Sanford J. Ungar's The New Liberal Arts

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Recommended: On the uses of a liberal education as a weapon summary

Full disclosure: I've lived my entire life wanting to be an engineer. My father is a manufacturing engineer. My grandfather was an electrical engineer. My girlfriend is currently studying at Iowa State in mechanical Engineering. I am an engineer at heart.

Given that, it must be understandable that I've never been one for a liberal education. One of my favorite quotes is the following by Aristotle: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it".

For the purpose of this essay, and as an extension this class, I will entertain the thought of a liberal education.

After reading Ungar's misperceptions in the essay The New Liberal Arts, Sanford J. Ungar, I acknowledge each is factually sound and make …show more content…

If everyone in a company had a liberal education degree, what happens to the product? If everyone had a degree in communication, theres nobody to design the product. If everyone had a degree in French, theres would be nobody to program the apps or maintain the website. Look at Congress! People with a political education talk and talk, but nothing ever seems to gets done. Theres no product when people don't have a diversified skill set.
I agree with the points Ungar makes, but I think it only applies to a select group of people. We still need the mechanics to repair our cars. We still need the technicians to run our medical tests. I agree that a liberal education is great for out-of-the-box thinkers, but out-of-the-box thinking isn't reserved for just those with a liberal education degree. Engineers are problem solvers and have to come up with clever, out-of-the-box solutions. Scientists and researchers need to explore areas of knowledge that are foreign to them, out-of-the-box. Even an entry level burger flipper with the high school diploma need to think outside of the box when it comes to choosing what to do with the rest of their life.
If everyone does the same thing, nothing gets done. I will entertain the thought of a liberal education, but I feel the concepts learned can be learned just as well in other degree

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