Question about Liberal Arts Education for those who know

[Basset Hound]

Many years ago I read that the original purpose (back in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries) of a Liberal Arts Education was to give wealthy young men who would never have to work for a living something to do until it was time for them to get married, so they wouldn't be brawling and boozing in the cities, killing each other in duels, catching the pox or the clap or coming home announcing that they had fallen in love with a pregnant whore and now wanted to marry her, and to be able to salt their conversation with classical quotations to impress, and not be always talking of the hunt, or amour.

I'm not sure, but what do others say?

[lisarea]

Are you talking about liberal arts or just the humanities?

[Ari]

I'm not so sure about that, although really if you had the money any way to send off your annoying spawn to a school to be raised out of your hair was ideal. The enlightenment of the 18th century was part an obsession with anything and everything greek and to a lesser extent roman. If it was greek, it was good, so philosophy, math, and arts become noble and pure goals to follow. To walk in the footsteps of the great masters and wear an onion on your belt was the in thing at the time.

[lisarea]

These are my main questions.

1. What do you mean by a liberal arts education? When exactly did the concept originate and how are you determining that?
2. Would your question have an objective or subjective answer, or some of both? If both, about what percentages?
3. Would the answer be quantifiable? If so, how?

[Kyuss Apollo]

Originally Posted by Basset Hound

Many years ago I read that...

Read that...where?

[JoeP]

Maybe we could just replace all posters with bots that reply [clarification needed] or [citation required]?

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Basset Hound

Many years ago I read that the original purpose (back in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries) of a Liberal Arts Education was to give wealthy young men who would never have to work for a living something to do until it was time for them to get married, so they wouldn't be brawling and boozing in the cities, killing each other in duels, catching the pox or the clap or coming home announcing that they had fallen in love with a pregnant whore and now wanted to marry her, and to be able to salt their conversation with classical quotations to impress, and not be always talking of the hunt, or amour.

I'm not sure, but what do others say?

Yes.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by lisarea

These are my main questions.

1. What do you mean by a liberal arts education? When exactly did the concept originate and how are you determining that?
2. Would your question have an objective or subjective answer, or some of both? If both, about what percentages?
3. Would the answer be quantifiable? If so, how?

1. Clearly, sometime during the 16th century.
2. 20% objective, if citing historical references which were probably subjective at the time can be called objective, and 80% subjective.
3. 42

[lisarea]

I'm not trying to be snarky, I just don't get how that could even be considered true or false. I'm sure someone has said that, and I'm sure that has happened. People say and do a lot of different things.

Liberal arts is pretty much any type of education that's not directly vocational, including math and science, which is why I ask if you mean humanities. Humanities are the studies people most often claim are pointless and/or elitist.

I think those people are wrong, and that people should be studying the humanities more, not less.

[godfry n. glad]

Taxonomic semiotics.

It depends.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by lisarea

I'm not trying to be snarky,

I am, though.

[Basset Hound]

I read it on a board years ago. And someone referring to lines in Jonathan Swift's "Tale of a Tub" describing the young gentlemen said "That was what it was like before rich kids went to college."

[lisarea]

Jonathan Swift was a satirist, and also an arrogant dick.

He once seriously proposed putting himself in charge of developing an official prescriptive grammar for the English language.

So yeah, Jonathan Swift said a lot of things, but a good percentage of those things were ridiculous.

[Ensign Steve]

I mean the guy advocated eating babies for crying out loud.

[JoeP]

Now that's a modest proposal that ought to be revived.

[Metacrock]

Originally Posted by lisarea

These are my main questions.

1. What do you mean by a liberal arts education? When exactly did the concept originate and how are you determining that?
2. Would your question have an objective or subjective answer, or some of both? If both, about what percentages?
3. Would the answer be quantifiable? If so, how?

liberal arts is a catch all term referring to non since and math aspects of curriculum. Language, literature, art, philosophy. That's the official term. Liberal arts ed means taking the required courses in these subjects being educated that may be a hard concept,

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by Metacrock

liberal arts is a catch all term referring to non since and math aspects of curriculum. Language, literature, art, philosophy. That's the official term. Liberal arts ed means taking the required courses in these subjects being educated that may be a hard concept,

You are wrong.

back, and see you in 2028.