What is this world I have been born into? What is my place within it? and What am I meant to do with my life?

Liberal Learning in a Free Republic

by Christopher Nelson

I am honored to be asked to say a few words about the educational project that we all care so deeply about: the education of our citizens in the arts of freedom—the education needed to make our lives worth living and our American Republic worth loving.

But before I do, I wish to remind you of something most of you already know—that you have a real treasure in your President, Winston Elliott. He has undertaken with energy and thoughtfulness the responsibility of educating many of tomorrow’s leaders in the foundations of our Republic. And he has done so in a generous spirit of friendship with others who share his conviction that only a liberal education—an education in just those arts of freedom—can secure one’s happiness, the pursuit of which is the birthright of every American.

Your online journal, The Imaginative Conservative, is a resource for all of us (some million-plus readers now) who seek compelling, clear, and thoughtful essays on politics, economics, culture, literature, and education. But Winston and his lovely wife, Barbara, have also partnered with others to help bring the teaching of foundational texts in American democracy to public school teachers. They worked with St. John’s to host an educational project for teachers in the study of Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. We worked with Winston in a program hosted at Grand Valley State University in Michigan considering the question whether liberal education has become too politicized. And The Imaginative Conservativehas sponsored programs at the CiRCE Institute to provide classical educational offerings to parents and educators of pre-collegiate students.

In other words, the educational reach of the Free Enterprise Institute is far, wide, active, and effective in Winston’s capable hands.

I opened my remarks with reference to the importance of a liberal education to the happiness of the individual and the strength of our nation. Let me elaborate. Every college or university in this country that cares about such an education is concerned with a few key elements: the tradition that gave rise to our great Republic; the great works of literary imagination that have enriched our civilization; and the quality of the communities of learning that we shape on our campuses.

We remind ourselves of this each year at St. John’s College by sharing a toast with our graduating seniors to the four republics to which we belong and by which we live. I would like to give you a modified version of this toast, as it speaks to the character and underlying value of the liberal education championed in many respects by both my college and TheImaginative Conservative. We do not have with us any Champagne this morning, but you have your coffee or tea, and I invite you to drink to these republics with me.

We drink first to the Republic of Letters.

This Republic includes the books and authors that students and faculty read together at any college that requires the study of great works of literary imagination. From Plato and Aristotle to Plutarch and Thucydides, The Bible and Aquinas to Shakespeare and Milton, Euclid and Ptolemy to Descartes and Galileo, Adam Smith and the Federalist Papers to Tocqueville and Melville, Bach and Mozart to Verdi and Wagner, Einstein and Heisenberg to Watson and Crick, the works of these authors span many centuries. The older ones have survived the test of time because they are fundamental to understanding our humanity; they are the building blocks and cornerstones of the humanities, arts and sciences. The newer ones test our ability to think afresh about new discoveries that will cast a new light upon such deeply human questions as, What is this world I have been born into? What is my place within it? and What am I meant to do with my life?

........................


Readmore: www.theimaginativeconservative.org