It is the examined life that both George and West view as the purpose of a liberal-arts education. Its goal, that is, is to encourage critical reflection on the biggest questions; to lead us into an intellectual engagement that fulfills our nature as thinking beings; to help us achieve self-mastery; to enlarge our souls.
The value of liberal arts fields lies not in their specific application but in the way they inculcate a set of problem-solving tools. That corporate recruiters consistently report a preference for liberal arts majors over majors in “practical” fields is testimony to the reading, writing, and analytic skills students develop in those programs.