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

Below, in part 10, we explore the motive and the goal of a true Catholic Liberal Education.

What Are the Motive and the Goal of a True Catholic Liberal Education?

A Catholic Liberal Education Begins in Wonder and Aims at Wisdom

Part 10

In an earlier part of this article¹⁰, we saw that the seven liberal arts are important studies by means of which we should begin our study of the highest sciences – which are philosophy and theology.

We saw that the liberal arts are not the only parts of liberal education or even the most important parts, but they are the key beginning of it. They develop our thinking and help make our minds disciplined, vigorous, and animated by wonder, so that we will not only desire, but also have the means to can acquire knowledge and wisdom, especially the highest truths, which are again, those of philosophy and theology.

Here is the motive and goal of the education that all of us should seek, each according to his circumstances:

A true, Catholic Liberal Education
begins in wonder and aims at wisdom.

Let us “unpack” that statement by first looking at what we mean by wonder and then let us consider what wisdom is.

What is Wonder?

Wonder is the proper human motive for true education. Wonder involves two things simultaneously: ignorance and knowledge (in different respects).  Man finds himself wondering because, at the same time, he both knows something and also doesn’t know everything. 

Let us contrast wonder with mere curiosity.  Wonder implies that a person knows a group of facts (i.e., truths) and, knowing these facts, he seeks an explanation of them – viz., their causes.  Wonder involves a certain delight and joy, a sort of fascination with the way things are. But at the same time, the person has a certain lack of comfort because he is aware of his own lack of knowledge. So he asks why things are the way they are.  Wonder implies that a person has a certain confidence that the world around him is ultimately explainable.  When a person is animated by wonder, he goes through his day, week, or month, seeing additional intellectual connections between various things. He goes through life seeing more aspects of the world around him which are interesting and for which he seeks explanations.

By contrast, a person motivated by curiosity is more interested in questions concerning how.  When a person is motivated by curiosity, he is not so interested in questions concerning why – and is not so motivated to seek to know why something is true and what its causes are.  Rather, curiosity leads a person to focus on seeking to do something and desiring to see if his idea will “work” to achieve a useful practical result or even merely a sensational spectacle. A curious man ultimately seeks power.¹¹  He is more concerned to see how certain generalizations work or how they apply to varying circumstances.  In contrast to a person who wonders, a person motivated by curiosity assumes the validity of a principle, in order to see how effectively this principle can be harnessed to exploit a given situation in order to achieve a particular useful result.

This is not to say that the methods of verification in experimental science may not very well be an instrument of wonder of a high order, but when those instruments are employed not in order to understand the truths of Nature, but in order to find what works, then curiosity and not wonder is the immediate motive.

So the man who wonders at the lightning he sees in the sky is considering questions such as what causes lightning and what is the nature of lightning.  But the man who sees the lightning and seeks to protect his house from being struck by lightning is curious rather than wondering.  He asks himself things such as, if he places a metal pole on his roof, will that protect his house?

The proper satisfaction of a man who wonders is knowledge of the causes of things around us, e.g., what is lightning and what causes it.  By contrast, the proper satisfaction of a curious man is seeing that his idea works successfully, e.g., the

lightning rod protected his house from a lightning strike. ¹²

Curiosity and the practical improvements engendered by it are generally not evil¹³ and are sometimes even necessary. But they are much lower than the possession of universal, eternal truth. Such curiosity is lower than wonder in a way similar to food for the body being lower than food for the mind. This is because wonder leads to the perfection of our intellect; curiosity leads to perfection of the practical circumstances of our life. The perfection of our intellect is much greater and nobler!

So a man who sees and wonders is spurred on to learn the causes of the things around him because they are interesting and the world around him is explainable by reason. Those causes are worthy of investigation for the sake of the truth because Nature is worthy of investigation (and even more worthy is the First Cause of Nature, Who is God).  By contrast, curiosity spurs a man to solve a problem which improves the practical aspects of his life or otherwise helps him, e.g., have a safer home.

Thus, a liberal education begins in wonder, not in curiosity. By contrast (for example), building a better mousetrap begins in curiosity, not in wonder.

