Dr. Fleming gives an introduction to liberal education.
A Quaker headmaster informed me that he hoped his students would be themselves; I naturally asked him why parents should pay high tuition to a private school if not to turn their little savages into some kind of civilized human beings.
While it may be the case that the cultural literacy of students of all "socioeconomic" backgrounds is rather poor and that they may be fully immersed in the ideals of consumerism, nonetheless, would we be surprised to learn that those who grow up in broken families, families where a father is absent or present but with abuse, etc., are more likely to have other problems as well?
How often do we witness the results of parents who have neglected to raise their children properly? Whether it be on a bus picking up students leaving their high school, in the shopping malls, or wherever else our young people may congregate?
Dr. Fleming reiterates that the end of liberal education is the contemplation of the good. This Sunday I spent some time with a friend and mentor, and we discussed in part the lack of desire for wisdom among professional academics occupying the institutions of "higher learning" in this country, and even among certain Catholic schools.
The ancient system had its shortcomings, and nothing could be more foolish than to design a school around Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria, much less to pretend to revive an imaginary trivium and quadrivium that more often existed on paper (or, rather, parchment) than in practice. However, the fundamental objectives of education remain, and not just the objectives but the methods that have proved useful and indispensable: the teaching of Latin and mathematics; the study of grammar and rhetoric (which includes logic and composition); and a systematic reading of the books that make us who we are, particularly poetry, drama, and history—and not the pseudo-scientific history written by professors but the history of historians who can write and think: Thucydides and Livy, David Hume and Shelby Foote. This is a far cry from four years spent on the Five Foot Shelf.
While there are the fortunate few who may be able to receive such an education, what about the rest of us, especially those who are trapped in the spiritually impoverished urban centers of this country, or their suburban colonies? If we have the humility to admit that we lack a good education, and our opportunities to learn are limited, then perhaps we can become content with focusing on God and receiving the gift of wisdom that He wishes to impart on all.
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