Are the liberal arts for everyone? We tend to think that the liberal arts can be helpful and edifying for anyone. But even amidst the humanist enthusiasm for the study of letters, the Renaissance writer Pier Paolo Vergerio denied that the liberal arts could improve a corrupt soul. In his mind, the liberal arts are proper only for those born free from the demands of moneymaking and furthermore, possessing a liberal temper. What is a liberal temper? And what are the liberal arts anyways? Jonathan and Ryan discuss Vergerio's treatise "The Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth" which, even before the printing press, was a sensation in Europe, and was copied and re-copied many times.
Richard M. Gamble's The Great Tradition: https://amzn.to/3Q4lRnO
I Tatti Renaissance Library's Humanist Educational Treatises (containing Pier Paolo Vergerio's entire treatise, The Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth, in Latin and English): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780674007598
Sallust's Catilinarian Conspiracy: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780674996847
Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780674991743
New Humanists is brought to you by the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/
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Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
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