Conservatives, Please Stop Trashing the Liberal Arts

Conservatives, Please Stop Trashing the Liberal Arts

Christopher Scalia

Wall Street Journal | 2015

Liberal-arts professors use the phrase “critical thinking skills” so often that our students could turn it into a drinking game. But we do so because the term conveys a serious and valuable idea: Students who read and comprehend difficult works, engage with sophisticated ideas, and express themselves clearly are well-suited to contribute to a representative government. Such a citizenry is valued by the left—speak truth to power!—but also by the right, which distrusts centralized power and promotes a stronger civil society.