382. DSC 202: Knowledge its own end (2)

Cardinal Newman was the pioneer of the Oxford or Tractarian movement. He was born in 1801 in city of London. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford where he studied widely.

Newman was deeply committed to education to the spiritual as well as academic excellence. He described education as his time and he referred to education in a large sense of the world. He believed in liberal education which developed a whole human personality with intellectual excellence. Such human beings shine in every walk of life under all possible circumstances.

The Idea of a University:

Newman’s “The Idea of a university” is like most of his books, an occasional work. Actually it consists of two books, the discourses on the “Scope and Nature of University Education” (1852), and “Lecture and Essay on University subjects” (1859), a collection of lectures and articles written by Newman as the founding president of the university. “The Idea of a University” deals with the aim of university education. It also deals with the qualification of the university teachers and the ideals of liberal education. It is famous for its advocacy of liberal education which means “perfection of the intellectual”. It is different from scientific and vocational training. According to Newman the primary aim of the university is not to prepare students for professional courses but to prepare them for success in every walk of life. He means that it is not necessary for students to learn all subjects, but just being around other students who are learning different subjects to enhance their own learning. They tend to be more open minded. He states, “He (the student) apprehends great outline of knowledge, the principles on which it rests, the scale of its parts, its light and its shade, its great points its title, as he otherwise cannot apprehend them.

The Idea of a University shows the lucid and fine prose style of Newman. He clearly handles the subject with his meaning. It depicts his liberal ideal for the university where he argues that religion and science cannot come into conflict if they are not misunderstood.

Summary and of 5th Discourse

In “The Idea of a University” Newman’s views on university education are described. He suggests it is very important to focus on the students attending the university. From Oxford he has gained experience about the educational system. He thinks that a university exists to develop the mind rather than to collect information. It’s a plea for liberal education. H e seems to equivocate somewhat over both science and theology. The primary purpose of a university is intellectual not moral or religious. In preface he says, “The view taken of a university in these discourses is the following – That is a place of teaching of universal knowledge. This implies that its object is, on the one hand intellectual, not moral and on the other that it is the diffusion and extension of knowledge rather than the advancement, if its object were scientific and philosophical discovery. I do not see why a university should have students, if religious training, I do not see how it can be the set of literature and science”.

 

In fifth discourse, Newman focuses on liberal education. He thinks that, “Liberal Education

…. is simply the cultivation of the intellect …. and its object is nothing more or less than intellectual excellence”. Knowledge is capable of being its own end and it is a condition of mind.

Knowledge and virtue, both are different things. The philosophy may be enlightened by one person but it has no power over passion. Liberal education is simply the cultivation of the intellect, and its object is nothing more than intellectual excellence.

 

Newman’s Views on the role of a University:

Newman believes that a university is a place where students and teachers assemble for the purpose of cultivating the intellect to gain knowledge. He does not in favour of imposing restrictions to gain knowledge but emphasized upon to give universal knowledge e to all students.

The aim of teaching in a university is to give that kind of knowledge which can develop the whole personality of an individual. Its object is intellectual not moral. A university has to play scientific as well as a religious and cultural role. A person should gain knowledge by means of literature and science. The range of teaching within the university is universal; it encompasses all branches of knowledge. Education should be balanced, well rounded, and moderate. It should not only promote wisdom and knowledge but also the freedom of thought. Universities that give universal knowledge are leaving their students with the enlargement of new ideas and concepts. The exposure to different sciences creates students that are wise, balanced and tranquil.

 

Newman believes that the main aim of a university is to provide liberal education. It manifests itself in courtesy, polish of words, manners and action. It consists in perfection of the intellectual. The main aim is to make a gentleman not a Christian.

He also refers to the qualification of the teachers because a trained person can display his qualities with greater effect.

Newman’s views on Liberal Education 

“The Idea of a University” insists on liberal education which means perfection of the student. He believes in the development of a whole personality having a cultivated mind, fine taste, noble bearing and polished manner. For it liberal education and liberal knowledge both are essential .It is like something that illuminates a mental level.

 

Newman believes in true education. He differentiates good and useful education .He thinks that knowledge of literature is an essential part of education but if education is given with theology, it will be the best instruments of mental cultivation and intellectual progress. Theology is the most important branch of study from the point of view of knowledge. He is concerned with mental cultivation in the sense of the education or training of the mind .It enables a person “to have connected view” which manifests itself in “good sense, sobriety of thought, self command and steadiness of liberal education gives its recipient the “faculty entering with comparative ease into any subject of thought and of taking up with aptitude any science or profession”

Newman gives the example of physical and mental health, both are necessary for a healthy person same as mental culture through liberal education is useful. Knowledge is not merely a means to something beyond it and an end sufficient to rest in and to pursue for its own sake .The object of liberal education is to gain intellectual excellence.

If a person concentrates on only one subject, he may lead to expertise in that particular subject alone but if he has given knowledge of some other subject at the same time, he will become an all rounder.

According to Newman, it is more important for a student to become a noble man than to become a professional man because such human beings shine in every walk of life under all possible circumstances, by the training of different subjects.

 

Newman thinks to develop the ability to think clearly and logically .The power of making correct judgments is also a part of the educational process. He thinks clarity and judgment are the fruits of a liberal education, which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, eloquence in expressing them and a force in urging them.”

