Abstract

This paper argues that the future of the liberal arts will be decided by how they engage or fail to engage broad cultural dynamics that threaten to diminish them. It focuses on three areas of concern: the cultural predominance of science and technology in the modem world, the widespread failure to address the moral cultivation of the young, and the leveling effects of mass society on individual lives. In each case, it recommends actions that, if undertaken, would combat the growing cultural isolation of these arts.