Why the Liberal Arts Matter

Friends, what are the liberal arts, and why are so many schools getting rid of them? A recent article in The New Yorker titled “The End of the English Major” revealed that during the past decade, the study of English and history at the collegiate level has fallen by a full third.
Do the liberal arts still matter? Why should people study them? That’s what I discuss with Brandon Vogt on today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show.”
A listener asks, what is your response to the claim that more blood has been shed in history over the name of Jesus Christ than any other individual?
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---SHOW NOTES---
“The End of the English Major” (The New Yorker) - bit.ly/3nYPa1N
“Don’t Give Up on the Liberal Arts!” (Word on Fire) - bit.ly/3MoURjS
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[@dixieflynn4177]

I am a registered nurse. It was not necessary to know Aristotle to give a shot, so we were not taught liberal arts. As I got older and worked less, I became interested in philosophy and the great literature. Learning these things have made my nursing practice fuller and more meaningful. Thank you for this lecture.

[@usenwill]

I was confirmed into the Catholic church through RCIA on Saturday. Wouldn't have happened without Bishop's interview with Lex Fridman and his homilies. Thanks, Bishop (and Brandon) and keep up the great work.

[@DanaClarkDana]

me too! Congratulations :)

[@usenwill]

@@DanaClarkDana Thanks. Congrats to you as well.

[@jesmary11]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽💐💐

[@marychristie6194]

Congratulations-Welcome Home 😊❤️🙏🏻✝️

[@usenwill]

@@marychristie6194 Thank you.

[@codyrainspear]

Bishop Baron, I don't know if you read these or not but as a recently retired Catholic school 5th grade teacher when the acronym STEM came along I always believed we needed to counter it with STREAM. (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, Math). A stem dies without the stream and we are a people of life, of the stream. Thank you for your priesthood and for helping enrich our faith in the risen Lord. Tom

[@Zippy-I-O]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎯🎯Don't know if Bishop Barron will read this; but I know you're Spot-On Target. T. Roosevelt said, "To educate the mind of a man without educating about morals is to create a menace to society." WILL ALWAYS BE TRUE!

[@carmenhartono3410]

I totally agree. At my liberal arts college, the social sciences were called 'social arts.' An alumna who became a US Ambassador stated that diplomacy is an art and not a science.

[@marypinakat8594]

Tom Gray, I don't know much but I can say with certainty that Bishop Barron cannot miss your comment. BTW your comment is awesome 👍✨⭐ Stay blessed as always 🙏

[@conniewilliams-campbell3026]

So well said! Critical thinking and engagement with learning to search beyond our small selves is what drives ideas & meaningful contribution to society & culture- it’s being squashed in our schools & in our youth- no moral compass without critical thought

[@kathleengleason8589]

“They are about humanity.” There it is. They humanize us. They are the heart of a university. They matter. A lot. Imagine for a minute a world without a discipline that humanizes young people -- that gets them in touch with human beings with whom they share this planet, with whom they live on this planet. “They can feed our soul.”

[@marypinakat8594]

"Study the Liberal Arts because you need to feed your soul, as well as make life for your body more comfortable." *- Bishop Barron*

[@britstickle5698]

I’m an RN and I have my BSN. I took an extra year to study the humanities. In my senior year I was able to take three quarters of an upper level history class on intellectual and cultural history of America from 1620 to 1920. All of the classes that I took have brought me meaning. I’m 54 years old and my life is richer because of these meaningful classes. I learned critical thinking. These help me to treat my patients with humanity and see them as persons and not just a diagnosis.

[@knguyen6061]

Yes,very few people took philosophy classes.Philosophy classes should be taught even in high schools. It helps in honing the critical thinking skills

[@Homeinmygardenwithmydog]

I majored in Sociology with a Criminal Justice minor. Sociology because it helped me understand why the world was the way it was. Criminal Justice because crime and criminals fascinated me. Today, I am an electrician and I own my own business. I use my degree everyday but not to make money. I would never call it a waste to get my degree. It helped me so much and still brings a great deal of fulfillment to my life.

