The liberal arts are those subjects or skills that
in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free person to
know in order to take an active part in civic life, something that
included participating in public debate, defending oneself in court,
serving on juries, and most importantly, military service.Grammar,
rhetoric, and logic were the core liberal arts, while arithmetic,
geometry, the theory of music, and astronomy also played a part in
education.
In modern times, liberal arts education is a term
that can be interpreted in different ways. It can refer to certain
areas of literature,languages, art history, music history,
philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science. It can
also refer to studies on a liberal arts degree program. For example,
Harvard University offers a Master of Liberal Arts degree, which
covers biological and social sciences as well as the humanities. For
both interpretations, the term generally refers to matters not
relating to the professional, vocational, or technical curricula.