So a Catholic Liberal Education begins with wonder and involves the seeking of the truth which is the knowledge of the causes of things. This true education aims at wisdom (as we stated above).

But what is wisdom? Let us next consider that question.

First, Let Us Remember that Wisdom is a Priceless Treasure!

First, let us reflect that wisdom is one of the most important blessings from God. “All wisdom is from the Lord God”.¹⁴

Wisdom is incomparably better than fame, prestige, power, riches, pleasures, or comfort. As the Book of Wisdom declares:

I preferred her [viz., wisdom] before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her. Neither did I compare unto her any precious stone: for all gold in comparison of her, is as a little sand, and silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay.¹⁵

In fact:

Wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.¹⁶

And:

She [i.e., wisdom] is an infinite treasure to men! ¹⁷

Therefore, we should pursue wisdom above all of these things. As the wise man teaches us in the Book of Proverbs:

Get wisdom, because it is better than gold.¹⁸

What is Wisdom?

St. Thomas Aquinas explains to us (following Aristotle’s teaching) that:

Wisdom is a knowledge of causes.¹⁹

This definition fits perfectly with what we saw above about wonder. That is, seeking the true knowledge which is offered in a Catholic Liberal Education begins in wonder. As we saw above, true wonder (as contrasted to mere curiosity) motivates us to seek to understand the things that are, and to know their causes.

The Wisdom We Discuss Here (and Which We Seek) is Wisdom Simply Speaking, not Wisdom in a Restricted Sense

In this present article, we are considering the nature of wisdom simply, that is, unqualifiedly. Let us contrast this unqualified wisdom to what we could call “wisdom” as that word is used in a narrow or restricted sense.

In a qualified sense – i.e., in some way – we could call something “wisdom” which is the knowledge of causes pertaining to a narrow field or pursuit, such as carpentry (or one of the other manual arts). A man could be called a “wise carpenter” because he has the knowledge of the causes of his art. For example, a “wise carpenter” might reject the use of a particular beam (i.e., plank) which is full of knots because he knows that such a beam would not possess the strength it should have because those knots weaken it.

Such a carpenter is not wise absolutely speaking (unqualifiedly) but is wise in a certain, limited respect (viz., regarding his particular field), because he knows the causes which affect his own special art.

But in this present article, we are considering the wisdom by which we would call a man “wise” without qualification, as opposed to calling him “wise” only in a certain specialized respect (as we would say a “wise carpenter”). In other words, in this article we are examining what wisdom is absolutely, because of which we would call a man “wise” without adding any qualification such as “carpenter”.

This distinction is similar to the difference between a man being called “good” without qualification (because he possesses great virtue) as contrasted to a person being called “good” qualifiedly, such as being a “good plumber” or a “good assassin”. Being a “good assassin” refers to the person possessing a high degree of the assassin’s skill for killing people. We do not call this assassin “good” without qualification (but we could call him “good” in this certain respect).

Likewise, calling a man “wise” with respect to carpentry is not the same as calling him “wise” without qualification. So in this article, we examine the nature of wisdom as it gives a general excellence to a person and because of which he would be called “wise” as a person (and not in a qualified sense such as wise as a carpenter).

There Are Two Kinds of Wisdom Simply Speaking

There are two kinds of wisdom simply speaking. They are speculative²⁰ wisdom and practical wisdom. Both of them are the knowledge of causes, but in different ways. They reflect the two kinds of causes that every person should know. Each of these kinds of wisdom causes a person to be called “wise” without qualification:

• Because of speculative wisdom, a person is called wise as the knower of the deep causes of things, especially the First Cause of all things; and

  
  

• Because of practical wisdom, a person is called wise as a doer, acting well in light of his final end.

Both kinds of wise men we call “wise” simply speaking, without limiting this adjective by a qualifying word such as “carpenter”.

Let us briefly look at each of these types of wisdom.

What Is Speculative Wisdom?

Speculative wisdom is wisdom in those matters which concern the highest truths²¹ which are most worth knowing and which most-greatly perfect our intellects.