[@bcompton99]

I remember this quote from “Dead Poets Society”; “Business, law, medicine, engineering - these are noble pursuits, and necessary for sustaining life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love - this is what we stay alive for!” Thank you, Bishop Barron, for your defense of the liberal arts!

[@walterbsprinks]

Yes I agree..,I was a Liberal Arts Major 1980’s-84, in English Lit and Modern History - Left University and went to work as a Systems Analyst for a Fortune 500 Co. !? Then after 4 years became an English Teacher…

[@robyncullum7473]

My B.A. from a small liberal arts college back east thoroughly enjoyed my Eng. Lit major. Immersed in beauty & wisdom . Enriched all my activities, paid or volunteer.❤

[@andresteves4979]

Humanities..the last subject I taught before my retirement...a beautiful and fruitful end of my teaching career.. the best subject etched into one's academic heart..

[@ckeast5588]

Thank you, Bishop Baron. I love the Liberal Arts curriculum. It's so important for our students to study them. Thank you for your Priesthood. You always touch my heart.

[@josephtravers777]

Put my youngest through liberal arts program @ university. He applies that experience in his daily work to produce a more presentable product. We need positive mental stimuli in the form of beauty in this age of growing pragmatism. God bless you, Bishop 🙏

[@jamesmcgrath8824]

This is wonderful, excellent. It is so very important. Beauty gives life meaning in every way.

[@lornavaughan-bb7gp]

Thank you Bishop Barron and Brandon . GOD bless you both. ➕️♥️

[@wendyfield7708]

I am old, and for decades now most universities are just training places for jobs, not educating the whole person. How many teachers repeat “you won’t need that for your exam” when dismissing questions from srtudents.. it is sad.

[@Iori-kun]

First year of college, and I think secomd day of class. My professor tells us students, "The university is a factory, and you are the product." I didn't understand it immediately until years later.

[@thecatholiceducationinvitation]

Thank you for a wonderful video, Bishop Barron! Those of us who are working to restore the liberal arts in Catholic education are very grateful.

[@anneturner2759]

“ I hear a symphony “. Thanks to both of you….

[@SnarkySparkyr132]

The Useless Tree: Lao Tzu was traveling with his disciples and they came to a forest where hundreds of woodcutters were cutting the trees. The whole forest had been cut except for one big tree with thousands of branches. It was so big that 10,000 persons could sit in its shade. Lao Tzu asked his disciples to go and inquire why this tree had not been cut. They went and asked the woodcutter and they said, “This tree is absolutely useless. You cannot make anything out of it because every branch has so many knots in it - nothing is straight. You cannot use it as fuel because the smoke is dangerous to the eyes. This tree is absolutely useless, that’s why we haven’t cut it.” The disciples came back and told Lao Tzu. He laughed said, “Be like this tree. If you are useful you will be cut and you will become furniture in somebody’s house. If you are beautiful you will be sold in the market, you will become a commodity. Be like this tree, absolutely useless, and then you will grow big and vast and thousands of people will find shade under you.”

[@trytotravel4713]

That’s beautiful

[@andonedave]

I’ve been a hospice RN for 18+ years and also have a Theology degree which allows me to work as a hospice Chaplain. The science classes and nursing school taught me how to take care of people. My Theology/ Philosophical training taught me why it matters. You have to be able to think critically to make it as a health care clinician. But at least for me, after I had studied Philosophy for awhile and it started to click, I found a whole new level of critical thinking. Years down the road I could tell the huge difference in problem solving ability. I was applying Philosophical thinking in communication with management, in analyzing/ evaluating processes we follow in patient care etc. After studying Philosophy, I was able to engage in discussions/ debates on hot button issues like abortion, morality, the existence of God, gender ideology, etc with a clarity and depth that I’d never known before.

