"In true liberal education... the essential activity of the student is to relate the facts learned into a unified, organic whole, to assimilate them as... the rose assimilates food from the soil and increases in size, vitality, and beauty."
What is the book about as a whole?
The Trivium is an expository work both on language and the liberal arts that allow us to master it. Using the structure provided by the liberal arts of logic, grammar and rhetoric as unifying threads explores the nature and functions of language. Also there is an emphasis placed on explaining, from a philosophical perspective, the elements involved in the understanding, construction and exposition of our thinking while at the same time building on the idea of the importance of a liberal arts education.
What is being said in detail, and how?
After the Editor's introduction the book is divided in ten chapters. For me the main parts of the book are four. The First one (Chap. 1) is an induction to the concept of the Liberal Arts its roots in the classical education and the middle ages division between the Trivium (aspects pertaining the mind) and Quadrivium (those pertaining the matter). The it continues giving a general description of the arts of the trivium and quadrivium.
TRIVIUM: Logic the art of thinking, Grammar art of inventing and combining symbols and Rhetoric the of communication. QUADRIVIUM: (On number) Arithmetic the theory of number and Music its application. (On quantity) Geometry the theory of space and Astronomy its application.
Then it continues explaining the nature and the importance of a Liberal Arts education while distinguishing it from the utilitarian or servile arts. The L.A. are both science an art, she adds, because there is something to know and something to do. "They teach how to live; they train the faculties and bring them to perfection".
Then in the Second Part (Chap. 2 - 4) she starts talking more specifically about the nature of language as mean of communication. She will do it from a philosophical perspective using the tool of General Grammar that concerns about the relation of words to ideas and realities. The book will explore how is that language is made of symbols that try to make a connection with what is real. And it is by the effort made in language that we gain a tool that allows us to make interpretations of reality. But this effort is not always successful and might come with psychological impressions on it. Also it might come with ambiguity (because of history, nature of the phantasm, or even deliberate as in poems).
After building on the idea symbols the exploration in general grammar continues with the concept of terms (symbol = word ; + reality > term). This is what makes possible conveying and idea from one mind to another through a material medium. Language then is formed by two parts its matter, that physical thing that is made of (sound, voice, ink, movement) and its form, that being the meaning attached to it. In chapter 5 the book makes a jump to explain propositions and their grammatical expression. It will be the link between what we have been talking about grammar and logic.
In propositions we find two classes first modal, that asserts the mode of relationship between its terms, and categorical that simply asserts a matter of fact. The ones of the former kind can be either necessary subdivided in metaphysical (necessary because otherwise is impossible), physical (resting on the laws of nature), moral (normative necessity) and logical; or contingent, those that express a possibility.
The Third Part (Chap 6 - 9 ) verses on logic and rhetoric, but mainly in the first one. It define both as "arts of composition" having in common invention and disposition. Invention being the art or ordering the material. Disposition in logic being the definition, division, the framing of propositions and the terms in them; in rhetoric would be the proper ordering of the parts according to the principles of unity, coherence and emphasis. Then the book elaborates on the concept of syllogism calling it "the act of reasoning by which the mind perceives that from the relation of two propositions having one term in common there necessarily emerges a new, third proposition in which the common term, called the middle term, does not appear". In other words is the birth of a proposition by the necessity of logic. (cool isn't it?) It continues with the rules applying to them.
Continuing on how to relate propositions it works hypothetical (one that asserts the dependence of one to another) and disjunctive propositions (if one is true the other one must be false). In this part the book also explain fallacies as the violation of logical principle under an appearance of validity. It arises from an erroneous relation of propositions. In the Final Part the author develops more deeply on Rhetoric as "given any subject matter the available means of persuasion". It briefly but consistently explores the art of Rhetoric and explains the means that it offers to convey an idea with others more efficiently.
What are the authors questions and problems?
In my perspective the author is concerned mainly on What is mind? How do we think? but also in what ways does humans have to expand our thinking capacities? She faced the challenge of resolving a problem with the same means that it is about. In other words she explores the way we think, the nature of mind using its mind and thinking. (Sorry my rhetoric is still not polished as good to convey this idea clearly and elegantly.) I would say is a very medicognitive work. Being more specific she asks herself (aided by the liberal arts tradition) about the nature of language. And this results a fantastic entrance gate to tackle the other question. Finally I think she is convinced about the utility of the Trivium to frame in a coherent way the exploring and understanding of mind.
What quotes did you like the most?
"Facio liberos ex liberis libris libraque. (I make free men of children by means of books and a balance [laboratory experiments]" Saint Johns Motto
"The Trivium is the organon, or instrument, of all education at all levels because the arts of logic, grammar, and rhetoric are the arts of communication itself."
"In true liberal education, as Newman explained, the essential activity of the students is to relate the facts learned into a unified, organic whole, to assimilate them as the rose assimilates food from the soil and increases in size, vitality, and beauty."
"The accumulation of facts is mere information and is not worthy to be called education since it burdens the mind and stultifies it instead of developing, enlightening, and perfecting it."
"A learner must use mental hooks and eyes to join the facts together in a significant whole."
"Even if one forgets many of the facts once learned and related, the mind retains the vigor and perfection gained by its exercises upon them... it is much easier to remember related ideas than unrelated ideas."
What of it?
While at the beginning I have to confess I wasn't very enthusiastic about reading it has become one books I have to add to the category of "must". In my first reading I realized the book starts talking about education and since I love the topic I began liking it but then in the development of the content it was hard to follow (honestly my fault) since deals with very abstract concepts. But after some time when I came back to do this documentation I found the book more appealing and more interesting than the first time. It prompted to my face as a treasure (giving the reason to Eva Brann [check the cover]) since is a FANTASTIC effort to condense such a huge question as What is mind?
Now the feeling that I have for this book is of respect. I want to go back read it again and get more of it and even if I do that I think I will always get more. And you know, although I consider it as a expository/philosophical book in the beginning of this documentation I have now no problems to say it is in some way a very practical book on a very important topic: How to think clearly and express it effectively.
In brief, this book in the beginning appeared to me as uninteresting and hard but now after a re-visit it seems one of the books more clearly written with a great structure and of much utility for my future endeavors.
Great work Sister Miriam!
What books are connected with it?
- Words and Rules: Exploration of language and thinking.
- How to read a book: Importance of a Liberal Arts Education. Rhetoric on writing.
The Trivium
by Sister Miriam Joseph