Chapter 3: Recovering the Arts of Freedom
Pt. 2 - Leaning on John of Salisbury to Unpack the Seven Liberal Arts
3.2 John of Salisbury and the Liberal Arts
In chapter two, I noted that the liberal arts as they have been classically understood, arguably reached their zenith in the Middle Ages. There I introduced one of the most influential educators of that period, John of Salisbury. In 1159, John was the secretary and counselor to Thomas Becket (the renowned Archbishop of Canterbury who famously lost his head to Henry II). In that year, he published an influential treatise on education called Metalogicon, literally, “about logic” (Greek, meta + logia).
Drawing heavily from the “works of classical antiquity” along with “Patristic and Mediaeval Christian writers,” Metalogicon is said to be “the cardinal treatise of mediaeval pedagogy…a classic in the history of educational theory,” and “a landmark in several fields of learning, including philosophy, theology, psychology, and education.”1 In this “cardinal treatise,” John lays the foundation for a liberal arts education by advocating for a harmonized education on the grounds that the universe is intelligently created and ordered by a Triune God.
Recall John’s medieval understanding of cosmology echoes the ancient understanding of the human soul, particularly the Platonic vision, that it is virtuous when the noetic, spirited, and appetitive natures are all working together in harmony according to their respective strengths.2 Or, to put it in C.S. Lewis’s words, when “the head rules the belly through the chest.”3
Building on this understanding, John next makes a distinction between the liberal arts and other arts on the basis of purpose. He writes, “While there are many sorts of arts, the first to proffer their services to the natural abilities of those who philosophize are the liberal arts.”4
Philosophy, literally meaning the love of wisdom, is the pursuit of knowledge that makes one wise. In making the observation that the liberal arts are specific to philosophers, John is drawing a line between arts associated with craft and trade, and arts that are for making people free.
In section 3.5, we’ll take up the arts associated with craft and trade, sometimes called the servile or utilitarian arts. But first, we need to unpack the seven liberal arts. We’ll look first at the Trivium and then at the Quadrivium.
3.3 Unpacking the Trivium: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric
In expounding on the seven individual arts that make up the two branches, John calls the first division, logic, but explains that “the word logic has a broad meaning, and is not restricted exclusively to the science of argumentative reasoning. It also includes grammar which is the ‘science of speaking and writing correctly—the starting point of all liberal studies.”5
Grammar
Grammar is derived from Grama meaning “a letter or line,” and refers to “the basic elements of writing and speaking.”
Grammar is the learning of both letters and language, the symbols and sounds the represent thought and ideas. It is, says John,
the first of the arts to assist those who are aspiring to increase in wisdom. For it introduces wisdom both through ears and eyes by its facilitation of verbal intercourse. Words admitted into our ears knock on and arouse our understanding…grammar accordingly imparts the fundamental elements of language, and also trains our faculties of sight and hearing.6
Logic
Logic proper, the science of argumentation, follows grammar, the science of speaking and writing correctly, and has truth as its object. Logic is rational—it is the exercise of the faculty of reason for investigating truth—and gets its name from this fact.
John asserts, “In its narrower sense, logic is the science of argumentative reasoning, which provides a solid basis for the whole activity of prudence…Truth is the subject matter of prudence, as well as the fountain-head of all virtues.”7 He further writes, “Logic…serves as an interpreter of both words and meanings…no part of philosophy can be accurately comprehended without it.”8
Logic, successfully accomplished, liberates one from enslaving thoughts. Having provided sound and valid proofs, it gives plausibility to beliefs and assertions, and assures one possesses what is true.
Rhetoric
From logic follows rhetoric, the art of persuasion, or as John refers to it, “resplendent eloquence.” Rhetoric is the capstone of the Trivium—the system that treats the significance of all words. It aims at speaking and writing effectively. To speak and write effectively means to speak or write to the end that it accomplishes what it was intended to accomplish—to sway an audience to act upon a certain truth that has been validated by logic.9
In Rhetoric, Aristotle says that “rhetorical study, in its strictest sense, is concerned with the modes of persuasion.”10 To be sure, rhetoric is not sophistry, that frowned upon verbal chicanery employed toward the goal of persuading or winning an argument despite the truth. Sophistry is art of persuasion with the motivation for winning an argument rather than getting at the truth. Again, Aristotle says, “What makes a man a sophist is not his faculty, but his moral purpose.”11
In classical times rhetoric was, like grammar, more closely integrated with logic, as it was seen as a branch of learning that is opposite of dialectic. In modern times, however, rhetoric tends to be itself a formal subject of study.
