a4

a place in the college curriculum, however, they should carry either no

credit or greatly reduced credit toward a liberal arts degree. In many

cases, the establishment of a competent vocational guidance and employ=

ment service would serve the students needs as well as the introduction
of manual arts courses.

It is important that our liberal arts colleges retain their essen=
tial character of places for the development of mind through a broad,
general culture, for they are the only institutions in our society which
serve such a purpose. Possibly some colleges would better serve them-=
selves and society by becoming vocational schools, and possibly many stu-~
dents now in college should be in vocational schools; but the distinction
between the two types of institutions should be clearly understood and
preserved. We should not try to keep the liberal arts label while sacri-
ficing its substance.

II

In seeking to preserve the liberal arts tradition, it is desirable
that we ask ourselves what we expect from it and wherein its excellen=
cies or deficiencies may lie. Let us come at once to the gravest ques-
tion now confronting the collegese Ina conference of young college
graduates, as reported by Dr. Robert M. Hutchins in McCallts Magazine
for October, 1939, the group voted that "the greatest defect of the
present educational system is that it is not primarily concerned with
the aims of human life." The context makes clear that they were think-
ing in terms of ideals which should guide life. Elsewhere in the report,
members of the group expressed the need for something that could be
believed with conviction, for positive ideals worthy of unwavering sup-
port.

Without any question, this feeling of confusion and bewilderment,
sometimes of futility, sometimes of "rootlessness," is widely felt among
young people today. They seek for some stable support in the midst of a
crumbling world. To many of them The Rock of Ages no longer suffices;
religion as they know it does not seem a sufficient answer, Since their
confusion is often shared by their elders, we may well ask what has brought
such a condition into being. The following points seem to us pertinent:

1) Man's knowledge of the universe is derived through his senses,
through his observation of the physical world, including himself and
others of his species. To go beyond the range of his senses, he must
draw conclusions based on such concrete observations as he has, and in
his speculations on the ultimate cause he judges the character of the
creator by the nature of the things created. Man's understanding of
nature, plus the lessons of human experience, will determine his mores,
or moral code, and the form of his religious and philosophic ideas,
This is true, whether or not we accept the belief in divine revelation,