Newman thinks that teachers are not alone responsible for the education; students are also an essential part of it. The one is the giver the other is the receiver. Newman wants to give liberal education because it helps teachers to save from academic imperialism. For this, in a university learned men who are rivals of each other are brought together for the sake of intellectual peace. They interact with each other; to gain knowledge, consult and respect one other .This creates a pure atmosphere of thought which is beneficial for students. In this harmonious interaction, the students select the subject and adopt an intellectual tradition. This guides the student in his choice of subjects and duly interprets for him those which he chooses. This is the liberal education for Newman. The student, who gains this kind of knowledge, has all attributes of life like freedom equitableness, calmness, moderation and wisdom.

1. Summary

A:- In "The Idea of a University", John Henry Newman argues that knowledge is an end in itself and is distinct from morality and utility. He believed that intellectual activity pursued for its own sake can still have benefits, such as the effects of a university education.

In The Idea of a University, John Henry Newman argues that knowledge is an end in itself and is distinct from morality and utility. He believed that intellectual activity pursued for its own sake can still have benefits, such as the effects of a university education. 

 

Some of Newman's ideas about knowledge include: 

The human mind and the world

Newman believed that the human mind finds a system or integral whole when it examines the world, rather than chaos or isolated facts. 

The utility of education

Newman believed that the utility of education should be measured by the overall increase in social goodness, rather than economic benefit. 

All branches of knowledge are connected

Newman believed that all branches of knowledge are connected because the subject matter of knowledge is united in itself. 

In the essay “from Knowledge Its Own End”, John Henry Newman stated the true education from his perspective by dividing knowledge into two parts, and believed that people should pursue for knowledge itself instead of a realistic purpose. He asserted that “knowledge is capable of being its own end” and “the cultivation of knowledge is for physical enjoyment”. He used Cicero’s viewpoint to support his idea as well, which stated that as soon as escaping from the pressure of reality was the happiness of knowledge. In addition, he sharply separated knowledge into “useful” and “liberal”, and contrasted them. Liberal knowledge was to pursue for its own sake, while useful knowledge was sort of commercial and purposeful.

Starting with the idea that all knowledge is an exploration of God’s created reality, Newman argues that a University can only be an authentic and unified “seat of universal learning,” and can only grant its students a truly “liberal habit of mind,” true intellectual and moral freedom, if it is free from practical, worldly demands. This discourse is often read by students in classical liberal arts curricula because, in addition to this positive construction of a truly liberal—a truly free—education, it also makes a robust defense against what is opposed to that freedom: an intellectual toxin that Newman noticed growing in his own time, and is now pervasive in our own: “Utility.”

In critiquing “Utility” in education, Newman’s primary concern is for the well-being of the “student.” He opens Discourse 5 by stating that he is shifting his focus from “studies” to the “students,” and thinks the University is responsible for giving students a “habit of mind” that can bring them into greater touch with the real world God has created. Whereas this is a healthy and “Liberal” (free) education, “Utility” is an unhealthy education that becomes not about the student, but about using the student and his knowledge for practical ends. While determining the practical use of education is not itself bad, Newman is concerned that the good of the student will be neglected if practicality becomes the main ambition of education, not knowledge for its own sake.

Newman wants his students to learn so as to come into closer touch with reality. Indeed, many educators stress preparing students for “the real world.” But in Newman’s mind, this “real world” is not the current market demand for jobs, or the shifting whims of politicians and rulers, or the constraints of material needs. Rather, reality is what God has made, and knowledge, through various scientific disciplines, brings one to understanding of that creation. All the “branches of knowledge are connected together, because the subject-matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself, as being the acts and works of the Creator.” At a university, knowledge must be “free” to be its own “end” in order to stay true to this high calling. If knowledge is only put into the service of material demands and human will, it is no longer free, but enslaved.

It is not bad for students to think about how their education might factor into a future job. However, for Newman, turning education into only about getting a job reduces learning to an enslaving factory-line of bureaucratic job requirements. Rather, education is all about the real formation of real students in light of real truth. What he calls “utility,” related to the philosophies of utilitarianism and pragmatism, and which today might be called “practicality” or “usefulness,” suggests that education is only valuable if it is practically useful. But this begs the question: who has the authority to determine its use? The teacher, the government, the parents, a deity? Newman is more interested in providing fundamental first principles for education that allow it to inspire and renew living intelligence from generation to generation: that education exists for the sake of students, not for the sake of market demands, economic pressures, or political parties. And in order to be for the sake of students, education must put students in contact with a rich community of minds pursuing wisdom and knowledge, based on the conviction that all knowledge is connected as an exploration of the Creator’s reality.

Many of today’s educators operate explicitly out of what Newman opposed: “Utility.” And many more, who are perhaps uninformed, fall into its trap. John Dewey is perhaps the most famous 20th century American educational philosopher who advocated for a Utilitarian education, aimed at preparing the pupil for the “real world.” This is common language today, and seems laudable at first. But the “real world” here means the shifting sands of human configurations, not the fundamental categories of reality. This translates into measuring educational value based on preparation for a job, or a lifestyle, or a certain social scenario, like democracy. This is not in and of itself a bad thing, but Newman’s vision for a truly liberal—a truly free—education could not be more at odds. Some sectors of society must be devoted to Utility, but not the University, for reasons that will become clear in subsequent posts on Discourse 5. If Dewey’s principles are accepted, then education must always be shifting and changing based on the shifting and changing whims of economy, politics, and culture. 

It is, sadly, true that we live in a world prone to instability and unpredictability, due in part to the modern era’s widespread rejection of religious, moral, and metaphysical reality. However, it is unjust and harmful to then assume that we must expose our children to an unstable and unpredictable education, which is fundamentally the end result of Dewey’s utilitarianism. Newman and his invaluable Discourse 5 provide much substance, help, and hope for providing our children with a stable, healthy, and positive formation in the midst of our chaotic world.