THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
Grand Lodge of Texas
During the Fellowcraft Degree,
the candidate is symbolically led up a winding stairway that consists of
three, five, and seven steps. In doing so, he is introduced to
the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences. It is interesting to note
that there is little explanation of this portion of the Fellowcraft Degree
and no attempt to bring meaning to these subjects for the
candidate. If every part of the Masonic ritual has meaning for
the candidate, then one must examine this brief portion of the Fellowcraft
Degree to determine its value for the Mason.
The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences were the curriculum known
to ancient Greece and Rome and to Western Europe of medieval
times. During their cultural ascent, the Greeks came to see
learning as being composed of seven arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric,
geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy. This curriculum
was adopted by the Romans and divided into two parts called the trivium
and the quadrivium. The word trivium simply means three ways
and quadrivium, four ways. Thus the trivium was composed of what the
Romans considered the basic of the seven arts: grammar, logic, and
rhetoric. The quadrivium was composed of the other four
arts. Aristotle believed
the liberal arts were those subjects that were suitable for learning by a
freeman. He contended that a freeman should not seek practical
skills but should strive for moral and intellectual excellence, the goal
being theoretical and philosophical knowledge. He further
believed if a man was capable of pure thought, he was capable of
leadership of those who merely possessed the practical
skills. The educational
concepts of these cultures withstood the “dark ages” which enveloped
Europe from roughly the Sixth Century until the Eleventh Century.
During this period, Western European culture was virtually blotted out and
what little education that remained was confined to the
church. The reign of Charlemange during the Ninth
Century began to see an increase in education, which was extended to the
palaces and cathedrals. While still ecclesiastical in
organization, the system of education fanned the flame of intellectual
curiosity. By the Eleventh Century, Europe had begun to emerge from
its darkness into a degree of political and social stability.
With this emergence came a renewal of the spirit of learning, which was
nurtured for nearly four hundred years until it would burst forth during
the Renaissance. Education during these centuries consisted of
grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy: the
Seven Liberal Arts and
Sciences. With this
background, one now turns to the seven liberal arts to gain an insight
into their nature.
Grammar: One must
remember that instruction was in Latin during this early period; hence the
grammar referred to was Latin grammar. Grammar was not the
tedious business of determining the parts of speech, but instead was the
art of writing. Cassiodorus defined grammar as the study of
great poetry and oratory that would enable one to write with correctness
and elegance. Grammar is correct writing and skillful speaking.
Logic: Logic in general is
the science and art of right thinking. Unlike physical or social
science or philosophy, it is not concerned with the reality about which we
are thinking, but only with the operations of thinking itself.
Great value was placed upon the ability to carry on a conversation or
argue in a wholly rational manner with the thoughts carefully linked
together.
Rhetoric: Rhetoric is
defined as the art of using language in such a way as to make the desired
impression upon the hearer or reader. Generally speaking,
rhetoric covered the whole subject of composition, both oral and
written. In rhetoric we see the interplay of both grammar and
logic.
Arithmetic: Arithmetic was
originally the science or theory of numbers. Someone has said that the
teaching of arithmetic during medieval times consisted of simple
calculations and complex superstitions. This seems too simple a view,
although perhaps not a wholly unreasonable one. It seems likely that the
arithmetic of the quadrivium probably consisted of four elements. These
would have been numeration, the naming of numbers; notation, the writing
and reading of numbers; counting, the act of numbering; and computation,
the manipulation of numbers. For all this simplicity, years later the
mathematician Karl Gauss was able to refer to arithmetic as the “queen of
mathematics.”
Geometry: In this day
of calculators and computers, mathematics holds little of mystery or
romance for any except the most dedicated mathematician. As a
result it is difficult for one to relate to Plato’s statement “geometry
will draw the soul towards truth, and create the spirit of
philosophy.” To understand this, one must remember that the
Greeks pursued all mathematics out of intellectual curiosity and a zest
for pure thought. They were concerned with teaching men to
reason abstractly and preparing them to contemplate the ideal and the
beautiful. Their complete absorption with geometry led them to
convert mathematical ideas into geometrical ones. Their
preference for idealizations and abstractions expressed itself in a
mathematical spirit whose ultimate end was philosophy. It is
essentially this Greek idealization of geometry that has carried over into
Masonry.
Astronomy: Astronomy
today is one of the exact sciences and it has long since divested itself
of the metaphysics and mysticism which once characterized its
studies. In the minds of all peoples, astronomy is the science
of the heavens and has been closely connected with religious
tradition. It was long thought that in the heavens would be
found the supernatural causes of observed phenomena as well as the answers
to the future. Masonry has idealized astronomy as it has
geometry. The monitorial lecture tells us that, “Astronomy is
that divine art, by which we are taught to read the wisdom, strength, and
beauty of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the celestial
hemisphere.” For Masonry, the value of astronomy is
metaphysical rather than physical as indicated by the final sentence of
the lecture. “While we are employed in the study of this science, we
must perceive unparalleled instances of wisdom and goodness, and through
the whole creation, trace the glorious Author by His works.”
Music: Somewhere back
in time, man discovered that the sounds from his stringed instrument
depended upon their lengths. He further found that putting
multiple strings together allowed him to produce a pleasing
harmony. His inquiring mind led him to discover that the
ratio of the lengths of the strings were simple whole
numbers. So from the time of Pythagoras the study of
music was regarded as mathematical in nature. It seems strange
to think of music as mathematical until one considers the words of the
philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Liebniz, “Music is the pleasure
the human soul experiences from counting without being aware that it is
counting.” It was this essentially mathematical character of
music that leads to its being included in the quadrivium.
The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences,
represented by the seven steps in the Fellowcraft Degree, symbolize for
the Mason an idealization of education, that intellectual and cultural
discipline necessary for man in his quest to obtain perfection and
understand his Maker. From a symbolic standpoint, these seven
subjects must be considered a single symbol composed of seven parts of
equal dignity. While geometry is exalted by Masonry, it
is dealt with separately within the Fellowcraft Degree in another context
and should not be provided additional significance in the context of the
Seven Liberal Arts and
Sciences.
This seven-part
symbol represents education and all its attendant values, not the precise
content of education. When one examines each of the
parts of this symbol, one discerns not only the nature and content of each
part, but also an idealized purpose of education as
well. The view provided by the symbol coincides with
Plato’s view of education, that education tends to lift the mind above the
mundane and routine considerations and enables it to comprehend the final
aim of philosophy, an understanding of the Supreme Architect of the
Universe, God. This is the ultimate essence of
Freemasonry, that man should continually strive to develop his
understanding of his own spiritual being and the essence of
God. So Masonry’s Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences
together symbolize the conscious effort to control the mind and spirit so
that reason prevails and man will always strive to obtain a perfect
relationship with God. back to top
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