Bishop Barron, I so much enjoy listening to you! Thank you!

[@normaorlando3538]

Bishop Barron it is truly an honor to hear you speak! I love and collect quotes and want to share one with your listeners: Poetry is at the center and circumference of knowledge;it is that which comprehends all science,and to which all science must be referred. Shelley,"a Defense of Poetry"

[@ofcourse7357]

I had a great writing teacher in college. He was Jewish and loved T.S.Eliot. Thanks, Steve, for your generosity.

[@robpetrone2459]

God bless Bishop Robert Barron!

[@corinneromabiles2410]

Thank you Bishop! Again we have been inspired by your ideas and wisdom. #1 fan from Manila

[@benjaminchiarolanza3493]

This was a very good episode! I have been feeling this for a long time and it was nice to hear someone put as eloquently as Bishop Barron.

[@John.Christopher]

May God bless you all

[@garetteL]

❤amen

[@lydiag8368]

Thank you for this Bishop, I love the liberal arts and more often than not I feel stupid for it. Our culture offers no defense of the humanities at all and so I never had one either. I would also posit that perhaps a part of the precipitous decline in the humanities is because the standards have been lowered so far and because of the influence of postmodernism. If a student of the humanities is likely graduating with very little exposure to the classics but a whole lot of exposure to deconstructionism, postmodernism, etc., his liberal education has done more harm than good.

[@deb9806]

Watching with a daughter who went to Catholic college (English major) and her boyfriend who is at Ivy league with Philosophy. Interesting talk.

[@markd5928]

To Bob's question: "The Encyclopedia of Wars" (Charles Philips, Alan Axelrod) and the “Encyclopedia of War” (Gordon Martel) estimate that the percentage of wars with religious causes are approximately 6%, of which less than half are related to Christianity. If the claim being made is that atheism leads to more peaceful outcomes, I'd recommend the book "Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century" (Robert Royal) to understand just how destructive mankind can be when determined to stamp out religion. It's too broad a topic for a single book, but it's a good starting point. The grass is not greener…

[@phil3153]

Yeah people keep saying its better to stay away from religion but look at all the atrocities that non-religious "Communist" and "Socialist" governments have caused.

[@marcblanc3432]

How could a university call itself Catholic if it doesn’t offer philosophy or theology??

[@partydean17]

"See baseball's a good example..." Bishop Robert Barron lol and he is so often right I end up remembering and quoting his baseball spiritual points most often

[@marypinakat8594]

"I searched the world, I searched myself for meaning for all I saw and heard. *I met a line, I felt a form; my heart was satisfied.* I still search for lines and forms to meet my heart's one big need *- meaning for all I see and hear."*

[@taylerakyeampong7646]

Just listened to the podcast on this and it was very compelling!

[@nicolerobinson629]

Thank you to the Dominican Mothers at the Holy Name of Jesus Academy who are currently giving my daughter a liberal arts Highschool education. She is leaps and bounds above her worldly knowledge in comparison of her public school friends. Latin, Greek, French, literature, Math, Science, History, Poetry, Gregorian chant, Art, plays, and the Latin mass! No technology, cursive writing and housekeeping! Most of all, affordable! She is so excited about Philosophy next year and a trip to France.

[@ralphauer150]

Saint Gemma Galgani’s feast day April 11th. Patron Saint for Students. Pray for us🙏

[@flyoptimum]

Our education system is inverted in the US. Our primary and secondary education is focused on utility and we wait until college to teach the Liberal Arts and give philosophy and beauty and Truth. What we should do is teach every child the Liberal Arts to form their minds and their souls and make them into the kind of people we want to live near. Higher education can then be ordered on the more utilitarian needs of a career. Those who will have either the talent or treasure to expand the Liberal Arts will present themselves, but there won't be many of them, and we don't need there to be many of them.

[@carmenhartono3410]

Traditionally, liberal arts are literally elementary. Reading, writing, and the arts are taught in elementary school.

