Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 04/10/2026 6:12:26 AM PDT by karpov
As a professor of the classical liberal arts, I began reading Bob Pepperman Taylor’s new book, Liberal Education and Democracy, with interest. Taylor, who teaches law and politics at the University of Vermont, surveys a wide range of thought leaders, describing their foundational ideas in detail. One notable example is Taylor’s paraphrasing of Michael Oakeshott: “Liberal learning is learning to understand and perhaps even participate in a conversation that transcends a particular moment, a conversation that reflects on the human condition from a wide variety of times, places, and perspectives.” That’s well said.
Taylor’s thesis begins with liberal-arts authors and then quickly expands to the relationship between liberal-arts education and society. He argues that this relationship is “essential, intimate, complex, and fraught. […] Liberal learning frequently and inevitably finds itself in tension with the common sense of democracy. […] Liberal learning promotes individual freedom but democracy promotes the will and interests of majorities.”
The trouble is that Taylor’s definition ultimately obscures the distinctive purpose of the classical liberal arts: the cultivation of independent thought.
This tension Taylor refers to, between individual freedom and the pressure to accept commonly held beliefs, has been debated for centuries. Tocqueville recognized the same dilemma when he visited the United States in the early 1800s. However, Tocqueville went further, warning that routine conformity to majority views is undesirable. Writing in Democracy in America, he stated, “You can predict that faith in common opinion will become a sort of religion whose prophet will be the majority. […] I see very clearly in equality two tendencies: one that leads the mind of each man toward new thoughts and the other that readily reduces him to thinking no more.”
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
““Liberal learning is learning to understand and perhaps even participate in a conversation that transcends a particular moment, a conversation that reflects on the human condition from a wide variety of times, places, and perspectives.” “
In other words, BS.
Liberals have no knowledge I need or they need to share with me. And we are not a democracy...
One problem with “liberal learning” is that it’s very easy to manipulate. What is worth teaching depends entirely on the teacher’s perspective. And if that teacher is a crazy, woke “progressive”, look out below.
Science can be manipulated, too. But at least in the sciences there is a body of knowledge that exists regardless of the teacher’s perspective.
The word “liberal” in this context does not mean “left” or “woke.” It means, among other things, a conscionable application of the mind.
Taylor’s book and the mind behind it, seem gaseous to me. Certainly the quotes above are mostly empty space typed out long.
You don’t even know what liberal education is. You don’t belong in this conversation.
You must be joking here, right? “liberal” here does not have anything to do with politics...
Also, I know here at FR you’re not actually supposed to read articles before commenting, but even with that longstanding tradition, it still does help to do so sometimes :-)
Well, you don’t either IMO. FYI, I took the many liberal arts classes when I got my two Masters degrees. My inference was that most liberals do take the liberal arts road when it comes to college and therefore, I have no interest in listening to anything they say. Maybe you should try reading Marcus Aurelius then you might understand before talking out of turn about people you don’t know squat about.
Yes, I was implying truism that most “liberals” get those degrees and I avoid them because they are vapid. I won’t hire them nor associate with them I got past 6th grade reading comprehension. I just don’t like writing books in a post reply to lay a foundation for something that should be inferred by reading.
In ancient times, liberal education imparted to the learner knowledge of the Seven Liberal Arts--grammar, arithmetic, logic, rhetoric, geometry, music and astrology--which would distinguish him from a slave. Nowadays, a liberally-educated person should be able to acquire a set of values, think clearly, make wise choices, avoid prejudice, and not be carried away by fads, Internet hoaxes, etc.
In the old days, those taking the liberal arts road in college would be required to master the Great Books. Nowadays, at most colleges, it probably means learning how to be politically correct and woke.
Exactly my point when choosing who to listen and entertain ideas.
Donald Trump has a liberal arts degree, so does JD Vance
In Classical education at a university I learned Latin and Greek so I could read the classics in their Original form.
And Hitler liked dogs, so if you own a dog you’re a Nazi. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. Your reasoning is invalid.
They are a few of exceptions to the rule.
“grammar, arithmetic, logic, rhetoric, geometry, music and astrology”
The last one should be astronomy, which is very different than astrology.
Pretty significant exceptions, I’d say :-). More exceptions: Ronald Reagan had a liberal arts degree, also Ron Desantis ( though Desantis is probably deepstate so maybe he doesn’t count). George W Bush and poppy Bush too. Don’t forget about Marco Rubio or Kash Patel, who are also liberal arts folks. Looks like most Republican leaders are liberal arts folks. Hmm.
“George W Bush and poppy Bush”
Now you see the problem. Two idiots that we voted in, granted we didn’t have much of a choice, but they made it through the primaries.
Well, you can go back through all previous presidents, regardless of which party, and they are almost all liberal arts graduates.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.