But in addition to knowing high truths, we must also know the causes of those high truths; (of course, God is uncaused but is the ultimate Cause of everything else). It is important that, in knowing the highest truths, we also know their causes because we do not know something fully if we do not know its causes.

But there is a difference in causes. Some are lower-level, proximate causes which are themselves caused by higher causes. For example, a dog is one of the causes of its own puppies but God is the higher cause of not only those puppies, but also the parent dogs, as well as all other dogs and creatures.

The most complete and most satisfying knowledge of a thing is to know it with all of its causes, even up to (and especially) the Highest Cause, which is the First and Highest Cause of all creatures. This is God.

St. Paul infallibly teaches us that we can know God by natural reason, as the First Cause of all other things. In other words, looking at creatures, we can see God’s work in them and that God is their cause. Here are St. Paul’s words:

[T]he invisible things of Him [viz., God], from the creatures of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; His eternal power also, and Divinity.²²

St. Thomas refers to speculative wisdom when he explains (following Aristotle’s teaching) that “it belongs to wisdom to consider the Highest Cause.”²³

This knowledge of things with their highest causes is the deepest and fullest way to know things and is speculative wisdom.

The science which treats of the first causes (including naturally knowable truths about God Himself, such as His existence and some of His perfections) in the light of the natural capacity of human reason is called metaphysics – which is a type of speculative wisdom – as this wisdom is attainable by the power of human reason. The science which studies God in the higher light of what He has revealed about Himself is also called speculative wisdom, but it is wisdom as attainable by the greater light of the Catholic Faith. Thus, Catholic theology is the highest wisdom and is the principal satisfaction of wonder on this side of the grave.

What Is Practical Wisdom?

The other kind of wisdom is called practical wisdom and is also called prudence. It is one of the four Cardinal Virtues. It is also a Gift of the Holy Ghost, as well as an infused moral virtue (infused into the souls of those who are in the state of Sanctifying Grace).

Practical wisdom is concerned with right reason as it applies to our active life. This wisdom regulates the passions and appetites which move us. Practical wisdom does this by ordering all of our actions (and our life) to our Final End. This Final End is also called the Final Cause of our actions because our end (that is, the goal) is the ultimate cause (reason) why we do what we do.

For example, suppose that a man has an urgent need to travel to an adjoining city immediately. He might go into his bedroom, for the sake of getting his car keys. His obtaining his keys is for the sake of driving his car, which is for the sake of going to the gas station, which is for the sake of filling his empty gas tank, which is for the sake of being able to drive to that adjoining city without running out of gas, all for the sake of making the urgent journey. The Final Cause (the ultimate reason) for each of those activities was in order to arrive in the adjoining city. In other words, finally, the cause of all of those activities was the arriving there. By contrast, if the man stopped to read a novel, the Final Cause of that pastime would not be the urgent trip to the adjoining city.

Likewise, any part of our life which does not promote our Final Cause, is vain. Anything we do which will not help us to achieve the goal for which we have been created (and for which are on earth) is ultimately foolishness that we will regret. That is why one way in which practical wisdom can be summed up is as follows:

It is Practical Wisdom (Prudence) to live every minute of our lives in the way that, at our Judgment, we will want to have lived.

Here is how St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches this practical wisdom:

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. All other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him fulfill the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use these things to the extent that they will help him to attain his end. Likewise, he must rid himself of them insofar as they prevent him from attaining it.

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, insofar as it is left to the choice of our free will and is not forbidden. Acting accordingly, for our part, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short one, and so in all things we should desire and choose only those things which will best help us attain the end for which we are created.²⁴

St. Paul urged his flock to live according to practical wisdom when he taught them that they should:

Walk with wisdom towards them that are without.²⁵

St. Paul is teaching us that (practical) wisdom should guide our actions, i.e., our “walk”.

Following St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that prudence, i.e., practical wisdom, “judges of human acts by Divine things, and directs human acts according to Divine rules.”²⁶

We see that practical wisdom should cause us to order our lives fearing the Lord so that we can live a life obeying Him and living in His friendship. Here is one way in which the Book of Proverbs teaches this truth:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.²⁷

As we saw in an earlier part of our current investigation of The Blessings of a True Catholic Liberal Education,²⁸ we should study the truths of Ethics and Politics to attain this practical wisdom.

