Welcome to the online press kit for Jeffrey Scheuer

The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think. — Albert Einstein

Critical Thinking and Citizenship

Liberal arts education is in crisis, leaving many people without the critical thinking skills necessary to maintain a functioning democracy. This is one premise of “Inside the Liberal Arts: Critical Thinking and Citizenship," the new book from Jeffrey Scheuer.

At a time when liberal education is on the defensive vis-à-vis the STEM disciplines and other types of learning, the terms “liberal arts” and “critical thinking” are often claimed to be foundational to democratic citizenship. Yet these ideas are seldom explained or related. As Mark Twain purportedly said of the weather: Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it. Scheuer's book — uniquely — does something about it.

In under 200 pages, "Inside the Liberal Arts" outlines the history, conceptual core, and critical democratic role of liberal education. It's the only book that addresses and ties together the core questions underlying this debate:

What do we mean by the term “liberal arts”?
What do we mean by “critical thinking”?
How are they connected, and how do they contribute to citizenship?

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Critical/Rational Thinking

Scheuer's book is a guide to advanced critical thinking. He explores two sides of the same coin: the essential nature of the liberal arts, and critical thinking as the unifying element of liberal learning across all disciplines and what he calls “the basic glue of community.”

“Above all, critical thinking is a form of community. It joins people in a common enterprise of mutual understanding through coherent conversations, bounded by shared rules or guidelines, regardless of whether or how much they may agree about the facts at hand or the values in play.”

An acclaimed author and freelance writer, Scheuer is an information ecosystem expert. Top press professionals and elite educators have sought his insights on media, politics, and —most recently — higher education. He's on a mission to illuminate for society what it means to think critically and live as an educated citizen in a thriving democracy.

“Democracy, like education, depends on public discourse and critical thinking,” Scheuer writes.

“When questioning ends, learning ends, thinking ends, and democracy ends.”

"Inside the Liberal Arts: Critical Thinking and Citizenship" is the only book to systematically relate the liberal arts to thinking rationally and critically. Scheuer takes liberal arts educators, students, media, and consumers through an exploration of the role of higher education in democracy.

“A robust democracy depends on citizens who are critical thinkers,” he says. “Without them, the best constitution is useless paper, just as great education is useless without motivated students, or great journalism without media-literate news consumers.”

The Value and Future of a Liberal Arts Education Inside a Democracy

"Inside the Liberal Arts: Critical Thinking and Citizenship" explores what it means to educate a citizen to critically think about civic, economic, and cultural issues. The value of liberal education lies in the fact that — unlike STEM or vocational training — it prepares students for all three dimensions of citizenship.

Second, the liberal arts are primarily the conceptual and historical offspring of philosophy, via ideas of rationality that date back to Ancient Greece. But you don’t have to become a philosopher to be a critical thinker.

As rational thinkers and users of language, you’re already a philosopher. Becoming a better critical thinker simply makes you a better philosopher.

Third, the book discusses a suite of “gateway concepts,” including language, rationality, analysis, truth, causality, and complexity, which provide further access and organization for defining and exploring liberal education.

Scheuer's book fills a vacuum and revitalizes the stale debate about the value and future of liberal learning. His goal is “to guide readers toward becoming critical thinkers in the highest sense.”

“There are many good books defending the liberal arts against their critics. And there are many good books about thinking, for the general reader, the philosopher, and for other students and scholars. But there are none that show how deeply the liberal arts and the study of thinking are connected. Until now.” — Jeffrey Scheuer


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Public website: JeffreyScheuer.com