Liberal education according to Jacques Maritain

Abstract

A specific character of the concept of liberal education formulated by Maritain is connected to the fact that the French philosopher refers there to anthropological, epistemological and ethical research conducted in the spirit of thomistic philosophy. Therefore, the article first presents Maritain’s thoughts on human freedom which develops together with human personality revealing; still, this can be destroyed if human development leads towards individuality. Subsequently, the conditionings of freedom development was analysed, with the focus both on the development of mind and the development of will, also with the reference to religious development. In this context, the third section includes analyses of liberal education formulated by Maritain, where; according to him, one must maintain balance between the development of judgement, which should take place in college, and the development of reasoning understood as learning how to use judgements within university education. The conclusions emphasize not only the necessity of taking advantage of liberal education, but also indicate its actual role in the process of supporting the development of learner’s freedom (it is often overvalued). One can also find a discussion there concerning the principles of liberal education in relation to judging and reasoning according to Maritain, and references to theological issues included in this education, which is specific for the French philosopher.

Keywords

• maritain
• freedom
• liberal education
• judging
• reasoning