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Article: A world without the humanities?(Universities)(Liberal arts and the New Humanties)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- April 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WRITING IN 1869, Matthew Arnold described culture as the "study and pursuit of perfection". The quest for the perfection of culture has, as its reward, "increased sweetness, increased light, increased life, increased sympathy". The humanities have traditionally provided great insights into the human condition and they have enriched the human spirit.
In the same light, consider what expatriate Australian classicist Gilbert Murray said about the students at Oxford in the 1920s and 1930s: "They were [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], they loved scholarship. They were [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], they cared for beauty. They happened to love Greek poetry and ...