Metaphor

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.

Does anyone find it ironic that I begin a discussion of skeletons during Halloween season? Some have suggested that the topic should have frightened me away. A skeleton in the closet is a commonly used idiom, generally believed to represent a secret that the “ownerof the closet” would find unpleasant or harmful if it were made public. As with many common idioms, there is no consensus as to the origin of the term.

There is an 18^th century legend about an English couple who were both so obnoxious that no one in their small town knew anything about them other than their names and in which house they lived. After years of arguing, the husband apparently reached the breaking point, and decided he had endured enough of the old hag. Hence he killed his wife, and to conceal his crime, he stuffed his wife’s body in a closet. In those few times when he did go out and was asked about why no one had seen his wife recently, he replied that his wife had left him and gone home to mama. The town’s people found this story plausible because everyone knew the couple had been arguing for years. Since the wife had been unpleasant to everyone, she had no friends in the town, thus, nobody tried to contact her since they didn’t know where her mother lived, and the wife’s disappearance was effectively ignored.

After many years the husband died. Since the couple didn’t have any children or any other close relatives, the husband willed all of his earthly possessions, including his home, to the church. This was a surprise to everyone including the vicar since the man seldom graced the door of the church. When the local vicar went to clean up the property and take possession of the house, he found the skeleton in the closet. It didn’t take long for the word about the skeleton to spread around the town. Everyone suspected the skeleton was that of the man’s former wife. The husband had kept this dark secret for many years, but eventually his actions became public knowledge.

         I believe there are a number of skeletons in the closets of American liberal arts colleges. Some of these skeletons have been hidden since residential liberal arts colleges were first introduced to colonial America in the mid 16^th century. Some skeletons predate American liberal arts colleges. Other skeletons have been introduced more recently. I am not saying that these skeletons represent crimes, but only information that is not generally well-known. I believe that this information should draw peoples’ attention to the questions of whether liberal arts colleges are what they claim to be and whether they do what they claim to do. In each of the series of postings that follow, I will discuss a skeleton, outlining when and by whom I believe the skeleton was deposited in the closet. I will also explain what impact I believe the skeleton has had and will have on American higher education.

Some of the skeletons I intend to expose include skeletons related to the definitions of liberal arts, liberal arts colleges and liberal arts education. Others are related to the origins of liberal arts colleges and education in America, the history and development of liberal arts colleges in America, the structures and governance of American liberal arts colleges. Some additional skeleton are related to the primary pedagogies and modalities of liberal arts education, and the demographics of liberal arts education. Other postings will focus on the issues of the mission, vision, and purpose of liberal arts education or colleges.

The first skeleton that I will address in the next posting is the definition of liberal arts.