Magistra Vitae et Ars Vitae



Useless Majors: In Defense of the Value of the HumanitiesLet’s face it, the Humanities and the Liberal Arts get a bad rep. I recall my freshman year at University when I told a fellow student that I was majoring in Anthropology. After explaining to him what Anthropology is: the study of people both culturally and biologically, he then proceeded to impart his wisdom to me. He exclaimed:“What are you going to do with that? Are you going to teach?”I have encountered this gem of wisdom, not just from my contrarian classmate, but also from many other people that I have met. Each contrarian has argued that the humanities are useless and serve no practical purpose. At best this means that you should simply avoid pursuing a specialization in the humanities, at worst, this means that the humanities ought to be dismissed or discarded. This attitude is pervasive in American society and the ‘uselessness’ of the humanities is self-evident and that you should rather study something practical such as finance, engineering, health sciences, computer science, or a trade, and forsake the humanities as an elective at most. Furthermore, some of these sentiments have been articulated by some public officials. This popular belief ought to be scrutinized to see if it has any merits. While it is certainly true that the ‘in-demand fields’ are integral to the functioning of our society and many people are passionate about pursuing these fields and diving headfirst into their crafts. These in-demand fields also include some of the fastest-growing career fields.However, one of the underlying premises behind this attitude is that we ought to pursue work that has the most utility. This ‘model of utility’. The model of utility can be summarized as follows: Premise 1: We live in a competitive economy, and resources and job prospects are limited.Premise 2: Since resources and job prospects are limited, you ought to invest time and money wisely. Premise 3: Dedicating yourself to one of the in-demand vocation is more likely to get you employed and make more money. In contrast, getting specialized knowledge in topics such as: Medieval Philosophy, the intricate details of Dutch Colonial History, Daily Life in the Roman Republic, or applying Literary Criticism to works such as Finnegan’s Wake, is less likely to lead to stable financial security. Conclusion: One ought to be dedicated to practicing any of the ‘in-demand vocations’ and forsake or discard the humanities.There is a common theme, and that is a belief in the primacy of utility to determine one’s future vocation. Due to the competitive nature of the global economy, higher education is now seen as an investment for a future vocation. You shouldn’t waste your money, and you want a job after you graduate. Therefore, people will usually declare a major in a vocational field. So, do fields such as: philosophy, anthropology, or any of the humanities have any value today? Are they merely antiquated and esoteric forms of knowledge that served a great purpose in the past, but today are irrelevant?Bertrand Russell: The ‘Practical Man’ and the Value of PhilosophyI contend that the humanities still have relevance, can provide practical knowledge to the real world and towards the human condition. One thinker who made a case for the value of the humanities (with an emphasis on philosophy) was Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). In Russell’s small, yet approachable and dense book, The Problems of Philosophy (1912), the final chapter, moving away from earlier topics on epistemology on towards questions on the value of philosophy. Russell begins by describing ‘The Practical Man’ an individual who eschews philosophy believing it to be ‘useless-hair splitting’ and ‘trifling’. ‘The Practical Man’ would rather focus his energies on something with greater utility, such as becoming a craftsman or working in finance. However, this attitude results from a misunderstanding of the ends of life itself, as well as philosophy, and the goods that come about because of philosophizing. Russell’s description of the value of philosophy can be more broadly applied to the humanities. Which, I will return to the ends of philosophy and the humanities later. One major reason for the respect that science is given in contemporary times is because of the vast utility of its inventions and discoveries. Our world would be radically different without the numerous inventions and discoveries in the sciences that have arisen in the last 200 years. Better sanitation systems. Vaccinations that have allowed us to combat disease at a greater level than ever before. Commercial airplanes have revolutionized the way in which people travel, migrate, and do business around the world. The Internet and electronic devices have radically altered the way in which we interact with the world, and how we conduct our daily affairs. Each of these inventions have benefitted humanity in some way. Everyone seems to love the physical sciences, and there are now a multitude of STEM initiatives to train the future generation of scientists. Some might even imagine a future in