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The Humanities And Its Impact On Education Essay

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Martha Nussbaum argues that primary, secondary, and especially, higher education institutions are cutting the humanities from curricula. According to Nussbaum, our nation and those like it are economically hungry and are pushing technical careers instead. She disputes that a decrease in the humanities will cause a loss in free thinking, and therefore a loss of democracy. Her argument is based off of her theory that without the humanities, citizens become soulless, mechanical, and profit-making machines. This theory is based off the notion that the humanities are continuing to be cut from curricula at an extensive rate. But are the humanities truly decreasing? Nussbaum is accurate in saying that fewer people are majoring in the humanities; however, she drastically exaggerates the rate in which they are decreasing. In fact, the rate in which the humanities have been declining has levelled out over the past few decades. So, it would seem that democracy is safe, for the most part. What are the humanities? The Encyclopӕdia Britannica says: “Those branches of knowledge that concern themselves with human beings and their culture or with analytic and critical methods of inquiry derived from an appreciation of human values and of the unique ability of the human spirit to express itself” (Encylopӕdia Britannica). The humanities look at the humankind as a whole to understand various cultures, ideals, and values. This concept can be looked at throughout history, presently,

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