[@christopherseah7827]

Thank you, Bishop Barron. This is so needed.

[@clouddancer46]

Earned an Associate's in Humanities. Bachelors in Sociology with a minor in Religion. ❤🙏 I have never regretted it. Freedom. I went on to get a masters in childhood education and became a teacher. Honestly there is a serious difference in a Liberal Arts education. We need the combination of beauty and intellilect in the formation of the mind.

[@mildredbernadas8639]

In our senior high schools , Humanities is part of our curriculum. I am happy that Bishop Barron affirmed its significance in the formation of young minds. We now have more reasons to push for subjects in class that feed the soul. Thank you very much Bishop.

[@77thTrombone]

This conversation needs to be continued. Over the past 200 years schooling has become increasingly critical for life. Even the most technical curricula, the most "MBA" programs will benefit from this exposure.

[@darlameeks]

This is sad to hear! I studied all the humanities in undergraduate school, but settled on that "useless" major in English. I hold a Master's Degree in English, and even completed some of my graduate work at the University of Oxford. What a blessed experience! Studying the story-tellers of our culture taught me critical and analytical thinking. I was disciplined to think in a logical fashion. I learned how to communicate verbally and in writing. I also *learned how to learn*. The great authors of the classics show us the human condition. Like seminarians, English majors learn to apply textual hermeneutics and exegesis. As a Christian, I can say that this has helped me study the Scriptures, as well as the theologians and Church fathers. I did teach school for a while, but ended up making my career in the insurance industry where I use these skills every day. I also make fabulous money, for which I thank God...but that's just the cherry on top.

[@joannfreeman8425]

I also majored in English, minored in French, my Masters is in Business Administration. After working in business, I taught school and I am currently in the insurance business! Similar paths and now we both follow Bishop Barron. We are blessed!

[@darlameeks]

@@joannfreeman8425 Agreed! Insurance is a great career for humanities majors. I've run into several over the years.

[@joannebywaters4154]

Happy Easter Bishop!!!🤗❤️🙏

[@dynamic9016]

Really appreciate this video.

[@martybrynildsen4001]

A wonderful, honest exposition of "studies" which are so misunderstood by many of today's students...and often dismissed by adults.

[@susanhensel206]

great conversation, exactly pinpointed to what some are missing. explains what's lacking in the culture now

[@ForestAOrmes]

In the middle of listening to this video, I must say that Bishop Barron gets it metaphysically right. As a graduate with liberal arts degree, I found his verbal essay enhanced even more why I and others value a liberal arts degree. Later, I got my training and education as an addictions counselor and licensed clinician. But tht liberal arts degree -- it taught me right, wrong. Perhaps Bishop Barron, I learned the inevitability of "pushback" when you take a reluctant stand for right. I am holding on to some kind of belief, Bishop Barron, in much part because of your sermons and interviews. Thank you. Blessings.

[@timpeterson3191]

The purpose of life is to feed the soul.

[@Linda-qq5mg]

Thank you so very much for a very informative and interesting video. May God Bless you!

[@riseaslarks]

Brilliant reference to Durer's woodcut--that's a nod to Kenneth Clark's Civilization documentary too (an inspiration for the Catholicism series!).

[@MattLesak]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. The total cost of college has increased 500% since the 1980s. The total debt the student will have to accept in order to obtain the degree is exactly why you see the decline. We have failed as a country by allowing the financial framework of universities to become corrupt. Focus on reforming that framework and this issue will resolve itself.

[@carmenhartono3410]

You nailed it!

[@joe42m13]

"Despite current dissatisfaction with life, we have a solution for the problems of our times- it is the same one we have always had- education in the liberal arts tradition. We maintain that, under God, the purpose of education is to bring us to understand what a good human being is- and in the process, for each of us to become the best human being he or she can be." My grandma wrote that over 40 years ago, and it seems that human beings and our problems haven't changed much over the decades and centuries. However, it is comforting to know that people keep struggling forward in seeking out new solutions and preserving what is valuable.

