Is Philosophy a Liberal Art?

In my previous post, I asked whether philosophy belongs to the humanities. That question is difficult to answer unless one has a clear set of criteria that make a subject a humanistic. But I am more certain about what a liberal art is. And philosophy, as it is normally practiced, is certainly a liberal art.

My principal objection is that many people identify the humanities with the liberal arts. But this is neither historically nor conceptually defensible. The earliest formulation of the liberal arts mainly included what we now would call mathematics (which is usually not considered part of the humanities). But even today math is clearly a liberal art. For I understand the liberal arts to be those disciplines that may be studied simply to enrich one's life rather than to provide a training for a particular profession or occupation.

As an amateur mathematician (with the emphasis on "amateur") I have never used what I've learned in real analysis or abstract algebra to earn my livelihood. But I simply delight in their study! I am a happier person for understanding the fundamental theorem of calculus. And I think I'm a better philosopher for it too.

Now to be sure, math can be used for very practical ends. But that does not make it an illiberal art. For it can and very often is studied simply for its sheer beauty and depth. Philosophy, perhaps, is not so useful, and its charm resides principally in its power to enrich. But the study of both subjects embodies the ideal of a liberal arts education. As does the study of history, language, physics, economics, political science among many others.

So let the humanities die if they must! They seem to be a recent development in human history. But the ancient and hoary liberal arts--may they live on forever.