Catholic Candle note: Below is part 10 of our exploration of the best type of education – which is a true Catholic Liberal Education. Do not confuse this education with many university programs called “liberal arts” but which are full of fluff, falsehood, and aimless so-called “cultural enrichment” courses and “humanities”.

A liberal education also does not refer to liberalism, nor is a true liberal education an indoctrination into that error of liberalism or political correctness. In fact, a true Catholic Liberal Education is the best antidote to the errors of liberalism.

As context for this tenth part of this article, let us recall what we saw in the earlier nine parts:

Previously, in part 1 of this article,¹ we examined the problems we see in modern education:

• Modern colleges do not improve the quality of their students’ minds (and their thinking ability) much or at all.

  
  

• Most “education” is merely job training, fluff courses, and/or leftist indoctrination.

  
  

• The students are trained to sound like someone in their field but they do more memorizing and little thinking.

  
  

• Grade “inflation” and degree “inflation” are rampant. Grades and academic degrees do not mean much anymore.

In part 2 of this article,² we examined, in general, what education is. We considered the human soul and the perfection of its highest faculty (i.e., its highest power) – which is the intellect – and which is immaterial (i.e., incorporeal). We saw that our intellects are perfected through knowing eternal, unchangeable truths and the causes of things.

In part 3 of this article,³ after having seen what true education is, we examined the question who should perfect his intellect.

In part 4 of this article,⁴ having seen that modern universities do not provide a true education, we consider whether there is ever a good reason for men or women to attend them.

In part 5 of this article,⁵ having seen that women and girls should pursue a True Catholic Liberal Education – just as men and boys should, too – we then considered what the best environment is in which women and girls should do this.

In part 6 of this article, we addressed the objection that, having seen the great value of a true Catholic Liberal Education, we should be afraid that the great blessing of this education would be a danger to our souls because it might foster in us the vice of pride.⁶

In part 7 of this article, we considered more fully the difference between the education which is appropriate for a free man as contrasted to the education which is appropriate for a slave.⁷

In part 8 of this article, we considered further how the truth perfects our minds. This shows us that we must really know the truth, not merely believe true opinions.⁸

In part 9 of this article, we considered more-specifically what studies (sciences) belong in a Catholic Liberal Education.⁹

In part 10, we explore the motive and the goal of a true Catholic Liberal Education. A Catholic Liberal Education Begins in Wonder and Aims at Wisdom.¹⁰

Below, in part eleven, we consider what authors and books we should use in our Catholic Liberal Education.

What Authors and Books Should We Use in Our Catholic Liberal Education?

Part 11

In our recent consideration of wisdom, we saw what wisdom is and that it is a priceless gift from God. We saw that the highest truths and wisdom perfect our highest faculty – viz., our intellect.

But which specific books and authors should we read when studying the various sciences of a genuine Catholic Liberal Education? There are many authors of many books written on the subjects (e.g., geometry) which we should study in a Catholic Liberal Education. Which ones are the best books and authors for us to use in these studies?

In our pursuit of the greatest truths about the objective order established by God, we should use the original writings of the greatest thinkers – who wrote in the Western intellectual tradition which is the foundation and flowering of Christendom. These works must be read not primarily for historical or cultural reasons, but because they are the most successful attempts to understand things as they are in themselves, while attending to our common experience.¹¹

Generally, these works are called the Great Books of the Western World. Here are a few examples of these Great Books: Euclid’s Elements (the greatest work of geometry), and many works by St. Augustine, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Gregory Mendel, Archimedes, and J. Henri Fabre (as well as many other authors).

We should read these Great Books seeking to understand the greatest truths of reality. These books should not be the object of study. The object of study should be the truths themselves examined in those books.

Nor should we read the Great Books in order to learn the opinions of those authors but rather to know what the truth is, weighing and examining what those books say, in order to consider their arguments and explanations and thereby come to the truth.

The opinions of even the great authors are not so important. That is why St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest of all Doctors of the Church and all other thinkers, rightly teaches that arguments based on human authority are the weakest type of argument and are weaker than arguments based on reason.¹² (However, in contrast to arguments based on human authority, arguments based on God’s own authority, are the strongest arguments.)¹³

It is the truth that is important. So, for example, if we are studying What Time is, the fruit of our study should not be concluding that “In Aristotle’s opinion, Time is the measure of motion”. Rather, by considering Aristotle’s arguments and explanations, the fruit of our study should be the better understanding of the reality of what Time is (not merely an author’s opinion).

Further, students should not read these Great Books as “Humanities”, i.e., as outstanding examples of the creativity of the human mind, although these books are certainly that.

Likewise, students should not read these books to become acquainted with our Cultural Heritage, and the refinement of our Western Civilization (as valuable as that is).

Rather, students should read the Great Books because, more than any other works, when studied under the light and guidance of the teachings of the True Catholic Church, these books can open up our minds to the truth about reality.

There are four reasons for this:

• The Great Books are the most accessible works for the matters they treat, given the difficulty which is inherent in the matters themselves. For example, understanding what motion is or understanding the Blessed Trinity contains inherent difficulties which cannot all be “simplified away”.¹⁴
  

• The Great Books have withstood the test of time. Many generations from now, Euclid will still be esteemed as the greatest of all geometers, whereas the authors of the modern geometry books will all be forgotten.

  
  

• The Great Books are shown superior by their effect – because they have convinced the world of their ideas. When an author convinces the world of his ideas and arguments – in the face of the world’s prior, contrary beliefs – that feat shows the book’s greater persuasiveness and intrinsic power as compared to a lesser author who merely writes his text book in the “tradition” of a Great Book (such as the countless math books claiming to be “Euclidean Geometry”).

  
  

• The Great Books help us to avoid being overly-influenced by the prejudices of our time. People blindly assume the errors of our age, e.g., ecumenism and evolution. The Great Books are from prior ages unaffected by the current age which blindly assumes the correctness of positions which are currently in vogue. The Great Books help us to “step outside” our time and to better see its errors and the weaknesses of current fads and transitory “orthodoxies”.

Perhaps some people, moved by misplaced humility, fear going to the authors of the Great Books because those people think those works are only for scholars, not for ordinary people like ourselves. But that notion is false. These works are great because they are so accessible and are the simplest treatment of those ideas, given the inherent difficulty of the matters themselves.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the greatest of all thinkers. His brilliance surpasses all others, in large part, because he excels all others at unlocking the most difficult truths for all of us – laymen included. It is a mistake to suppose that he is too great to be read by “pea brains” like us and so we should instead read the books written by some more recent, lesser authors.

In other words, the great authors are so great that they are accessible even to us ordinary people!¹⁵ Here is how Archbishop Lefebvre explained this truth:

Let us not think that Saint Thomas is too much for the faithful and that he is distant from their faith, for this is not true and [is] damaging to the faithful.  The philosophy and theology of Saint Thomas are truth.  Therefore, let us not say that the truth explained in all its simplicity, and clarity, in addition to its profound logic, cannot be understood by the faithful.  That would be condescension on our part.  This would amount to abandoning and despairing of communicating to the faithful – a profound tragedy.¹⁶

Conclusion

We should spend our lives pursuing the truth, especially about our Holy Catholic Faith. We should do this by reading the great authors of the Great Books.

Looking Ahead

We hear all around us that what is called “academic freedom” is essential to successful learning. But what is academic freedom? And is it good?

To Be Continued …