There are books which stand the test of time because they influence not only a generation but are, indeed, timeless and thereby have influenced entire cultures and civilizations for centuries. Such books made such a splash when they were written that their ripples are still felt today albeit the names of the authors and their works are often unknown to the people who today carry around their ideas in their pockets not knowing from whence they came. These are what some have called “The Great Books” and this not because all of the ideas in them are created equal but because their influence has been undeniably great. Without a doubt some ideas from the Great Books are stronger today and others are relatively forgotten in contemporary times.
Among those which has been largely forgotten, especially by those involved in contemporary education, is John of Salisbury’s The Metalogician in which he lays out an argument for and defense of what we might now call Classical Education which is composed of the Trivium and Quadrivium. It is precisely because this work (and others like it) have been relegated to a place of “nearly forgotten” status that we see the mess we do in the educational system in our country. John writes this defense against a figure whom he calls “Cornificius” whose real name he withholds for the sake of charity towards a fellow professing Christian but whom his disdain towards is not even thinly veiled. Cornificius denies the importance of studying the Liberal Arts much like our contemporaries do which makes The Metalogician a timely book to read in our day.
Cornificius’ primary argument against studying the Liberal Arts is that he believes nature either grants a person the necessary ability to perform those arts or it does not and therefore there is no use in trying to train a man to do something nature has not enabled him to do just as training a man to do what nature has already enabled him to do would be superfluous. John puts it in this way, “In the judgment of Cornificius (if a false opinion may be called a judgment), there is no point in studying the rules of eloquence, which is a gift that is either conceded or denied to each individual by nature.” While it is not John’s contention that nature gifts all men with equal ability it is his contention that study of the Liberal Arts is important no matter how much natural talent a man has been given.
One of the primary themes found in The Metalogician is power which studying has to help a man, any man, become a better man. Quoting Cicero, John, makes clear what he means by studying, “‘Study… is the diligent and vigorous application of one’s mind to the determined accomplishment of something.” There is no person, regardless of how naturally gifted or, seemingly, lacking in natural gifting, who cannot grow as a human being through the study of the Liberal Arts:
Although the gifts of nature are definitely helpful, they are never or rarely so effective that they are fully realized without study. Nothing is so strong and robust that it cannot be enfeebled by neglect, nothing so well constructed that it cannot be razed. On the other hand, diligent application can build up and preserve the lowest degree of natural talent.
There is no one too low nor too high in their natural ability that can’t improve by study.
John tells us that Socrates was known for being “susceptible to women” but overcame his vices through his commitment to philosophy and the practice of virtue. Here was a man whom nature could hardly have gifted more powerfully but whom grew greatly through study and application of what may be called the Liberal Arts. On the other end of the spectrum John tells us “that Scaurus Rufus was far from naturally bright but that by assiduously employing his meager natural talents, he became so accomplished that he even called Cicero himself ‘a barbarian.’” With these two case studies we see that there is truly no one who cannot greatly benefit from studying the Liberal Arts.
John begins his work in the most natural of starting points when talking about Classical education, the Trivium. The first stage of the Trivium is that of Grammar which is then followed by Dialectic and then Rhetoric. The primacy of Grammar is due to the fact that it undergirds all learning that will follow after it. The ability to read, write and speak properly is the foundation upon which all future learning is dependant upon. As the book progresses, however, John’s point is the same. In every stage of learning it makes no difference how much natural ability one has, they can build on it and they ought to.
In Book II of The Metalogician while discussing the Dialectic stage of learning, the same point is uttered again that natural ability is insufficient in itself no matter how much of it one has. “Even though one’s natural faculty of reason, I refer here to his mental power, may be very keen, still he will be greatly handicapped in philosophical pursuits if he is without a rational system whereby he may accomplish his purpose.” And so John demonstrates this point time and time again throughout the whole of his work effectively refuting Cornificius and all who, like him, would negate the importance of studying the Liberal Arts.
In the end John exposes Cornificius as seeking to destroy the very foundations of a meaningful education. At the very first he accused Cornificius of having “contrived to improve his own reputation by making many other ignoramuses like himself.” An effective method that we see employed today in public education, I am afraid, in which the way to become the most intelligent, powerful and successful has nothing to do with working the hardest but with managing to raise a generation of fools who know less that yourself. We may rightfully hope that such a goal is not really in the minds of contemporary educators as it was for Cornificius but whether it is the intent or not it is nevertheless the same result in the end.
Our only hope for the future well being of our society* is to take the study of Liberal Arts seriously as John of Salisbury suggests we should. He more than amply demonstrates the folly of relying only on what nature imparts and he successfully argues the value of studying the Liberal Arts regardless of whether or not one was generously blessed by natural ability. The reestablishment of the Trivium in modern education as laid out in The Metalogicianwould do wonders for the world today.
*Of course the gospel of Christ is the real hope, here i spoke with only education in mind