Both Types of Wisdom Have the Same Ultimate Object: God

We see, by looking at both speculative wisdom and practical wisdom, that God is the beginning and end. That is, both kinds of wisdom ultimately are knowledge of God but in different aspects.

Speculative wisdom starts with all of the various truths around us and traces them back to their First Cause, Who is God. By contrast, through Ethics and Politics, practical wisdom considers our Final End (Who is God) as the reason and guiding principle for all of our actions and makes sure that all of our actions are for the sake of Him, Who is our Last End and our Final Cause (to use the proper philosophical term).

Thus, we see more fully the literal truth of what Our Lord says in the Apocalypse:

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.²⁹

Our Lord is the Beginning and First Cause of all that exists; He is the End and Highest Principle to which all of our actions and our lives should conform.

So in all of the studies of a true education, God is the ultimate subject of study – as the First Beginning (the First Cause) of the speculative sciences, and as the Last End of the practical sciences of Ethics and true Political Science.

This Lifetime Pursuit of Wisdom Is The Life of a Free Man

Now through the efforts of a lifetime of study, a man can more fully acquire deeper and broader wisdom. But such precious wisdom nonetheless is indeed the work of a lifetime.

However, this man’s whole “journey” – even the earlier part – should be characterized by the pursuit of this great good, and this work of his entire life is rightly called philosophy – which means the love of wisdom. For every study such a man undertakes is for the sake of wisdom.

And insofar as he lives for wisdom, his whole life is devoted to that which in itself makes life worth living. Thus, he is not a slave but a free man. Accordingly, only the kind of education which introduces a man to the philosophical life is properly named liberal.

Conclusions of this Present Part of the Article (viz., Part 10)

A true, Catholic Liberal Education begins in wonder and aims at wisdom. God made us to wonder at the world around us and to perfect our minds seeking the causes of things. This is speculative wisdom. He instilled this healthy sense of wonder in us precisely so that we would seek Him, the Cause of causes.

Practical wisdom is acting according to our final end (i.e., goal), which is the Final Cause of all of our actions (i.e., the ultimate reason why we act).

Both types of wisdom ultimately lead back to God, the First Cause and Last End (that is, the Final Cause).

Looking Ahead

We seek wisdom through perfecting our highest faculty – viz., our intellect – with the highest truths. But there are many authors of many books written on the subjects which are studied in a Catholic Liberal Education. Which ones are best to use in these studies?

To Be Continued …

Catholic Candle note: Below is part 9 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 ninth part of this article, let us recall what we saw in the earlier eight 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” is 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., 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 their causes.

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 any 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 hold true opinions.⁸

At the end of part 8 of our exploration of a genuine Catholic Liberal Education, the question arose What Studies (Sciences) More-Specifically Belong in a Catholic Liberal Education? Below, in part 9, we explore this issue.

What Studies Belong in a True Catholic Liberal Education?

Part 9

Having seen that a Catholic Liberal Education is truly education and not merely fluff, job training, or indoctrination into leftist ideology, it is time to consider more specifically: What studies belong in a true Catholic Liberal Education? This canon of study has long been set out and perennially followed in Western Civilization (Christendom) by those seeking to perfect their highest faculty (their mind). Below, we outline that canon of study and some of the reasons for it. These are the studies which enable us to appreciate and to love the Life of Truth – which is the life that we should all lead.

So, let us explore an outline of what a true education should be.

We Should Study Theology

Theology is the science of God and the things intimately connected to God. There are two types of theology because there are two ways for men to come to know God. The first way is through God revealing to us truths about Himself, and this is called revealed theology. These revealed truths are found in two founts: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

The second way to know God is through natural theology, and in this, man uses his reason alone. This latter is the sort of theology the great (non-Catholic) minds such as Aristotle pursued although they did not have the gift of Faith. But Natural Theology is important for those who have the Catholic Faith too. Thus, St. Thomas and other Doctors of the Church delve deeply into Natural Theology and St. Paul commends it too. Romans, 1:20.

