British Philosopher A C Grayling praises benefits of Liberal Education
About Bedales
British Philosopher A C Grayling praises benefits of liberal education
11/05/2011
By Bedales 6.2 student Gina Miller.
On Tuesday 3rd May we were lucky to be joined by Professor AC Grayling when he gave a talk on liberal education. Anthony Grayling is a professor at Birkbeck College, and amongst other notable things he has a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. He has also written a large range of books, his most recent being The Good Book: A Secular Bible.
During his talk, Grayling emphasised the importance of a liberal education, explaining how the forming of one’s mind is key to enabling us to consider our values and be autonomous individuals. He pointed out that while you can specialise once you have received a broad education, it is difficult to have an opinion on general topics if you have only ever studied at a specialist level. The idea is that through studying History, Literature and Philosophy you can better understand how humans operate and therefore be able to make good, moral decisions. This is how education was in the ancient world, and until about a hundred years ago, detailed study of the Classics was used to the same end in Britain (a learned classicist would have good views on all things general.)
It was an exciting change to listen to someone talk without the assistance of a power point and was encouraging to see that Grayling carried no notes yet was able to quote philosophers without hesitation. It was agreed that he was an engaging, and amusing speaker, with very level-headed ideas and an extensive knowledge. When it came to questions at the end, all of Grayling’s answers were satisfying; and when Graham Banks raised the bar with a question that possibly lost a few members of the audience (myself included) he duly rose to the challenge.
It was a one-off opportunity to listen to such a relaxed and generally cool man as Anthony Grayling; I imagine you could sit with him for years and not get bored. What was especially good about this talk was its relevance to Bedales, a school whose focus is on giving people a liberal education (hence the melange of academia, music, art, sport, farming and baking.) Grayling said that if you are to get one thing out of a liberal education it is the desire to keep learning and a feeling of dissatisfaction when you are not learning; something I’ve certainly gained from five years at this school. This was his second visit to Bedales and I hope, for the sake of future generations, that he will come back many times more.
Read The Guardian's article on A C Grayling and his latest book.
