A few days ago, the central bank’s working paper entitled "Awareness of my country's Population Transformation and Countermeasures" proposed that "emphasis should be placed on science and engineering education. One of the reasons why Southeast Asian countries fall into the middle-income trap is that there are too many liberal arts students."
This point of view in the article was accused of conveying the meaning of "too many liberal arts students" affecting the development of the country.
From April 24th to 25th, the 70th anniversary of the publication of "Literature, History and Philosophy" was held at Shandong University.
Photo by Liang Ben
Some netizens believe that liberal arts are very important, and learning liberal arts requires broad vision, solid accumulation, independent thinking, and love of fraternity. It is not the way to learn mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Some netizens said that science and engineering are the core of the development of social productivity, and the demand for science and engineering students reflects the development speed of social productivity.
Some netizens also suggested that science students should be exposed to humanities and general knowledge, and liberal arts students should be exposed to science and general knowledge, and liberal arts should not be too biased.
On the 25th, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of "Literature, History and Philosophy", the reporter interviewed everyone in the humanities and social sciences on relevant topics.
Chen Weiping, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at East China Normal University, believes that this issue should be treated in two ways.
Some people who hold the argument of "the uselessness of liberal arts" may be based on the large number of students enrolled in the liberal arts and the difficulty of finding a job after graduating from the liberal arts.
"This is true in reality. The improvement of the quality of liberal arts is not in quantity, but the key lies in quality. I personally believe that the enrollment scale of liberal arts students for both undergraduate and graduate students can be appropriately reduced."
"But if the'theory of the uselessness of liberal arts' is aimed at the role of liberal arts in social development, this is obviously untenable." Chen Weiping said that since the reform and opening up, China has proposed that practice is the only criterion for testing truth, socialist market economy and other concepts. , These are the objects of research in liberal arts.
And it's not just China. The development of Western capitalism and modern countries began with the Renaissance, and behind this is also the development of liberal arts.
"In addition to food, clothing, housing, and transportation, people also have a spiritual life. These are closely related to literature, history and philosophy." Huang Aiping, deputy director of the Qing History Institute of Renmin University of China, said. Function, especially philosophy, is a discipline called wisdom.
On April 24, the top ten hot spots of Chinese humanities and academics for 2019-2020 will be released.
Photo by Liang Ben
Liu Xiao, a professor at the School of History of Nankai University, believes that liberal arts are the spirit and soul of a nation, and people also need a substantial spiritual culture. If they are missing, they will be like robots.
The development of liberal arts is a manifestation of the prosperity of the country.
The country’s basic construction requires science and engineering, but after the country becomes prosperous and strong, the importance of liberal arts has become more prominent. The spirit and culture of a nation needs to be presented as a medium, and the improvement of the national humanistic quality also depends on liberal arts.
"In the long run, if the development of liberal arts is restricted, it will obviously be detrimental to the spirit of the country and the nation."
"The most basic role of liberal arts is to promote the cultivation of personal cultural, moral, and moral cultivation, and to become a messenger for inheriting excellent traditional culture." said Yu Wanli, a distinguished professor of the School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiaotong University. Accurate mastery of language and culture can improve peace Improve the understanding of various disciplines.
Reading makes people sensible and wise. Inheriting and carrying forward the excellent traditional culture can improve the level of social civilization and make the society more harmonious.
A deep understanding of language and culture, a deeper understanding of other subjects, and a more precise expression.
Science and engineering students have done well in experiments, but occasionally the expression of unsatisfactory words will also occur.
Without rich liberal arts knowledge, the development of other disciplines may be subject to certain restrictions.
When it comes to the difference between studying liberal arts and science, experts generally believe that the two universities have their own strengths and weaknesses.
"There is a big difference between students studying literature and science. The problems of science research are very practical, but the world is separated and grasped." Chen Weiping said that there is only one world, but in a certain subject, it only focuses on a certain aspect.
The liberal arts is not limited to a certain aspect, such as philosophy, it is a holistic grasp of the world.
