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The Idea of a University
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joHN HENRY NEWl\IIAN's The Idea of a University is among the most famous
attempts to define a liberal arts education. Originally written in .1852 in response to a
papal proposal for a Roman Catholic university in Ireland, The Idea of a University
served as an intellectual manifesto for Catholics, who had long been an oppressed minor-
ity in the British Isles. Full emancipation occurred for them only in 1829; prior to that
date, Catholics had been denied political rights in England and Ireland as well as admis-
sion to the great British universities, Oxford and Cambridge.
Newman (1801-90), a well-known Anglican priest who had converted to the
Roman church, wrote The Idea of a University to explore what a Catholic university
would be like - how it might merge religious and secular concerns. He was also respond-
ing to a world growing ever more secular in its interests, more scientific in its methods,
more utilitarian in its philosophy. Revolutions in technology and industrial organization
seemed to be reshaping every human endeavo1; including the university.
Newman had reservations about these changes, many ef which we take for granted
today, such as the division ef universities into various "schools" (arts, sciences, prefessional
schools), the selection by students ef their own programs ef study, and the establishment
ef areas ef specialization (what we would call majors). His aim in this essay is to defend
the value ef learning for its own sake.
The Idea ot:i."Uriiversity is an example of deliberative rhetoric: Newman is both
recommending and defending the proposal for a Catholic university. He faces both an
entrenched Anglican tradition. and a scholarly community leaning in. the direction. ef what
is today called secular humanism. The following excerpts from this book-length work
do not focus on religious issues, howeve1'. Instead, they explain several ef Newman's goals
for the liberal arts university. -].R.

DISCOURSE V
KNOWLEDGE ITS OwN END
! I

1
I have said that all branches of knowledge are connected together,
because the subject-matter of knowledge is intimately united in itself, as being
the acts and the work of the Creator. Hence it is that the Sciences, into which
our knowledge may be said to be cast, have multiplied bearings one on another,
· •· and an internal sympathy, and admit, or rather demand, comparison and adjust-
~- ment. They complete, correct, balance each other. This consideration, if
\-__well-founded, must be taken into account, not only as regards the attainment of 51
3 I EDUCATION JOHN HENRY NEWMAN /The Idea ofa University

truth, which is their common end, but as regards the influence which they peace, to adjust together the claims and relations of their respective subjects of
exercise upon those whose education consists in the study of them. I have said investigation. They learn to respect, to consult, to aid each other. Thus is cre-
already, that to give undue prominence to one is to be unjust to another; to ated a pure and clear atmosphere of thought, which the student also breathes,
neglect or supersede these is to divert those from their proper object. It is to though in his own case he only pursues a few sciences out of the multitude. He
unsettle the boundary lines between science and science, to disturb their action, profits by an intellectual tradition, which is independent of particular teachers,
to destroy the harmony which binds them together. Such a proceeding will which guides him in his choice of subjects, and duly interprets for him those
have a corresponding effect when introduced into a place of education. There · which he chooses. He apprehends the great outlines of knowledge, the princi-
is no science but tells a different tale, when viewed as a portion of a whole, from. ples on which it rests, the scale of its parts, its lights and its shades, its great points
what it is likely to suggest when taken by itself, without the safeguard, as I may and its little, as he otherwise cannot apprehend them. Hence it is that his edu-
call it, of others. cation is called "Liberal." A habit of mind is formed which lasts through life, of
Let me make use of an illustration. In the combination of colors, very dif- which the attributes are, freedom, equitableness, calrn.ness, 111.oderation, and wis-
ferent effects are produced by a difference in their selection and juxtaposition; dom; or what in a fonner Discourse I have ventured to call a philosophical
red, green, and white, change their shades, according to the contrast to which habit. This then I would assign as the special fruit of the education furnished at
they are submitted. And, in like manner, the drift and meaning of a branch of a University, as contrasted with other places of teaching or modes of teaching.
knowledge varies with the company in which it is introduced to the student. If This is the main purpose of a University in its treatment of its students.
his reading is confined simply to one subject, however such division of labor And now the question is asked me, What is the use of it? and my answer
may favor the advancement of a particular pursuit, a point into which I do not will constitute the rn.ain subject of the Discourses which are to follow.
here enter, certainly it has a tendency to contract his mind. Ifit is incorporated
with others, it depends on those others as to the kind of influence which it
exerts upon him. Thµs the Classics, which in England are the means of refin-
ing the taste, have in France subserved the spread of revolutionary and deistical
doctrines. In Metaphysics, again, Butler's Analogy ef Religion* which has had so
much to do with the conversion to the Catholic faith of mern.bers of the DISCOURSE VII
KNOWLEDGE VIEWED IN RELATION TO PROFESSIONAL SIULL
University of Oxford, appeared to Pitt* and others, who had received a different
training, to operate only in the direction of infidelity. And so again, Watson,
Bishop of Llandaff, * as I think he tells us in the narrative of his life, felt the 10
science of Mathematics to indispose the mind to religious belief, while others But I must bring these extracts to an end. Today I have confined myself
see in its investigations the best parallel, and thereby defense, of the Christian to saying that that training of the intellect, which is best for the individual him-
Mysteries. In like manner, I suppose, Arcesilas* would not have handled· self, best enables him to discharge his duties to society. The Philosopher, in-
logic as Aristotle, nor Aristotle have criticized poets as Plato; yet reasoning deed, and the man of the world differ in their very notion, but the methods, by
and poetry are subject to scientific rules. which they are respectively formed, are pretty much the same. The Philosopher
It is a great point then to enlarge the range of studies which a University has the same command of matters of thought, which the true citizen and gen-
professes, even for the sake of the students; and, though they cannot pursue tleman has of matters ofhusiness and conduct. If then a practical end must be
every subject which is open to them, they will be the gainers by living among assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good n1embers of
those and under those who represent the whole circle. This I conceive to be society. Its art is the art of social life, and its end is fitness for the world. It nei-
the advantage of a seat of universal learning, considered as a place of education. ther confines its views to particular professions on the one hand, nor creates
An assemblage of learned men, zealous for their own sciences, and rivals of heroes or inspires genius on the other. Works indeed of genius fall under no
each other, are brought, by familiar intercourse and for the sake of intellectual art; heroic minds come under no rule; a University is not a birthplace of poets
or of immortal authors, of founders of schools, leaders of colonies, or con-
querors of nations. It does not promise a generation of Aristotles or Newtons,
Butler~ A11a/ogy ef Rcligio11: a defense of Christian revelation (1736) by Joseph Butler
of Napoleons or Washingtons, of Raphaels or Shakespeares, though such mira-
(1692-1752)
Pill: William Pitt (1708-78),British parliamentarian and orator
cles of nature it has before now contained within its precincts. Nor is it content
H'i1tso11, Bishop ef Lla11d'!Jf: Richard Watson (1737-1816), a professor of chemistry and divinity on the other hand with forming the critic or the experimentalist, the economist
Arcesilas: Greek philosopher (c. 316--241 B.C.) who advocated rational skepticism or the engineer, though such too it includes within its scope. But a University
3 I EDUCATION JOHN HENRY NEWMAN I The Idea of a University

