Political Science

POL 498

Dr. Carstens

Senior Seminar Final

During my time here at Ohio Dominican I have come to obtain a liberal education. “Greek and Roman Stoic notions of an education that is ‘liberal’ in that it liberates the mind from the bondage of habit and custom, producing people who can function with sensitivity and alertness as citizens of the whole world” (Nussbaum 9). Although the time spent at this institution does seem like it has been forever one has gained the ability to demonstrate the understanding of liberal education using Camus’ “Letters to a German friend,” and Nussbaum’s’ Cultivating Humanities to relate to the education received at Ohio Dominican University.

In terms of understanding a liberal education at Ohio Dominican University one must fully understand what a liberal education is. When reading Victor Worsfolds “Liberal Education as Moral Education,” are able to understand what a liberal education is composed of. There are three things mentioned and they are as follows: Socratic Self-Critical Examination, World Citizenship, and the Narrative Imagination. The Socratic Self-Critical Examination is regarded as “Logical Reasoning” which is essential to man because it is seen as “part of the equipment we evolved in order to survive with this factor of liberal education comes the freedom from knowing they can defend their points of view critical debate while realizing that they may learn something new about that point of view that will require a change of mind” (Worsfold). Therefore the Socratic Self-Critical Examination is the ability to realize what someone else’s stand point is, and to essentially have an open mind to the opinions of others. In regards to World Citizenship, it “requires transcending the inclination of both students and educators to define themselves primarily in terms of group loyalties and identities” (Worsfold). This is essential because it helps to “avoid viewing one’s own culture as the natural one” (Worsfold). A...