In the development of society, especially in the process of modernization, people will increasingly feel the importance of liberal arts.
Through the study of liberal arts, people's ideological and moral quality can be improved.
"Looking at the world, we can see that in countries with a high level of education, liberal arts students account for a considerable proportion. Science students also need to take humanities. The liberal arts play a great role in improving the cultural and moral qualities of the people." Chen Weiping said, The study of liberal arts can also make people look at problems more comprehensively.
Science and technology occupies a dominant position in modern society, and the understanding of science and technology itself often requires research and interpretation by humanities scientists.
Chen Weiping also pointed out that the role of liberal arts in forming the core values of the entire nation and the strength of the entire nation cannot be replaced by other disciplines.
"The so-called useless use is a big use. The role of liberal arts is not short-term, immediate, and utilitarian. It is omnipresent and everyone can't live without it." For example, Huang Aiping, for example, the movies and TV dramas people watch are inseparable from humanities. Subject.
If you leave the liberal arts, the world cannot call it the world.
Huang Aiping said that in a certain period of time, people may pay more attention to science and engineering.
This situation may occur when the country's economy has developed to a certain stage.
Science and engineering are also very important, but fundamentally speaking, if a country or a nation is to achieve a higher level of development, it cannot rely solely on science and engineering.
Without the spiritual, cultural, and civilized content, it will be difficult for a society, a country, and a nation to achieve real development.
"Liberal arts and science and engineering are interdependent and indispensable. Many famous science and engineering scientists also value the humanities and have literary accomplishments." Liu Xiao believes that the view of "the uselessness of liberal arts" is very one-sided. China is different from other economic entities in other countries and needs to be specific. Specific analysis of the situation.
The phenomenon of difficult enrollment and employment in liberal arts that the people talked about exists objectively, but it is not to the extent of exaggeration.
Regarding the development of liberal arts, the experts put forward their own suggestions.
Chen Weiping believes that the role of liberal arts in the development of the entire society needs to be systematically summarized and explored.
The contributions made by scholars should continue to be explored.
"China is moving towards the world, and the contributions made by scholars are also of global significance. We must put them in the context of the development of philosophy and social sciences throughout the world, and show the answers of Chinese scholars to world issues."
"At the moment, the research by experts in literature, history and philosophy is relatively in-depth, and there is a certain distance from society." Huang Aiping believes that scholars should do more in popularization, so that the whole society can better understand the importance of humanities and let the public know its importance to spiritual life. The nourishing effect.
For example, create more excellent film and television works, novels, and popular books.
Liu Xiao is concerned that popular readings translated from overseas have recently been widely welcomed by the public. Such books are not specialized research works, but are a kind of books between academic and popular readings. There are few such books in China.
Scholars also generally pay attention to their own research, but their research is relatively specialized and not suitable for a wide range of people, so popularization is limited.
Liu Xiao suggested that similar educational science forums such as the "Hundred Forums" should continue.
Liu Xiao called for more investment to let the whole society pay attention to the humanities.
According to his observation, the country's economic development is fast, but the humanistic development is relatively lagging behind.
At present, there are fewer people reading Chinese historical and literary masterpieces. Instead, more people pay attention to gossip news and chase stars. China's per capita reads less. Liu Xiao attributed this to the inattention of society as a whole.
The existing difficulty in enrollment in liberal arts is a problem that needs to be coordinated in the general context. The fundamental reason is not that there are too many enrollment in liberal arts, but how to teach and learn liberal arts well.
Now there are more and more emerging disciplines in the field of literature, history and philosophy, all of which are set up to adapt to social development.
How to adapt to the needs of society to the greatest extent and set up corresponding disciplines so that students can learn something useful, this can be studied and thought.
"We should strengthen moral education, improve national self-esteem and national self-confidence, and give full play to our subjective initiative, so that everyone can work and create for their own nation and country." Yu Wanli said.
Author: Sun Hong Yuan