training is the great ordinary means to a great but ordinary end; it aims at MAKING CONNECTIONS
raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purify-
ing the national taste, at supplying true principles to popular enthusiasm and 4. Would Mike Rose or the students he describes in "Lives on the Boi:md-
fixed aims to popular aspiration, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas ary" (p. 90) fit into the university Newman describes? Write a two- to
of the age, at facilitating the exercise of political power, and refining the inter- three-page essay exploring this issue.
course of private life. It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious 5. Compare Newman's ideas about knowledge for its own sake and the
view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them., an more politically driven ideas about the purpose and effects of education
eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them. It teaches him to see in articles by John Tierney (p. 130) and Katha Pollitt (p. 139). How do
things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought, to you think Newman would respond to an article such as Sokolove's,
detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant. It prepares him to fill
any post with credit, and to master any subject with facility. It shows him how l which focuses on the role of sports in the modern university (p. 104)? In
a discussion with a group of classmates, analyze how the arguments
to accomm.odate himself to others, how to- throw himself into their state of about the role of the university have changed in the century and a half
mind, how to bring before them his own, how to influence them., how to come since Newman was writing.
to an understanding with them, how to bear with them. He is at home in any
society, he has common ground with every class; he knows when to speak and
when to be silent; he is able to converse, he is able to listen; he can ask a ques- JOINING THE CONVERSATION
tion pertinently, and gain a lesson seasonably, when he has nothing to impart
himself; he is ever ready, yet never in the way; he is a pleasant companion, and 6. Can Newman's concept of liberal arts survive in our world today? Does it
a comrade you can depend upon; he knows when to be serious and when to deserve to? Why, or why not? Write a position paper on this subject.
trifle, and he has a sure tact which enables him to trifle with gracefulness and
7. For a national newsmagazine, write an evaluation of American higher
to be serious with effect. He has the repose of a mind which lives in itself,
education as you imagine Newman might regard it if he were living
while it lives in the world, and which has resources for its happiness at hom.e
today. What might he admire? What would he criticize?
when it cannot go abroad. He has a gift which serves him in public, and sup-
ports him in retirement, without which good fortune is but vulgar, and with 8. With a group of classmates, discuss the usefulness of the education you
which failure and disappointment have a charm.. The art which tends to make have had in high school and college. Which courses of study seem to
a man all this, is in the object which it pursues as useful as the art of wealth or have the most direct application to daily life? Which, if any, seem
the art of health, though it is less susceptible of method, and less tangible, less designed primarily as learning for its own sake?
certain, less complete in its result.

QUESTIONING THE TEXT

1. Examine the goals Newman explicitly provides for the university in the
passage from. Discourse VIL Do these goals still seem relevant today?
Why, or why not? If you keep a reading log, answer this question there.
2. As you reread Newman's essay, record your reactions to his style in the
margins. Does it feel stuffy or solemn? Does it move you or impress you?
When you are finished, draw some conclusions from. your comn1ents.
3. The introduction emphasizes that Newman's The Idea of a University was
written in response to changes occurring in the United Kingdom in the
nineteenth century. Do any of these changes seem rel~vant to events in
the United States in the twenty-first century?