Green metaphysics: A sustainable and renewable liberal arts education

Abstract

Liberal arts education has carried with it the tradition of a virtuous elite. The metaphysics that accompanies this elitism has its own ground in the master and slave relation of Antiquity. But a different metaphysics offers itself now for liberal arts, one which can be argued to be ‘green’, by being sustainable and renewable without the exploitation of the resources and labours of others. It might seem strange to argue that liberal arts should be the natural home of such a green metaphysics, but I will argue that liberal arts has two clear advantages: one is that part of its history has been to champion the comprehensive view of the world, as opposed to one that is fragmented within the professionally demarcated borders of single academic subject disciplines. The other is that it has held close to itself the Delphic maxim ‘know thyself’, and that this remains a crucial ingredient for any green education.

Keywords:

• Green metaphysics
• liberal arts
• sustainable
• renewable
• education

Notes

1. The Journal has kindly agreed to this paper being published in the form in which it was given at the Conference on 13 May 2016, at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. Inevitably this means the paper will lack many of the substantive references that might be expected for a more traditional academic piece. I am grateful to Michael Peters especially for this, enabling the piece to retain the style and atmosphere of this student conference. Such changes that have been made are those which the reviewers helpfully drew attention to. I note too that a second Liberal Education Student Conference was held in May 2017 at the University of Freiburg.

2. You will notice I am using liberal education and liberal arts education interchangeably in my talk. On other occasions I might not be so loose.

3. See N. Tubbs, (2015) Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts Education: Freedom is to Learn, Basingstoke, PalgraveMacmillan.

4. See N. Tubbs (2008) Education in Hegel, London, Continuum, Chapter 3.

5. Speaking of events in May 2016 which, although less featured in the news, still continue a year later.