ABSTRACT
This article describes liberal education as it comes to light not historically but philosophically, taking the word liber (free) as its chief distinguishing feature. It considers what liberal education presupposes of those who pursue it, and it enumerates several outcomes or “ends” that are likely to ensue. Through liberal education, I argue, the mind is liberated from the here and now, freed by exposure to diverse kinds of character, released from the tyranny of the practical mode of thought, and, at the same time, freed by certain careful habits of reflection that take years to acquire.
