Part 17 (2/2)

_The endpoint in the study of other subjects_

Abilities of various kinds in the animal world find their purpose not in themselves but in adaptation to environment Fear on the part of the rabbit, for instance, increases its speed in running, and in that way protects its life The bear's strength aids in repelling its eneence of both aniainst ene, in the case of ani on,_ and any ability, whether physical or intellectual, is of i on successful The endpoint a adaptation to their environment

Man's environ moral and spiritual as well as physical But his relation to it is substantially the saree of adaptation accomplished Human abilities are notfuller adaptation, ”co”; that is, they are valuable for their use

The end to be attained in education is in full harmony with this idea

The object of education most emphasized in recent years is _efficiency,_ which ree of intelligence, the oes beyond that; for an efficient person is one who _does_ things Knowledge without the ability to apply or _use_ it leaves one theoretical, which, is a ternize the necessity of use very plainly Painting and e body of theory They also include an abundance of practice, a practice, too, that centers in the betterely with ideals, presenting the theory of living

But this theory is valuable chiefly as a guide to conduct The student of literature who professes ad them to himself has derived only a small part of the benefit froion in this respect The latter eht into divine truth and of faith in God; but both this insight and faith are to find their fruitage in conduct ”Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,” says the apostle, ”to visit the fatherless and s in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” [Footnote: James 1, 27] Si our own philosophy of life, and thereby our conduct, has been unsuccessful, even though examinations have been successfully passed

Pure science is knowledge that has been proved and properly organized; and it is highly desirable that specialists devote their lives to its further development The main reason, however, is that its applications may finally be more abundant; and science used for the purpose of education e toas efficiency is the recognized purpose of education, there is little excuse for a young person's studying science apart from its applications, or pure science There is so better That kind of study should be left to the specialist

Much has been said in times past about art for art's sake, science for the sake of science, and knowledge for the sake of knowledge; but these are vague expressions that will excite little interest so long as the worth of a man is determined by what comes out of him, by the service he renders, rather than by what enters in Other branches of knowledge used for educative purposes, therefore, reses on oal in their study

_Why the using of knowledge as an endpoint in study needs eht be unnecessary to emphasize this matter were it not that this conception of study has been reached only after long development and is still actively opposed The old Greeks stood for a very different idea To Plato, the use of the intellect for practical purposes was subordinate and alraceful The summation of existence was to be found in reflection, and the ambition of the educated man was to escape from the concrete world, in order to live in the world of abstract truth Many of the es rese to separate themselves as completely as possible from society for the sake of the contemplation of spiritual matters Reflection, contemplation, was thus not a means to an end but an end in itself, and the thinker or dreamer, rather than the efficient oal is now condemned for its extrelad to identify thes and a thenore the world Yet there are still plain tendencies in this direction, as is seen in the fact that an education that is liberal and cultural is often contrasted with one that is useful as being of a higher order ”That alone is liberal education,”

says Cardinal Newman, ”which stands on its own pretensions, which is independent of sequel, expects no complement, refuses to be _informed_ (as it is called) by any end or absorbed into any art, in order duly to present itself to our contemplation” [Footnote: _Scope and Nature of University Education,_ p 135] Liberal education is so co for what it is, and not merely for what it does” Art for art's sake, rather than art for man's sake, would thus represent the true spirit of a liberal college course, in the estimation of this author; the admission of service to oal, would deprive it of its liberal character, and in the sae doctrine indeed Liberal is originally a term opposed to narrow and restricted, and a liberal education ht properly be contrasted with the very narrow bread-and-butter kind that aims at the mastery of art without theory But how the restriction caused by the presence of worthy specific purposes of a thousand kinds is inieneral value is difficult to coation narrows the work only enough to give it point, and a well-chosen particular aim will have the same effect on any study

Further than that, the consciousness in advance that any conclusions reached ood influence by nerving us to do our best; and the actual test is of value in inforree of soundness of our ideas All persons must be shocked by the misfit bethat they supposed to be true and what they find by trial to be fact, before they aken up and do their best thinking The superabundance of advice that bachelor uncles andof children is due to the fact that their theory has not been refined by practice It is the direct contact with the world in the _use_ of knowledge that reveals the latter's real significance and that converts it into experience; and it is only the knowledge that becoain, in arguing the question of allowing norrees, a certain well-known educator declares: ”Where ability to exercise a practical art is concerned, degrees are or should be valueless They should be restricted merely to the position of evidences of culture For this reason norrees” [Footnote: _Year Book of National Society for Scientific Study of Education,_ 1905, p 93] Our better norht be expected to grant degrees--give instruction in literature, history, geography, fine art, etc, the saes To these subjects the normal school adds the history of education and the principles of education, which are presu as they are not applied, and they usually are not There remain then the subjects that involve practice, such as special ; these ood four- year nor and other strenuous work as that of the college But the presence of the last group of subjects signifies that this study is to cule; and there's the rub It is this latter fact that vitiates the course and precludes the cultural effect that a college course insures

If this is a proper interpretation, it is, indeed, strange doctrine

One can understand how carpentry reat a cultural effect as literature; but one would think that, if the untested and therefore half-digested thoughts of literature have a certain cultural effect, the sa influence if theirand force were ht secure their realization; and one would think that the saard to any subject

The difficulty is that there are two opposing notions of culture On the one hand there are persons who conceive culture to be a refineered by contact with the realities of life, for instance by participation in local politics and other social contests, and by such practice of charity as must be accompanied by physical exertion and bad smells Culture is, to them, the name for that serenity and loftiness ofa safe distance fro crowd; and the culturedin a comfortable chair, preferably with a book in his hand, and rapt in meditation on lofty themes

On the other hand there are those who conceive that culture--if more than a veneer--is a refinement that can be attained only by direct participation in social life Such contact with the worldembarrassment, temptation, and failure, as well as their opposites; but all of these, instead of debasing, are the very experiences that purify andprocess could not take place Cultureeffect of such actual struggles upon a person's whole outlook on life and upon his way in general of conducting himself; and the cultured man is pictured by theed in the accoh purposes

Culture is so valuable a quality that each person must determine for himself which of these two conceptions of it is sound, before he can decide whether the using of knowledge is worthy of beingof the tere is the proper endpoint in study, it is i of the tere in earning a livelihood covers only a se when he is getting inspiration fro new conclusions fro it, further, when he entertains his fareeable to the of children, or in the performance of the manifold duties ofGod In short, it is being used when its content is turned to account in the accomplishment of purposes, whatever they be, or is made to function in one's daily adaptation to physical, ious environe_

The student should continually carry in e is the end of his study, and the only reliable proof of oal, and any clearlyit should be well known, since they will help the student greatly to keep his bearings and preserve his courage Here are given a few such stages

_1 Collection of crude materials_

First, under the influence of as full a sympathy with the author as possible, one obtains a fair co may be necessary to this end, as well as careful consideration of relative values Thisto the difficulty of the subject and to individual ability Proof of coht in one's oords, either from memory or with the book open Such study is a co for subordination of the student to the author, and amounts to little e The corresponding stage in the assimilation of food would be, perhaps, its preparation and anization of the profitable portion of thesefro e With the thought of profit uppermost in mind, the student recalls or further defines any specific purposes of the study that uidance he casts aside as non-essential much of what is presented, and centers his attention on those ideas that seem to have real value for him