[@anthonytelles2226]

Fascinating show! A huge elephant in the room was the financial question, which was never addressed. Because the liberal arts are “useless” (in the best way), young people no longer feel like that’s a luxury they can afford (which they can’t for $100,000) even if they see it’s value. It’s all linked to the economy and financial systems at large, which of course have a myriad of issues. I hope Brandon is offering Chesterton’s distributist solutions at his new school! I would love an episode diving deep into Catholic social teaching as it relates to the errors and weaknesses of capitalism. After seeing empty shelves during the pandemic, localism/decentralization seems to be gaining traction and could be the way forward in a country that’s been gridlocked politically for far too long

[@michelledonnanwhodoesntkno5771]

Thank you 🙂. Some are throwing out reading and writing for the sake of arithmetic.

[@herminiaraagas4128]

First 2 years in college is focused on Liberal Arts as the foundation for every major course/career.

[@stevenwalter1255]

Excellent talk ... great 👍

[@AlexMetreveli]

Thank you, Bishop! It was a very good speech. There are two big arguments from student's side against humanities: job opportunities, professors of humanities are looser in academic environment, so normal students prefer to avoid them. Hence, I would appreciate if you share your thoughts which course are good for tech nerds as me from Soviet engineering school. Thank you.

[@Ghost_Electricity]

Chris Hedges and Cornel West talk about this all the time. Please have a conversation with them sometime Bishop.

[@lukelevsen1542]

Thanks for the vid. I find that people who don't have any hobbies simply don't know what to do with themselves when they finally get some free time or retire, that kind of how I relate to the liberal arts if I'm understanding them correctly.

[@michaelwelsh798]

The Liberal Arts/Humanities are disappearing in colleges and universities because the classics aren't taught anymore. The good news is that when most of the award winning "literature" of the last 50 years has been pulped into a superior product, the classics will still be the classics, and the true Liberal Arts will return to prominence.

[@Nick-qf7vt]

Speaking as a student, I agree with Bishop Barron here. I know for myself the two big reasons I don't formally study the liberal arts are 1, because of the cost of schooling now and 2, because today's professors would sooner teach us some modern "post-colonial post-scructuralist" nonsense than Ovid or Goethe.

[@marilynmelzian7370]

I agree with your point that professors would rather teach some kind of post colonialist, post, modernist interpretation. I am an academic, but I’m getting increasingly discouraged. All the fun has gone out of it as the shift has gone into ideological indoctrination.

[@rebeccabolton3937]

I’m a physicist by training, an education by vocation (university level), and - thanks be to God! - a liberal arts scholar by education. I received an excellent liberal arts education, and I agree that it has made me a more well-rounded human being and a better educator. I enjoyed my Latin language courses, my Classics electives, my English literature courses, and my Western Civilization courses. They afforded broader horizons than and contextual used the beauty of my physics and mathematics courses. Liberal arts are the food of the soul.

[@jeffreyportis9388]

Nearly 75 years or so ago C.P. Snow wrote a small book called The Two Cultures, that decried the gap between the sciences and literature. If I recall his premise is that the sciences suffer because of that lack of connection. Liberal Arts can lead people to think of "final things." No wonder the culture is striking them from curriculums.

[@amosjsoma]

The problem with a liberal arts education in today's world is that far too many students are spending too much money, in may cases money they have to borrow, to obtain an education that leaves them with no skills to offer a potential employer. The result is a low paying job and a life of struggle.

[@gariochsionnach2608]

... there goes the cultivation of critical thinking! Reading philosophy helped me to learn to organize thoughts, express clearly ... & most of all, be comfortable reading so-called 'difficult' books!

[@nathanngumi8467]

Word.

[@OldSycamore57]

Philosophy can be an extremely beneficial course of study IF it is taught by the right teacher. In my experience, at least, many times philosophy is presented from the perspective of, “all these ideas are interesting but, who’s to know what is TRUE!”

