Vitalizing Liberal Education: A Study of the Liberal Arts Program ** SIGNED **

202pp., xii. Stated: "First Edition". Foreword by Ralph W. Tyler. CHAPTERS: The Function of Liberal Education; The Colleges Need a Vitalizing Purpose; The Social Interest in Liberal Education; The Aim of the Student; Knowing and Advising the Student; Intellectual Competence; The Search for Higher Values; Critical Inquiry; Making Education Dynamic; Experience as a Factor in Education; The Campus, A Laboratory in Living; In the World and Above It; The Instructor as Educator; The Student Before and After; The Program as a Whole--Recapitulation; Education for What? Index, pp. 197-202. FROM the "Recapitulation" Chapter and the final Chapter: "[The "basic assumptions" of the "Program as a Whole" are these]: "that a more perfect society than the present one can be attained; that its characteristics are not fully disclosed in some predetermined pattern, but must be discovered experimentally; that man is able to plan ahead at successive steps in helping determine what human progress shall be; and that the direction lies in searching for the greatest possible development of the potentialities of the individual personality consistent with securing the maximum benefits to be derived from group association and endeavor. / Each individual is a distinct personality, with interests and talents peculiar to himself. . . There should be an ethical aim in education. This is because it is the means of directing men's intelligence toward larger objectives than those individual men might hit on in a primitive society--objectives which means greater accomplishment for the group and thus have profound bearings upon men's lives. The effects of educating German youth in the deliberately framed doctrines of Nazi ideology furnish us with an immediate example of the importance of defining the ethical aims. . .Some of these aims have been narrowly conceived, whereas others are broad in their ethical concepts. Examples of narrowness in conception are: the Spartan emphasis on military proficiency; medieval emphasis on courtliness; later humanistic emphasis on Latin style; American colonial emphasis on theology; Prussian emphasis on regimentation and obedience; French emphasis on intellectualism; English emphasis on Greek and Latin and sports; and current [1944] German emphasis on racism . . .But a primary aim of the liberal college must always be that of developing the power to think--which in itself assumes the proper function of knowledge, the use of scientific method, and learning to apply thinking to the practical problems of life. . .The liberal arts college has to be something more than a repository of knowledge, presenting all sides of every problem, and remaining neutral in all controversies. This attitude is all too common among college faculties. . . .The method or pattern is the democratic way of life. Democracy as a principle and applied realistically, meets the tests of equity, flexibility, and freedom, in serving the purposes of society and meeting the needs of the individual . . . It offers the best chance for the individual to develop fully, consistent with group development. Democracy is essentially a method of harmonizing individual and group conflicts . . . ." (pp. 180-193). No jacket. Medium green cloth with light green lettering on spine and light green publisher's logo at bottom right front cover. Edges toned; pages lightly toned; a 1" x 3" white sticker affixed at top right ffep, bearing the name of "The Lucius N. Littauer Foundation" [NYC]; black, hand-stamped "Gifts and Exchanges Section / Harvard College Library / [address]" with "APR 1993" stamped date at top left inside front cover; 5/8" tear down rear cover from top (BUT ONLY on inside of board, NOT evident on outside rear cover top). Strong binding (NO cracks); square corners (NO bumps or curls; nugatory thin wear across top spine. Clean text. Solid copy, still relevant today. Inscribed to named individual, signed and dated May 1, 1944, by author on ffep. …