In the summer of 1995 during my first year in college, I came across the title of a book that appeared to me as inviting, to challenge perennial ideas and create spaces where to explore opposing traditions of thought. The book collected a set of different essays handed to the reader as a toolbox to understand key questions about globalization, society, economy and how these would evolve after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Communism in the Soviet Union. Its title in Spanish was: “Pensamiento Unico vs. Pensamiento Critico”. I don’t think it was ever published in English so I will translate it to “Unidimensional thinking vs Critical Thinking”. The concept of Unidimensional thinking was first coined by Arthur Schopenhauer, but in this instance was more properly applied to Herbert Marcuse’s book “One-Dimensional Man” where in the context of the criticism of technologically advanced societies, he proposes that both communism and capitalism are creators of a one-dimensional way of behaving and thinking where critical thought withers away.

Over time Marcuse’s book and Nussbaum’s essay have met each other and revealed what we see today as a decline in the critical thinking ability of our modern societies. Of course Roth and Zachary raise this concern as well. I have been interested in answering some of the questions these sources propose and how the concept of unidimensional thinking has materialized over time in a “Silent Crisis” of Western ideals that originated during the Enlightenment. In this line of thinking Nussbaum and Roth seem to weave a common thread of conversation from the perspective of the usefulness of studying Liberal Arts, in essence reflecting on the value of some intellectual practices humans have been doing for centuries, the relationships we form and how and why we create them to understand our world.

Industrialized and technologically advanced capitalist societies have taught us efficiency, usefulness, consumerism, utilitarianism, immediacy, competition and return of investment, shaping minds to dispose from our lives the things that do not pay back, instantly reward or yield profit. This concept sounds overarching, very few minds will challenge it (except the ones that study Liberal Arts in RICE, of course!). Yes, businesses and economies thrive on profit but in recent decades this perception of profit has permeated into the social realm of life and into our behavior determining the way we act and decide upon other aspects of existence. At this moment in the XXI century it feels self-defeating to the human essence. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore, Nussbaum says “forgetting about the soul”, losing the “faculties of thought and imagination that makes us human and make our relationships rich human relationships, rather than relationships of mere use and manipulation”.

Having reached the start of the first semester, the question posed to us in this context is how useful is spending time (and money) together exploring the Liberal Arts. In the past it was answering the dilemma we all faced when choosing a university degree and a productive career path. Another formulation following this same thread is Smiths beautiful essay, “Why Write?”, is that “Something to Do” like baking banana bread? Why should I visit a museum or read Marco Aurelius’ 2,000 year old book? How productive is learning arts or literature?

During thousands of years of presence in this world we have not thought for profit but for understanding and advancing in the cognition of the world. Consequentially innovation has happened. We are inspired by ideas that are greater than ourselves; we live, act and throughout we exist in denial of that unavoidable death, trying to leave behind us a heroic legacy through philosophical inquiry, scientific breakthroughs and artistic endeavors that will make life physically and spiritually better and more enjoyable for future generations. Unearthing our anxieties, our contradictions, and exploring what concerns us as humans is something not just necessary for our survival as a species but also crucial to achieve a happier and rewarding existence. The technological revolution we are immersed in represents an invitation to a more thoughtful human existence and while we predict a dominating role of technology in our future, we cannot obviate the purpose of human thought, of artistic creation, literary production and other forms of human expression. Liberal Studies are today more necessary than ever before. Not because are useful or profitable but because our survival, peace, well-being and progress depends on the understanding of the world around us together.

Nussbaum, Martha C. 2016. The Silent Crisis, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton University Press, United States.

Roth, M. 2014. Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

Smith, Z., 2020. Intimations : Six Essays. Penguin Canada.