[@carmenhartono3410]

For me, my interest in philosophy in college led to the study of theology in grad school. This of course led to the realization that Jesus is Truth, the Way and the Life.

[@christopherrosado6053]

I don't know if this connects...but, in the Liberal Arts we "see" ourselves and match this thing called " the human condition to Life", aware thus to outcomes not conceived prior to us opening or hearing a word in Literature, Music, or Philosophy, " We see " within " the self and extract meaning towards the Philosophy we follow...from the darkness of ignorance, to a shed light or insight on the self and everyday.

[@TJ1920]

Very Interesting

[@keiinoue573]

this is very interesting...

[@augustjbernerjr8430]

Dear Bishop Barron, thank you for this very informative discussion about your opinion on obtaining a Liberal Arts degree. But could you produce another discussion on the expensive education costs attached to acquiring a Liberal Arts degree first, before one attempts a money earning utilitarian degree such as accounting, medicine, engineering or law? Sincerely grateful.

[@christianmiraglia79]

The STEM reference is spot on. As a 36 year history teacher I believe that the over emphasis of STEM has led to schools and government entities to devalue liberal arts. That in itself has led to a gradual diminishing in civic discourse and lack of understanding of liberal arts larger purpose.

[@wreloise1]

Come Holy Spirit… Teach us what’s needed to teach/serve your people. Believing ALL Things comes from ABBA Father❤️‍🩹 In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit ❤️‍🩹

[@praxidescenteno3233]

Before i was burnt i was dancing to can't get me up on My foot cause i LOVED sing and dance too much as possible endure the birthday. Then i had to offer all what i can't blessing Godself cause i was needing

[@ginadipierro5518]

Brian, you are completely accurate. Libral Arts have negative connotations. So between Woke insanity and the perception that it's not job providing, Library Arts in it's purity is at risk.

[@jamesrutherford311]

I attended college and university to get a PhD in zoology in the sixties and seventies. My liberal arts classes made me a better zoologist and they are still very important to me. Getting a job was not my reason to study but rather to study what interested me and except for teaching zoology had little use but I do not regret it for a second.

[@constancemartin933]

Reminds me of the movie, 'Mr. Holland's Opus'..

[@vincentciliberti5026]

Living superficially?? I agree 100%. Most peope do nowadays and that is bad.

[@cyndythorn4804]

I was a mathematics major STEM... and philosophy was a required course. As was history and English...

[@brendanthegreek]

I fear the omission of philosophy from our public schools is no accident, as those who are firmly grounded in the fundamentals of rhetoric, debate, and fallacies of logic are not good candidates for post-modernist indoctrination.

[@aadmirer5527]

It seems to me what BB is saying is there is a lot of knowledge to be had in areas such as STEM. However that knowledge while informative if it falls on someone without any thoughtful character building education which mostly comes from the Liberal Arts we can end up with that knowledge being put to bad use . In summary build the human “being “along with the human “doing “capabilities. If we do so we can progress in tangible and intangible ways hopefully bringing about a society with a higher level of consciousness. Not just better and more efficient stuff. Harry

[@timrichardson4018]

It's clearly because our culture has lost belief in transcendental truths and values. We are so hyper individualistic and hedonistic, pursuing some shallow notion of happiness with little to no concern for meaning.

[@jmj1349]

Regarding the 'M' for 'Mathematics' in 'STEM', Mathematics, or Pure Mathematics, is as liberal arts as it gets. There is applied mathematics, which uses mathematics for utilitarian purposes, e.g. engineering, business, or even sciences like physics. One must not confuse (Pure) Mathematics with applied mathematics as areas of study.

[@praxidescenteno3233]

The rest but over all i ever LOVED sing and dance that now it hurts and i support

[@goforthpatrick]

Important message. I agree whole heartedly with you Bishop Barron. Regarding the listener's question, though important and answered well, it was out of context with the subject of why liberal arts matter. Let's talk about milkshakes and at the end we'll take a question about pickles. What? Or did I miss something?