which our society is even governed by technologists. What distinguishes the value of the sciences compared to the value of the humanities is that the latter is intrinsically valuable. This is because fields such as: philosophy, history, anthropology, literature, and the arts impart unto us a wealth of information. The humanities teach us about our past, our present, and allow us to gain insight into our possible future. The humanities teach us about the richness of the human experience, and the sweetness of pleasure, the bitterness of pain, joy and despair, and many other feelings have only been best described in literature and the arts. People such as myself didn’t major in philosophy or anthropology because we thought that we would become wealthy, (though some people who were once humanities majors certainly are wealthy). We majored in the humanities because we wanted to experience the richness of the human experience, which we consider to be wealth in-itself. Furthermore, the physical and natural sciences are the children birthed from philosophy. Science was once Natural Philosophy but split along with several other fields because they had shared paradigms and customs for research. Newton did not think of himself as a scientist, but a natural philosopher. Descriptions of causation, motion, and a belief in a purpose (telos) of the natural world formed the essence of natural philosophy. It was only until the early modern period, and the Enlightenment that science became increasingly professionalized and thus more esoteric. Contemporary fields in the sciences such as: Physics, Psychology, Astronomy, and Biology were all once a part of Natural Philosophy but have since become their own separate fields.The Intrinsic Value of InquiryIn The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell proposes to the reader a thought experiment. The thought experiment is a classic staple in philosophy in which we perform an experiment inside our own minds. The thought experiment Russell proposes is as follows: If all men were well off, if poverty and disease had been reduced to their lowest possible point, there would still remain much to be done to produce a valuable society; and even in the existing world the goods of the mind are at least as important as the goods of the body. It is exclusively among the goods of the mind that philosophy is to be bound; and only those who are not indifferent to these goods can be persuaded that the study of philosophy is not a waste of time. What Russell is trying to illustrate here is a problem of value that is raised. What do we do now? What remains in this hypothetical scenario is that we still have normative questions to tackle about fundamental topics in human existence. How should we organize our societies? What is the good? Does God exist? It is these questions that only philosophical enquiry can wrestle with, and an appreciation for the necessity of enquiry is a prerequisite. The ability to engage in serious thought and to take value in uncertainty is one of the benefits of philosophy, and the humanities overall. Uncertainty and ambiguity are common themes, not just in the humanities, but ambiguity is a product of the human condition. There are many unsolved problems, not just in more abstract fields such as: philosophy, and theology. But there remain many unsolved problems in fields with many practical applications, such as: Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Cosmology, Mathematics, Medicine, etc. Uncertainty is abundant and one of the chief tasks of the humanities is to acknowledge and engage with uncertainty. So, what else can philosophy do that is good for us? According to Russell, it can “Free our minds from unwarranted prejudices”. Philosophy and the humanities are subjects which suggest a variety of possibilities in our world. Both philosophy and the humanities can be viewed as therapeutic. When we view beautiful art, whether it be visual art, literature, theater, film, etc. We feel moved at a deeply personal level. We sympathize with the emotions, the plights, and the achievements of the characters in great literature. Through history, we can gain an appreciation for nuance, and interpretation as applied to the historical record. We can also gain insight into how people before us lived and attempt to understand their world. Through reading ethnographies, we can travel to different lands and understand the life ways of other humans as distant strangers, yet distant relatives. Upon reading the great works of philosophy, one can engage in problem-solving as well as diving into the abyss of the unknown. Many philosophers of the past have attempted to establish first principles and methods to achieve foundational knowledge (such as Descartes and Kant, among others). Are there any limitations to these methods or to their overall projects? Only through a commitment to enquiry and a deep appreciation for knowledge can we properly come to understand the purposes of philosophy and the humanities as a whole. Russell argues that philosophy, not only serves a therapeutic function in that it meets our emotional and spiritual