practice it. At times you can learn to write poetry by intuiting the rules of poetry by writing poetry. Almost always to create a poem of great value, you have to repeatedly write poems.
Most Greek philosophers held the position that theoria was to be reserved for free men. They also maintained that free men should be excused from poiesis and praxis, which were reserved for slaves. Aristotle encouraged all free men to participate in both forms of experiential learning, poiesis and praxis. For Aristotle, an educated man had to possess content, skills and values. An educated man had to develop his head, his hands and his heart.