One way of understanding the relationship of each art within the Trivium is to imagine grammar is a set of tools, logic is the understanding of how each specific tool works in relationship to reality as well as to the other tools, and rhetoric is knowing how to choose the best tool to use for each occasion.
In sum, we can say the first three liberal arts make up the Trivium, the "three ways" of language mastery.
Grammar is the art of understanding the tools of language—learning its structure, rules, and forms. It further teaches us how to absorb knowledge accurately.
Logic is the art of reasoning—learning to discern truth from falsehood, to think critically, and to argue validly and soundly.
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion—learning to communicate truth wisely, eloquently, and persuasively.
Together, these arts train the mind in the fundamental skills of learning—how to read, think, and speak well—toward the end that the learner becomes autodidactic.
3.4 Unpacking the Quadrivium: Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy
The second branch of the liberal arts, the Quadrivium, was first formulated by the Pythagoreans around 500 B. C. The Pythagoreans believed “all is number,” and formulated their “studies” of number as that which resembled reality “more closely than fire, water, or earth—the principles from which previous philosophers had derived all nature.”12
Their studies were derived from the Tetraktys of the decad, a triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows.13 Both concepts—Quadrivium and Tetraktys—are thus rooted in the study of number and its relationship to the cosmos.
This accords with John of Salisbury’s understanding of the Quadrivium as he asserts it deals with the secrets of all nature. By “the secrets of nature” he means physical properties, like matter and quantities. Although John offers little treatment of the second branch in Metalogicon, he does say,
Mathematics rides proudly along on the four-wheel chariot of its Quadrivium, intermingling its fascinating demonstration in manifold variety. Physical philosophy, which explores the secret depths of nature, also brings forth from her copious stores numerous lovely ornaments of diverse hue.14
In John’s treatment of the Quadrivium, one is struck by the manner in which the first branch of the liberal arts plays such a significant role in the expression and demonstration of the second. Without grammar, logic, and rhetoric of the Trivium, one would not be able to think, speak or write about the arts of the Quadrivium.
For our purposes we won’t fully unpack each of the mathematical arts. Rather we can summarize the Quadrivium, the "four ways," by saying it builds on the foundation of the Trivium by leading students into the study of number and proportion:
Arithmetic is the study of number as a transcendent reality and consists, practically, of the qualitative relationship of number through addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
Geometry is study of number in space, or spacial reality. Practically, it is the conceptualization of planes, points, lines, etc. by use of theorems and proofs.
Music is number in time, of the study of the harmonies and proportions that exist within and make up the cosmos.
Astronomy is the study of number in motion through space and time. It is the oldest of the sciences, the center-piece of scientific inquiry, since it relates to the size, distance, proportions, and movement of the heavenly bodies.
Studying these arts train students to perceive the harmony and order of creation, awakening within them a sense of wonder at the precision, consistency, and beauty of the cosmos. In the classical tradition, these disciplines were not studied for mere technical skill but as windows into the divine logic of the universe and its influence on the nature of man.
Next up:
3.5 Liberal vs. Servile Arts
3.6 Perennial Benefits of the Liberal Arts
Conclusion: The Call to Reclaim the Liberal Arts
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John and Daniel D. McGarry, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury: A Twelfth-century Defense of the Verbal and Logical Arts of the Trivium (Philadelphia, PA: Paul Dry Books, 2009), xxiii.
The noetic nature is where wisdom resides, but cerebral logic is weak at the task of accomplishing what it ought. The appetitive nature, or the passions, where we feel and where we desire, is much stronger than the noetic nature and tends to overpower reason. The spirited nature, where discipline and courage resides, is strongest of all, and must be employed to keep the passions in check with wisdom.
C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, 24-26.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 36-37.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 37.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 38.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 75.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 78.
In Cicero’s Brutus, Orator, (XX.69) he says the goal of the rhetor is "ut probet, ut delectet, ut flectat" (to prove, to please, and to sway or persuade; literally, to bend). Sometimes it is rendered more famously as "docere, delectare, movere"(to teach, to delight, to move).
Aristotle et al., Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle (New York: Random House, 1984), 1355a.3-4.
Aristotle, Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle, 1355b.16
The Pythagoreans distinguished their peculiar science from the Ionian “meterology” by the general name Mathemata, meaning ‘studies.’ Warner Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, Vol 1., 162-163.
John Martineau, Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, and Cosmology (New York, NY: Walker & Company, 2010), 3.
John, The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury, 67.
Absolutely loving reading through these. It was so beautifully explained how each part of the quadrivium represents a different way mathematics appear in God's world. Super cool, thank you Dr. Postma.