Do you know why the liberal arts are called the ‘liberal’ arts?
In ancient Rome, the art of rhetoric was incredibly valued. In fact, it was considered one of the most valuable skills someone could possess. Rhetoric could create change that brute force and violence simply couldn’t. Rich or poor, strong or weak, celebrity or nobody, the skill of rhetoric granted individuals the ability to topple rulers, gain the support of masses of people, and ultimately, mold the world around them as they desired. The Romans understood that rhetoric was a weapon that no shield could offer protection from.
This is precisely why rhetoric, along with related skills such as grammar, dialectic, logic, and others, were skills that only Roman citizens - free men - were allowed to possess in ancient Rome. In fact, even if you were a Roman citizen, it was still very hard to study rhetoric. If you got the chance, you were considered to be incredibly lucky. The ancient Greeks were quite similar as well.
This is why the ‘liberal’ arts have the name that they do; they were skills which only free people were worthy of. The Romans didn’t want just anybody learning these skills, as they were tools which could catalyze profound change. Whilst it’s true that these skills were only taught to free citizens, I think it could also be argued that it was these very skills which allowed them to be free. The liberal arts, from that point of view, were arts that gave people freedom. The freedom to spread ideas. The freedom to critique the ideas of others. The freedom to critically think. All of these things allowed an individual to be intellectually free.
The Preamble: Hello everyone! I apologize for interrupting your reading of today’s article, but I wanted to chime in with an important announcement. As you may have noticed, today’s article has a bit of a different tone. This is due to the fact that, in today’s post, I won’t be delving into the philosophy of another philosopher. Instead, I’m going to be sharing my own (original) thoughts and ideas.
In addition to my usual, free content which explores the ideas of various thinkers, I’ve decided to start sharing my own philosophical essays which contain my own ramblings and ideas. Just to reiterate; my free content isn’t going anywhere, and I’m going to continue to post my usual, informative philosophical content. The only change is going to be that, occasionally, I’ll be posting my own original ideas (probably once or twice a month). Since these original philosophical essays are going to be a form of bonus content, I’ve decided to offer it to paid subscribers. My writings may fade away in some corner of the internet, or I may compile them into a book one day, but either way, feel free to become a paid subscriber to read my thoughts and ideas. Becoming a paid subscriber is cheaper than buying a Starbucks coffee. The funds generated through my publication will most likely go on to pay for my graduate studies, so I really appreciate those of you who choose to upgrade your subscription. It’s super cool that I have the opportunity to fund my academic journey, through writing philosophy itself. My original philosophical essays won’t have a concrete schedule of posting, as I don’t want to force them, but I’m going to aim to provide at least one or two of these ‘original essays’ a month. Once again, a big thank you to all of you who choose to support my work by becoming a paid subscriber, and I hope you enjoy!
Now, on to today’s essay.
The Roman empire was quite advanced for its time, and so I think it’s safe to assume that they must’ve been right about a few things. This is precisely why today’s world frightens me. From an educational standpoint, we’re increasingly gravitating towards ‘practical’ degrees and leaving the liberal arts behind.