LIBERAL EDUCATION is the study of the liberal arts—that is, history, philosophy and the abstract sciences, language, and any other disciplines whose study is thought to foster general intellectual ability. For the Greeks it meant education conducive to a harmonious development of mind and body. For others it has meant education that is universal rather than provincial; knowledge for its own sake; study that create an awareness of alternatives; discipline of the mental faculties; classical learning as distinct from the study of the scientific or the contemporary; or general studies as opposed to specialized or vocational training.

通识教育是对人文学科的学习—即对历史、哲学和抽象科学、语言，以及那些学问被认为是培养综合智力能力的任何其它学科的学习。对希腊人来说，它意味着教育有益于身心的和谐发展。对其他人而言，它意味着教育是普遍性的，而非地方性的；知识为其自己的目的；建立对替代方案认识的研究；训练精神能力；经典学问与科学或同时代研究不同；或者说通识教育与专门或职业的训练完全不同。

History—The Seven Liberal Arts. The liberal arts—from the Latin Liber, meaning free—were what was studied by those ancient Greeks who did not have to work for a living. For Socrates, the fundamental principle of any liberal study was the notion that the good life is guided by rational thought.

历史—七大人文学科。人文学科—来自拉丁语书籍，意思是自由—是由那些不必为生计工作的古代希腊人研究的东西。对苏格拉底而言，任何自由研究的基本原则都是这样一种概念，即美好的生活是由理性思维指导的。

Cassiodorus, a Roman official of the 6^th century A. D., was among the first to use the phrase “the seven liberal arts.” During the Middle Ages, the liberal arts became increasingly academic, with the seven knightly arts being opposed to the practical arts. In the early universities of Europe, the seven liberal arts were divided into a trivium of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and a quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.

卡西奥多罗斯，一位公元六世纪的罗马官员，是最早使用“七大人文学科”一词的人之一。在中世纪，文科变得越来越学术化，以七大骑士术来反对实用术。在早期的欧洲大学中，七大人文学科被划分为语法、修辞和逻辑三学科，以及算术、几何学、音乐和天文学四门学科。

Many medieval institutions taught only the trivium. Instruction was in Latin. Grammar, which included the study of literature, was the most popular subject. Rhetoric, which had been most important during the Roman era, became for a time little more than the art of composing letters to people in authority, but gradually evolved into the study of Roman law. After the rediscovery of Aristotle’s Organon in the early 12^th century, logic, or dialectic, became allied with the study of philosophy especially at Paris.

许多中世纪的院校只教授三学科。教学用拉丁语。语法，包括文学研究，是最受欢迎的学科。修辞，在罗马时代曾是最重要的，一段时间它变成了给当权者写信的艺术，但逐渐演变成对罗马法的研究。在十二世纪初，当重新发现了亚里士多德的《工具论》之后，逻辑，或辩证法与哲学研究结盟，尤其是在巴黎。

The term quadrivium, as a designation for the four mathematical arts, was first used by Boethius early in the 6^th century. Arithmetic was valued as a mental discipline as well as for its practical application in bookkeeping. Geometry was useful in surveying and in disciplining the mind, astronomy in calculating the dates of movable church holidays and predicting the future. Music was studied mathematically to reveal its mystical and symbolic qualities.

四门学科这个术语，作为四种数学艺术，是由六世纪早期的波伊提乌首次使用的。算术作为一门心理学科以及它在簿记中的实际应用受到重视。几何学在测量和训练心灵方面很有用，天文学用于计算可移动的礼拜假日的日期并预测未来。用数学研究音乐来揭示其神秘和象征的品质。

Modern university degrees have evolved from the arts tradition in the medieval universities. A student studied the trivium for THREE or four years and then took an examination to become a bachelor of arts. After another two or THREE years of study he might earn the degree of master (literally, “teacher”), which authorized him to instruct. At Bologna, doctor was an equivalent degree, but by the 15the century it was generally found in the higher faculties (departments of learning) and themaster’s in the lower.

现代的大学学位是从中世纪大学的艺术传统进化而来的。学生学习了三四年三学科，然后参加考试获得文学学士学位。再经过两三年的学习，他可能会获得硕士学位（字面意思是“教师”），可授权他授课。在博洛尼亚，博士是等效的学位，但到了十五世纪，发现它通常出现在更高级的院系（学问部），而硕士在次一级院系。

In the Renaissance liberal education was reinvested with the classical spirit. Erasmus spoke of the ancient literature of Greece and Rome as containing “all the knowledge that we recognize as vital to mankind.” The Renaissance curriculum stressed the “whole man” as a worthy end in himself, encouraged interest in the aesthetic qualities of life, and manifested a new concern with logic as a means of knowledge. Such humanism is a strong element in the liberal arts today.

在文艺复兴时期，通识教育被重新注入了古典精神。伊拉兹马斯将希腊和罗马的古代文学评价为包含了“我们公认的对人类至关重要的所有知识。”文艺复兴时期的课程强调“整体的人”作为他自己有价值的目标，鼓励对生活审美品质的兴趣，并表现出对逻辑作为知识手段新的关注。这样的人文主义是当今人文学科中的一个强大要素。

Liberal Arts in the United States. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson said that a man must be a man before he can be a good farmer, tradesman, or engineer. During his century, however, some 9,000 Americans went abroad to study in German universities oriented toward scientific research and specialization. Their influence, together with that of the U. S. land grant college tradition, moved higher education toward studies more heavily scientific and pragmatic. Furthermore, any American education have been wary of the term “liberal education” because of its elitist connotation.

美国的人文学科。1837年，拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生说过，人必须先成为一个人，他才可能成为一个好农民、好商人，或好工程师。然而，在他的世纪中，大约有9000名美国人出国，在以科学研究和专业为导向的德国大学学习，他们的影响，还有美国大学土地授予传统的影响，使高等教育朝着更注重科学和务实的研究发展。此外，因为它的精英主义内涵，任何美国的教育一直对“通识教育”这一术语持谨慎态度。

Nevertheless, hundreds of private colleges in the United States proclaim their special dedication to the liberal arts. Their students usually study required courses in English, history, and fine arts, and, increasingly, the physical, biological, and social sciences. Only about one fourth of their four-year program is devoted to a major specialization. Many of these college, some founded before the Revolution, are intentionally small and encourage extracurricular aesthetic, dramatic, and sports activities. Like the ancient Greeks, they seek to foster the qualities of leadership and sound personal judgment rather than a high degree of vocational proficiency.

尽管如此，在美国有数以百计的私立大学声称他们对人文学科的特殊奉献。他们的学生通常学习英语、历史和美术课程，并且越来越多地学习物理、生物以及社会学科的课程。他们的四年制课程只有大约四分之一致力于主要专业。其中许多大学，有些是在革命前成立的，有意保持小规模，并鼓励课外审美、戏剧和体育活动。像古希腊人一样，他们寻求培养领导者的品质和全面的个人判断，而不是高度的职业熟练。

                        RICHARD R. RENNER, University of Florida

                                 理查德··R. 伦纳，佛罗里达大学

                                         2024年9月4日译

（译者注：该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985年版，第17卷，第292页至293页）