Let us say a few words about each of these types of theology.

Revealed Theology

As we saw earlier,⁹ we should perfect our intellect by knowing the highest truths. Thus, we should especially know and study God and the things intimately connected to God.

We should study revealed theology for these two reasons:

1. Some of these Divine truths cannot be known except by Divine revelation, e.g., the fact that God is a Trinity.

2. Revealed theology cannot err because the Catholic Faith is infallible. Revealed truths are the most certain of all knowledge because God is the Author of those truths and directly reveals those truths to us; man is not involved in deriving these truths.

So, we should study revealed theology – which is the study of what God has revealed about Himself and also what He has revealed about things which are closely related to Himself (e.g., the universe, angels, man).

Natural Theology

Besides revealed theology, we should also study Natural Theology, i.e., the truths concerning God (or related to God) which are knowable by the light of natural reason. For example, God’s existence can be proved five ways by unaided reason. Summa, Ia, Q.2 a.3. Likewise, through reason, we can prove that God is wholly simple, He is infinitely powerful, and many other things about God.

Just as the happiness and perfection of the blessed in heaven is the knowing (the contemplation) of God’s essence, i.e., the Beatific Vision, so the knowledge which perfects our mind (our highest faculty) on earth is likewise, most of all, the knowledge of God as deeply as He can be known in this life – both by revelation and by natural reason.

We Should Study Philosophy

Metaphysics

We should study the philosophy called metaphysics because it pertains to the deepest truths we can know by reason. Metaphysics studies Being most broadly and so includes some natural theology. Metaphysics studies and defends the truth that the Good is convertible with Being. That is, they are the same in reality but different in our understanding. This truth explains, for example, how God is understood by us under various aspects which seem separate, such as that He is both good and beautiful in His very Nature even though His Nature is entirely simple.¹⁰ This truth also explains, for example, why God loves even the devils insofar as pertains to God’s Own work creating their natures and the good that He placed into their natures.

Metaphysics also defends the truths at the foundation of human learning. For example, metaphysics examines and defends the Principle of Non-Contradiction, viz., that something cannot be and not be at the same time in the same respect. This Principle of Non-Contradiction tells us, e.g., that it would be false to both say that a square is not a triangle and also that a square is a triangle. This principle is crucial and is the basis for knowing all truth and is the firm unshakable foundation upon which rests all of our knowledge.

Revealed theology, natural theology, and metaphysics are three parts of the educational plan for developing and perfecting our minds with a Catholic Liberal Education.

Ethics

Besides revealed theology, natural theology, and metaphysics, a true education should include the science of ethics, which pertains to the proper ordering of our soul and our actions in the moral life, according to reason and according to our Catholic Faith. St. Thomas explains that “The essence (or nature) of human virtue consists in this: that the movements of the soul are regulated by reason”.¹¹

All of our thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions which are properly human and intentional (as contrasted to unreflecting and instinctive) are either good (and so are according to virtue), or are evil and sinful. Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Church, teaches this truth:

It belongs to the reason to direct; if an action that proceeds from deliberate reason be not directed to the due end, it is, by that fact alone, repugnant to reason, and has the character of evil. But if it be directed to a due end, it is in accord with reason; wherefore it has the character of good. Now it must be either directed or not directed to a due end. Consequently, every human action that proceeds from deliberate reason, if it be considered in the individual, must be good or bad.

If, however, it does not proceed from deliberate reason, but from some act of the imagination, as when a man [“mindlessly”] strokes his beard, or moves his hand or foot, such an action, properly speaking, is not moral or human; since [a moral or a human action] depends on the reason. Hence it will be indifferent, as standing apart from the genus of moral actions.¹²

A liberal education is the education that a free man should have.¹³ (“Liberal” comes from the Latin word “liber”, which means free.) Ethics is included in a liberal education because a free man should know how to live well and virtuously and so avoiding the slavery of sin – which is contrary to the life of a free man. As Our Lord told the Jews:

Amen, amen I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin, is the slave of sin.