needs. Philosophy can further be used as a cure for political dogmatism and religious fundamentalism. Both political and religious dogmatism are to be viewed as vices due to their epistemic inflexibility and lack of nuance. To be dogmatic in one’s political and religious beliefs, is to be firmly grounded in a worldview that is nearly impossible to change. An unwavering belief in the fixedness of a worldview seems antithetical to the project of philosophical enquiry itself. As Russell claims, enquiry ought to have a degree of impartiality and a desire for truth, which he claims is deeply connected to freedom itself.The mind which has become accustomed to the freedom and impartiality of philosophic contemplation will preserve something of the same freedom and impartiality in the world of action and emotion. It will view its purposes and desires as parts of the whole, with the absence of insistence that results from seeing them as infinitesimal fragments in a world of which all the rest is unaffected by any one man’s deeds. The impartiality which, in contemplation, is the unalloyed desire for truth, is the very same quality of mind which, in action, is justice, and in emotion is that universal love which can be given to all, and not only to those who are judged useful or admirable. The Humanities and skills for the 21st CenturyThe value of the humanities is not simply limited to the intrinsic values of gaining knowledge of the ancient world, or appreciating art, literature, and philosophy. The humanities actually provide many transferrable real-world skills. These include: the ability to perform research, analytical thinking/critical thinking. Expressing yourself through writing and speaking. Performing difficult reading, and an ability to adapt to learning new material. For many of my papers in my undergraduate years, I had to do extensive research for each of my papers that were longer than 10 pages. This involved me searching in a database for several different articles that were relevant for any of my essays. I also had to search for key passages in all of the articles and books that proved relevant for my research papers. Upon gathering all of this information, I would synthesize the information and type my thoughts into a Word Document. Later, I would edit it so that the paper was ready to become a rough draft, and then a final draft to hand in. Writing, as well as giving presentations on these subjects required learning and growing in very specific skillsets. In order to craft strong papers, and give good presentations, you have to be good at constructing strong and sound arguments and articulating them coherently. It also requires an ability to conjure up objections to various arguments and an ability to come up with strong replies. This is where the analytical thinking skills come into play. Reading texts in philosophy, history, anthropology, literature, and other subjects can be fairly difficult. Difficult reading will help you to understand work documents more easily. And, get this…It will help you write better too. It is for these aforementioned reasons that the humanities can provide you with skills such as: excellent writing skills, excellent public speaking skills, strong analytical and research skills, and an ability to learn new skills quickly, among many others. These skills will have applicability to a diverse number of careers. Paralleling the diversity of human thought and the human experience. I hope that I have made the case that the humanities are rich subjects that are worth studying for their intrinsic value and insight into the human condition. Further, studying the humanities allows you to gain skills that are transferrable to a variety of different fields. Even if you choose to study a more ‘practical’ field, please don’t dismiss or forsake the humanities. For the world is far richer with the humanities. If you do choose to study the humanities, know that in the end, studying the humanities really is worth it. Sapientia melior auro! BIBLIOGRAPHY:Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Outlook Handbook: Fastest Growing Occupations”. United States Department of Labor, April 13, 2018, accessed June 30th, 2018, Cohen, Patricia. “A Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding”, The New York Times, February 21, 2016, accessed June 30th, 2018, History: MIT Libraries Archives, “Seal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology”, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accessed June 30th, 2018, Russell, Bertrand. The Problems of Philosophy, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1999, o.p. 1912.Seltzer, Rick. “Disparaging Interpretive Dance (and More)?”, Inside Higher Ed, September 14, 2017, accessed June 30th, 2018, for All, “Global STEM Initiatives”, Teach for All, accessed June 30th, 2018, Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. “Peter Thiel,” accessed June 30th, 2018, Commons, Philosophia et septem artes liberales. From the Hortus deliciarum, of Herrard of Landsberg. circa 1180 C.E., accessed June 30th, 2018, ................
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