An education for freedom

A liberal education is preparation for human maturity. It is a multifaceted concept which encompasses such things as the introduction into what is best in the culture; the preparation for responsible citizenship in a free society; the fostering of independent, flexible, and creative thought; the encouragement of informed and principled decision-making; the cultivation of leadership; the acquisition of significant knowledge; and a deep appreciation of core ethical values."

Or, to put it negatively, liberal education is opposed to indoctrination into either religious belief or political ideology and opposed to mere training for the sake of performing a function.

The goal of a liberal education is to free persons from the prisons of their ignorance and prejudice, not to confine them in new and better prisons of our design.

There are four reasons to strive for a liberal education, even though the marketplace presses for professional preparation.

The first is that it is the economically utilitarian thing to do. Our graduates will live in a world of global pluralism and a dynamic economy that demand innovation, creativity, and flexibility. They will interact with people from all over the world in ways that we can scarcely conceive today and the prediction is that they will probably have as many as 9 changes in career.

The best preparation for this kind of life is not a narrow technical training (much less an indoctrination into a particular belief system) but rather an immersion in the best that has been written, composed, and created over the course of human history, with nearly unlimited opportunities to think about, write about, discuss, and converse about.

The best preparation for intelligent, principled interaction with people different and yet the same is knowledge, thoughtfulness, and an understanding of the nearly infinite variety of human experience.

The second reason is that it is the politically expedient thing to do. If things continue the way they are going, our graduates will live in a world that is ever more democratic --- in the definition of popular culture, in how the news and the commentary on the news are disseminated, in how political candidates and office holders are known and judged.

In this kind of hyper-democracy, it is unimaginably important for the participants to be able and willing to read, write, listen, and speak with clarity, honesty, insight, and effect. The development of skills may get one a job, but it does not provide these abilities; liberal education does.

The third reason is that it is protection against manipulation, the only way to protect ourselves against the incredibly powerful and effective economic and political propaganda machines. We must be able to deconstruct, to analyze and interpret, to understand human cupidity and the temptations of wealth and power.

The fourth reason, and I think the most important, although the least directly utilitarian, is that it is the best preparation for freedom. Human beings were created to be free, and freedom requires making informed, principled decisions; that is, freedom requires taking on the burden of making one's own moral decisions, based on knowledge and understanding and using the tools of honest, logical thought. We were not meant to be mere performers of functions or mere political or religious toadies; we were meant to be free. And only a rich, complex mental library gives us the wherewithal to embrace that freedom despite its terrors.