St. John’s Gospel, 8:34

Thus, we should study True Ethics because:

• this is a science proper to a free man;

  
  

• it shows us how to live well and live according to reason; and

  
  

• it shows us how to attain our end in life – both our natural end and our supernatural end.

Just as there exists a theology of revelation as well as a natural theology, similarly there is a Catholic ethics as well as a natural ethics. In the science of natural ethics, correct reason (even without the help of the Faith) shows us that the happy life is the life of virtue and the life of truth and reason. The Catholic Ethics which is taught by our Catholic Faith shows us the same thing, but in a manner which is in some ways more elevated to include some supernatural truths of ethics, such as the value of fasting for a supernatural motive.

Because we are one single whole, i.e., one person, our different faculties and parts intimately affect each other. Thus, a disorderly and sinful will prevents us from having the good habits which promote the practice of our devoting ourselves, like we should, to the life of truth. Further, when our mind is darkened, then this prevents us from living the virtuous and happy life that we should.

Thus, the perfection of our minds with the light of the truth goes together with the perfection of our wills with moral virtue. A disorderly intellect harms our will and a disorderly will harms our intellect. Here is how St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church, explains the grave effects of error in our mind, upon our will and memory:

When the soul is darkened in the understanding, it is benumbed also in the will, and the memory becomes dull and disordered in its due operation.

Ascent of Mount Carmel, Ch.8, §2.

Thus, we see that the correct understanding of ethics is necessary:

• to achieve our practical ends of happiness both

  
  

  • here in the present life;

    
    

  • as well as, even more so, in Heaven,

but also

• to enable us to effectively study and perfect our minds in all intellectual fields because a mind which is not enlightened by the truth:

• Is an obstacle to avoiding sin; and

• Results in a man’s weakness of will and dullness of memory that is an obstacle to learning.

Political Philosophy

A true Catholic Liberal Education should include political philosophy. This study of political philosophy to which we refer does not consist in matters such as “crisis management” in “politics” when this is needed by some politician who has been caught engaged in evil conduct which could end his career.

The study of political philosophy also does not involve things like:

• how a political candidate can persuade voters to vote for him;

  
  

• how to conduct accurate political polls;

  
  

• how to effectively raise funds for a political campaign;

  
  

• how to benefit special interest groups while giving voters the impression of serving them;

  
  

• how to speak as if you agree with diverse voters who disagree with each other; or

  
  

• any other trick to succeed in the business of practical politics.

Man is by nature a political animal, as St. Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle explain.¹⁴ This means that man is not only a social animal – viz., one who naturally lives in a group – as bees and ants do also – but he naturally organizes collectively and works with other men, using his reason for this organized, joint work.

So the science¹⁵ of politics to which we refer, is the science which examines how political animals (men) should organize and work together performing collective works which are rational and thus are natural to them. That political activity (which is political in this broad sense) is God’s Will for man and involves such cooperation and joint work which shows that God created man to live a higher life than is lived by irrational animals. (The collective activity of irrational animals is by instinct, whereas the organized activity of men is using their own reason.)

Whereas, in the science of ethics, we study the life that each individual man should lead – which is life according to reason and virtue – by contrast, political science is the study of the life that men should live collectively – viz., the organized joint activity of rational, virtuous men united in society.

This political science investigates how virtuous men should collectively promote the Common Good, suppress evil conduct, and rectify the characters of evil men because the end/goal of collective (political) action is to make society virtuous,¹⁶ since this is the happy life.

Thus, the science of politics studies such things as:

• What law is;

  
  

• Whether the civil law is binding in conscience;

  
  

• Whether revolution is morally permissible;

  
  

• Whether “civil disobedience” is morally permissible;

  
  

• What is the end of political life for the individual man and for society collectively?;

  
  

• What is the life of man in society which promotes man’s good, his perfection, and his happiness both on the natural level and the supernatural level?;

  
  

• What is the virtue of patriotism and how is it subordinate to the virtue of piety and how is it ordered by the virtue of justice?;

  
  

• The proper operation of government according to the rule of subsidiarity;

  
  

• What types of government are permissible; what type of government is best; and

  
  

• How can the ruler best facilitate the formation of virtue in the citizens?

