Text A A Liberal Education（第1页）

TextAALiberalEdu

T。H。Huxley

Pre-reading

ThomasHenryHuxley（1825-1895）wasdescribedbyAmerialistH。L。MehegreatestEnglishmahtury”andawriterof“Englishprose”。RememberedtodayasaialadvocateforCharlesDarwiionarytheories，Huxleywasahighlyregardedstistandphilosopherwithatalentforexplainisdforcefully。

ALiberalEduisafromalongeressay，ALiberalEdudWheretoFindIt，whichHuxleypresentedin1868attheSouthLMen’sCollege。

Promptsf

1。Whatistheequivalentof“liberaleduese?

2。Howdoestheauthor’sopeninganalogy—parioachessgame—preparereadersforhisdisofthevalueandpurposeofedu?

3。WhatisHuxley’simageoflife?

4。Howdoestheauthorpositioioninthegameoflife?

5。WhatroledoesNatureplayiion?

6。Whatistheapprtheauthoruseswheoexplainhissenseof“pulsoryedu”?

7。Whatdoestheauthormeanby“artificialedu”?

8。Whatistherelatiouraledudartificialedu?

9。Inwhatwaysdoesliberaledutrainaman?

10。Arethereanyallusionsinthisessay?Whatarethesourcesoftheallusions?

11。Whatimagesuresarebroughttoyourmindwhetheauthor’sdefinitionof“liberaledu”attheendofthisessay?

[1]Bywayofabegiusaskourselves—Whatisedu?Aboveallthings，whatisouridealhlyliberaledu?—ofthateduwhich，ifwecouldbeginlifeagain，wewouldgiveourselves—ofthateduwhich，ifweouldthefatestoouroouldgiveour?Well，Iknownotwhatmaybeyoursuponthismatter，butIwilltellyoumine，andIhopeIshallfindthatourviewsarenotverydist。

[2]Supposeitwereperfectlythatthelifeandfortuneofeveryoneofuswould，onedayorother，dependuponhiswinningagameat’tyouthinkthatweshouldallsiderittobeaprimarydutytolearhehemovesofthepieces;tohaveanotionofagambit，andakeeneyeforallthemeansofgiviofcheck?Doyounotthinkthatweshouldlookrobation1amountingtosthefatherwhoallowedhissoewhiembers，togrowupwithoutknoawnfromaknight?

[3]Yet，itisaveryplairuththatthelife，thefortuhehappinessofeveryoneofus，and，moreorless，ofthosewhoareectedwithus，dodependupsomethingoftherulesofagameinfinitelymorediffidplichess。Itisagamelayedforuntoldages，everymanandwomanofusbeiwameofhisorherown。Thechess-boardistheworld，thepiecesarethepheheuherulesofthegamearewhatwecallthelawsofheplayerohersideishiddenfromus。Weknolayisalwaysfair，justaalsoweknow，toourcost，thatheneveroverlooksamistake，ormakesthesmallestallhemanwhoplayswell，thehigheststakesarepaid，withthatsorteywithwhichthestrongshowsdelightih。Andonewhoplaysillischeckmated—withouthaste，butwithoutremorse。

[4]MymetaphorwillremindsomeofyouofthefamouspiwhichRetzsch2hasdepiplayihmanforhissoul。Substituteforthemodinthatpictureacalm，strongangelwhoisplayingforlove，aswesay，andwouldratherlosethanwin—andIshouldacceptitasanimageofhumanlife。

[5]Well，whatImeaitherulesofthismightygame。Inotherwords，eduistheinstruoftheihelawsofNature，underwhiameIimerelythingsandtheirforces，butmenandtheirways;andthefashioniionsaoaandloviomoveinharmonywiththoselaws。Forme，edueahermorehis。Anything，whichprofessestocallitselfeduustbetriedbythisstandard，andifitfailstosta，Iwillnotcallitedu，whatevermaybetheforceofauthorityorofheotherside。

[6]Itisimporta，ihereisnosugasaedmaremecase。Supposethatanadultman，inthefullvigorofhisfaculties4，couldbesuddeheworld，asAdamissaidtohavebeeodoashebestmight。Howlongwouldhebeleftufivemiurewouldbegintoteachhim，throughtheeye，theear，thetouch，thepropertiesofobjeandpleasurewouldbeathiselbowtellinghimtodothisandavoidthat;andbyslowdegreesthemanwouldreeduwhiarrow，wouldbethh，real，aohisces，thoughtherewouldberasandveryfelishments。

[7]Andiftothissolitarymaeredaseor，betterstill，anEve，anewaerworld，thatofsodmoralphenomena，wouldberevealed。Joysandwoes，paredwithwhiightseembutfaintshadows，wfromtheions。Happinessandsorrolaceoftheonitors，pleasureandpain;butductwouldstillbeshapedbytheobservatiouralcesofas;or，inotherwords，bythelawsofthenatureofman。

[8]ToeveryoheworldwasonceasfreshaoAdam。Andthen，longbeforeweweresusceptibleofanyothermodeofinstruaturetookusinhand，aeofwakiitsedualinfluengourathaature’slaws，sothatwemightimelybytoogrossdisobedienorshouldIspeakofthisprocessofeduaspastforanyone，beheasoldashemay。Foreverymantheworldisasfreshasitwasatthefirstday，andasfullofuiesforhimwhohastheeyestoseethem。Aillgherpatieionofusiuheuniverse，ofwhichweareallmembers—Naturehavis。ThosewhotakehonorsinNature’suy，wholearnthelawswhienandthingsahem，arethereallygreatandsuccessfulmeninthiswreatmassofmahe“Poll5”，whopickupjustenoughthwithoutmuchdiscredit。Thosewhowoallarepludthenyoueupagain。Nature’splusextermination。

[9]ThusthequestionofpulsoryeduissettledsofarasNatureised。Herbilloionassedlongago。But，likeallpulsislation，thatofNatureisharshasedassharplyaswillfuldisobediencapacitymeetswiththesamepuasature’sdiseisnotevenawordandablow，andtheblowfirst;buttheblowwithouttheword。Itislefttoyoutofindoutwhyyourearsareboxed。

[10]TheobjectofwhatweoioioninwhitervenesandwhichIshalldistinguishasartificialedu—istomakegoodthesedefeature’smethods;topreparethechildtoreature’sedueitherinnorantly，norwithwillfuldisobedieouhepreliminarysymptomsofherpleasure，withoutwaitiheear。Inshort，allartificialeduoughttobeanantiofion。Andaliberaleduisanartificialeduwhiotonlypreparedamahegreatevilsofdisobedieurallaws，buthastraioappredtoseizeupontherewardswhiaturescatterswithasfreeahaies。