To the Editor:

I appreciate Professor Kalm's taking the time to raise an objection to my recent article "Education For Citizenship" (The Montana Professor Fall 2002, 17-20). It is a difficult task to try to decide what courses every undergraduate should take in order to be an educated person. My attempt was to try to remain as neutral as possible by concentrating on the classical notion of citizenship. Professor Kalm thought I had slighted the Fine Arts because I mentioned that they are somewhat "problematical." In saying this, however, I added that "music theory, art history, and dramatic presentation and criticism" should most certainly be considered for inclusion. What we call "music theory" today is very close to what Socrates was talking about in the passage Professor Kalm quotes from the Republic. The Greeks did not consider music, so-called, to be a separate subject matter from mathematics and astronomy.

The reason music, and especially the other Fine Arts, proves to be somewhat problematical is that today we tend to take the words to mean something like "music appreciation," or "theater appreciation." It is doubtful whether the Greeks would have considered these studies to be liberating, and I confess I tend to agree. Please recall how hard Plato is on the poets in the Republic where they must face the fierce censorship of the Philosopher Kings who would eliminate any reference to the gods that is not flattering. This is ironic, of course, because Plato was one of the truly great poets of all time and he relies heavily on myth in many of his dialogues. It would not be a mistake to say that Plato was, at the very least, somewhat ambivalent about poetry.

I do think the fine arts are valuable, and as one who has taught aesthetics for many years, and who also has a deep and abiding love of music, I consider any sort of introduction to the arts to be an important part of a young person's education. But, as I try to stress in my essay, I do not see how they can be regarded as essential to education for citizenship. Such an education must be primarily theoretical and contribute directly to improved use of the symbols of mathematics and language. As I put it, they must help the young person gain control of his or her own mind. Please bear in mind here that my focus in this essay is on the General requirements, not the whole of the student's undergraduate education.

Hugh M. Curtler
Philosophy
Southwest State University-Minnesota