[@marypinakat8594]

I think it's okay. Actually it was a question because the answer is seriously important. Doesn't matter when, where and how it was asked. I am glad it was asked and answered more than well☆

[@irmanjimenez3063]

What's Justice? It's a science for determining the truth from two people or groups. Once it has been determined, then you find the evidence and the motive.

[@joolz5747]

Kids are going to classical school these days. They’re starting up all over the place and they teach that very much so when they’re young very young and it just teaches them to think we don’t think anymore. The kids just push buttons on their computer on their phone they just answer questions rapidly. There’s no deep thinking going on and that’s what the classics do and that’s what you’re talking about.

[@smileyj53]

I find it very troubling to think my family's arts education is not valued by a Catholic University.

[@pepinperalta]

At MIT before entering in math specialty, you must do a semester on latin. Latin seems to order the mind in logic.

[@christinanickerson7664]

I get it! they help give life meaning and you have to use a different part of yourself and your mind🧠🫀🙏❣😃✌

[@Evanb91]

Part of the issue is that, at most universities, the liberal arts departments are also the craziest. Who wants to send their kids through that system when they can graduate having immediately marketable skills? By the way, you can still get a degree in a more in demand area while taking a few courses in the liberal arts.

[@TheShadowPerson.]

Im young and love history, philosophy, english etc. However these degrees are as good as useless in the real world unless you have excess riches to indulge in these studies. What you want for internal nourishment vs what you have to do for external stability is the battle for picking a study in college in the 21st century from my perspective.

[@idicula1979]

The liberal arts is basically a study in people and how they act, and it is important because before you can be before you can think you have to see. Think Rene Descartes I think therefore I am and it is liberal arts that allow us to think to see how we can be, we are not animals ruled solely on nature and instinct. We need to be inspired to see the world as it is, and inspired to grow to the benefit and art let’s us do it, it is sunlight to a plant, it is the light that allows us to see beyond the flickers of someone else’s world, but to truly make it our own.

[@irmanjimenez3063]

Perhaps it could be taught in Junior High or High School? Since it's regarding Discipline with the rest of the new population, these students are going to meet. Also, it would help those that come from household where they don't practice discipline and the children go to an higher education and Won't accept the discipline they need to follow. That's how the rebellion in the schools amongst Students and Teachers, started. It has come to a battle field, instead of a respected and safe place of learning. Pls., give it some thoughts and let's place discipline as the 11th Commandment for Education; before they reach College or University

[@christopherseah7827]

I am an Asian person who loves Western literature and would love exploring literature of other cultures. To cancel some Western works just because they have racist elements would require us to cancel literary works from other cultures with objectionable elements, no?

[@colleenroca8416]

The Oxford culture, the Inklings, all things GKC, true Catholic lituregy, and classical literature will save our culture!

[@leslie5161]

All these "subjects"; drawing, music, art, philosophy, literature, etc; help to fill up and round out one's personality and leads to more of a feeling of completeness. Of course, God , theology, prayer, comes first. I am very thankful that my education from kindergarten through 12th grade included all of these things, in a public school.

[@ernestomtdelilla5565]

Hopefully Liberal Arts can regain the people’s trust.

[@helloguy6452]

You should do a video on Schopenhauer

[@carmenhartono3410]

That would be nice. Personally, I believe Schopenhauer's view of the free will led to Nietzsche's ideas about the will to power, etc. But sadly, Bishop Barron doesn't seem to be a fan of this type of thinking.

[@krishyyfan5153]

Liberal arts lead to Entrepreneurship... Liberal Arts graduates are good story tellers and are trained to tell good stories.. They will be great Entrepreneurs for to tell a Story is actually to sell.... Many youtubers are successful because they tell great stories... We need more liberal arts graduate today, especially now that most of the sciences and engineering studies are slowly being replaced by Artificial intelligence...