philosophy? The question is a natural one, for man is a rational
being, and when the worth of a thing is not at once evident to him, he
usually calls for proof of its worth. Our professional schools, with
the exception of schools of theology, usually pay little attention to
philosophical studies; but such studies occupy a strong position in our
colleges, and a vast number of persons not students in the technical
sense think it worth while to occupy themselves with them more or less.
Wherever liberal studies are prosecuted they have their place, and it
is an honored place. Is this as it should be?

Before we ask whether any given study is of practical value, it is wise
to determine what the word "practical" shall be taken to mean. Shall
we say that we may call practical only such learning as can be turned
to direct account in earning money later? If we restrict the meaning
of the word in this way, we seem to strike a blow at liberal studies in
general.

Thus, no one would think of maintaining that the study of mathematics
is not of practical value--sometimes and to some persons. The
physicist and the engineer need to know a good deal about mathematics.
But how is it with the merchant, the lawyer, the clergyman, the
physician? How much of their algebra, geometry, and trigonometry do
these remember after they have become absorbed in the practice of their
several callings, and how often do they find it necessary to use
anything beyond certain simple rules of arithmetic?

Sometimes we are tempted to condemn the study of the classics as
unpractical, and to turn instead to the modern languages and to the
physical sciences. Now, it is, of course, a fair question to ask what
should and what should not be regarded as forming part of a liberal