To be human is to think. Holmes and Dewey in these passages make some very interesting points about thought, the processes behind it, the result, and the reason for it. From adaptive learning to reflective thought, Holmes and Dewey help us get a more clear understanding of what a liberal arts education is, and how to best use that to learn.

With the starting point of what they said, let’s take Dewey’s principles of thoughts and add them to Holmes definition of Liberal Arts. I propose we can base our thoughts off of what God says to us. Dewey references when Jesus instructs us to become like children. Children have a healthy sense of doubt, yet will believe what they’re told through curiosity, and experimentation. Looking at Dewey’s principles, we can apply them here. From curiosity to experimentation, all the while driving towards a solution, we can use these principles to be more intentional with our thoughts. If we take Jesus’s commands, and take note of Dewey's warnings of fallacies of thought, we can fully achieve the liberal arts education Holmes talks about, but from spiritual standpoint. Jesus, in everything he teaches, wants us to learn it for ourselves. He prompts our curiosity, our doubt,which are Dewey’s starting points for our thoughts. He activates our thought processes, to draw us to him. If Holmes is right in saying that through liberal arts learning we can be more fully human in the image of God, we need to be going for that. We can directly apply what they are talking about. Jesus prompts us to think and rationally believe, but to make those beliefs, and thoughts based off a solid foundation of him. By fully trusting in him, yet testing him on it in healthy ways to make our belief stand the test, we are fulfilling both God’s intent for us, and the true meaning of the liberal arts education. God wants us to trust in him, but he also invites us to test him. Dewey in his piece paints a big picture of a solid foundation, yet one that has withstood time and trials of testing. I believe we can apply that to the way we approach God, and truly be able to have a relationship with him, becoming more fully human as Holmes suggests.

But that’s not all. For students to get this liberal arts education, we must be taught well. Dewey brings up very good points about teaching and training, and how we can apply that to our thoughts. He spends a whole chapter on training our thoughts, and how we can properly do that to our advantage, and also to our detriment. Quoting John Stuart Mill “To draw inferences, is said to be the great business of life”. Dewey warns against drawing incorrect inferences, and that only through testing can you have solid belief. As a teacher of a liberal arts university or college, this needs to be clarified. Instead of starting with base inferences or assumptions, test, examine, and learn the answer as Dewey suggests. Dewey states that you can form habits to reflectively think based off of proof, or to automatically experiment to find some. Without this, we get incorrect inferences, biased opinions, and students that are fragmented in what they know, instead of prepared to learn and master anything they may wish. In this course we have an opportunity to truly learn, and be a student of the liberal arts in the way Dewey and Holmes both point to. Only by learning, reflecting,  and taking heed of the warnings can we get there. As Holmes said, rational inquiry only happens with people, only together can we truly learn.