These and many other truths which are studied in the science of politics are of great value in seeing and promoting the True and the Good in society, just as the science of ethics is of great value in seeing and promoting the True and the Good in the individual.

Both of these sciences are grounded in man’s rational nature – there is neither ethics nor politics for brute beasts. Both of these sciences aid the intellectual life by fostering the orderly conditions in which the pursuit of high truth and the achievement of great good can be accomplished.

Philosophy of Nature

Besides these sciences, what else should a free man (or woman) study? He would study the principal works of creation. Here are two reasons for this:

1. We already saw (above) that natural theology is part of a Catholic Liberal Education. But in the order of natural theology (i.e., studying these highest things known according to reason) our knowledge of Divine things comes through our knowing God as the Cause of His effects and His works in this world. In other words, our study of nature helps us in our study of natural theology, through which we understand God as the Cause of the being and of the operation of natural beings (i.e., creatures).

   
   

2. Further, we study the chief parts of natural science, because God made us to naturally wonder about the world around us and to seek to understand God’s work of creation.

In this study of nature, we should especially study the principles of nature, e.g., things such as:

1) What is time;

2) What is place;

3) What is occurring when one substance is changed into a different substance?;

4) Whether infinite distance is possible (in the universe);

5) What is life and what is the soul, as it is present in plants and animals;

6) How does the human soul differ from the souls of other animals – its rationality and immortality;

7) What is motion; and

8) Whether Nature acts for an end or not.

These truths are much more perfecting to our minds and important to study and to know compared to such narrow topics of nature such as “What is a genetic code?”. Here are three reasons for this:

1. The foundational truths of our world are greater in themselves than the studies of things that are less foundational;

   
   

2. The foundational truths are more certain and less apt to be overthrown by new theories e.g., about genes; and
   

3. Those matters which are less foundational depend for their true understanding upon the knowledge of those foundations underlying them. For example, the truth of the matters studied regarding the genetic code depends on the foundational understanding of what is happening when one substance changes into another.

Mathematics – viz., Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, and Astronomy

A liberal education should include the mathematical sciences. Geometry and other types of mathematics have a unique clarity because the mathematical sciences abstract from aspects of bodies which can obscure universal principles. For example, we can consider what a straight line is as a universal concept and abstracted from the fact that the lines that we see around us (e.g., on the edges of a table at which I am sitting) are slightly crooked or bumpy.

Arithmetic, as a science, is not the working out of particular problems as “532347296 divided by 34”. Rather, arithmetic considers universal truths about all numbers. Questions such as these are considered: “Is it true that any number is either prime or is measured by some prime number?” and “If three numbers are in continued proportion, and the first is square, then is the third one also square?” Considering universal truths about numbers is important. God created two different types of quantities: those like lines, circles, cubes, and other figures (continuous quantities studied in geometry). But He also ordered nature in discrete quantity (studied in arithmetic). Not only does studying arithmetic (as a science) help form the mind to be logical, but doing so is necessary to come to a more complete understanding of the reality of God’s order.

In addition to this unique clarity of the mathematical sciences, there are many aspects of the world around us which are mathematically quantifiable and so the mathematical sciences are tools to further study certain properties of nature insofar as they are quantifiable. For example, we can learn more about the properties of light and sound as they bounce off of a wall, by considering what we learned about angles in the science of geometry.

Music is a science which involves mathematics applied to musical pitches. For example, various musical intervals are characterized by different ratios, such as a musical octave having the ratio of 1:2 in the length of strings and pipes of musical instruments. That is, for example, a piano string which provides a “C” note is half as long as an otherwise-similar piano string which provides the “C” note which is one octave lower. So this string ratio is 1:2.

Likewise, astronomy, which is the study of the heavens, is mathematical in nature, since it involves angles, distances, speeds, etc. of the heavens and the bodies in the heavens. Just as music applies mathematics to sound, astronomy does so to observations of the heavens.

Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric

Logic. Early on in this course of studies, it will help a person to refine his mind by studying logic. This will help him in many ways. For example, it enables him to more carefully and explicitly understand which arguments result in a necessary conclusion, compared to those arguments which result in a conclusion which is merely probable. Further, the science of logic will enable a person to also contrast those arguments which are valid, to fallacious arguments (that conclude falsely).

Grammar. The student should also study the science of grammar because (among other reasons):

1. Grammar is the liberal art which helps to form logical, true, and clear sentences. Since we think in words and sentences, these must be clear and grammatical in order to be cogent and to reflect nature and reality; and

   
   

2. The process of learning is a discussion with others (as well as in our own mind) and so we must master the art of grammar in order to be clear and articulate in those discussions with others as well.

Rhetoric. Lastly, the discussions we have in our own minds and with others will be more enjoyable and profitable if we have some acquaintance with the art of rhetoric so that we can express ourselves beautifully and persuasively, as well as clearly and cogently.

The Seven Liberal Arts

The study of the seven liberal arts are sometimes thought to be the same as a liberal education. That is not true. Rather the liberal arts are the proper beginning of a liberal education.

Above, we saw that four mathematical sciences have a role in a true Catholic Liberal Education. These are: geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy. Traditionally, these four are collectively called the quadrivium of the liberal arts. The word “quadrivium” is a word combining the Latin prefix “quadri” with the Latin word “viae”, which mean the “four paths”.

Above, we reflected on why we should also include logic, grammar, and rhetoric in a liberal education. These three are traditionally called the trivium. The word “trivium” is a word combining the Latin prefix “tri” with the Latin word “viae”, which mean the “three paths”.

These seven intellectual disciplines are the liberal arts. In modern times, the phrase “liberal arts” (as that phrase is now usually used) has come to mean something vague such as “the humanities” or “the studies of the works of man” or “general education.”

But this is not properly what the liberal arts were or are. In the educational tradition of Christendom and the Western World (including the ancient world), the liberal arts referred to seven introductory disciplines which are valuable in themselves but which are also exceedingly helpful for developing the student’s mind to prepare him for studying the very highest subjects – philosophy and theology.

St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest Doctor of the Church, sets out the wise advice of prudent educators – telling us that students should not begin their studies with the highest truths (philosophy and theology), but rather, approach them through studying the liberal arts first.

Here are his words, advising how students should approach the study of great truths:

Concerning how to acquire the treasure of knowledge, choose to enter, not immediately into the ocean [of the knowledge of philosophy and theology] but enter by little streams that flow into the ocean, for difficult things can more easily be reached by means of the easier ones.¹⁷

These “little streams” are the seven liberal arts through which we should approach the highest truths of Faith and Reason.

Conclusions of this Article

All of the primary things studied in a true Catholic Liberal Education are works of God, not the works of man.

Above, we saw many important elements of a good Catholic Liberal Education:

• We should perfect our intellect by knowing the highest truths. Thus, we should especially study and know God and the things most intimately related to God. We should study revealed theology, natural theology, and metaphysics.
  

• Besides these highest studies, we saw that we should study the science of ethics, which pertains to the proper ordering of our soul and of our actions in the moral life – according to reason and according to our Catholic Faith. This is important because a liberal education is the education that a free man should have so that he knows how to live well, virtuously, and happily.

  
  

• We also saw that we should study political philosophy, that is, the science of how men should live collectively according to reason and how they should organize and work together performing collective works which are suited to their rational nature.

  
  

• Next we saw that we should study the most important parts of nature especially those which are most at the foundation of all truth about creatures, such questions as what is time, what is motion, what is a soul, what is special about the human soul, what occurs during a change of one substance to another, etc. These creatures, especially the higher ones, manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, Who designed them.

  
  

• Lastly, we should approach the highest truths through the study of the seven liberal arts.

Looking Ahead

Wonder and wisdom are often mentioned in connection with a Catholic Liberal Education. What are wonder and wisdom and what is that connection with a true education?

To Be Continued …