Men do not create truth; they discover it. 大自然喜欢隐藏. She shows herself only to the docile and industrious, and then only when they are responsive to her manner of revelation. The object and the method of education are not arbitrary. For this reason, the curriculum of 托马斯·阿奎那 College is basically the same for all.
The curriculum comprehends the materials that constitute the major subjects of liberal education in a way that illumines their meaning and shows their relevance to one another. It stresses the principles that are fundamental to all learning: “The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
Experience leads to art and art to science. This natural order of learning roots all knowledge in the comprehensible reality that all men share. It proceeds through the liberal arts—grammar, 修辞, 逻辑, 算术, 几何, 天文学, and music—which arise as human constructs by which men seek to give order and expression to the reality they experience. Here too the best works of literary art (poetry, 戏剧, 史诗, 历史, and so forth) prepare and dispose the learner for the more difficult and ultimate things. 类似的, the experimental and mathematical sciences are very useful in leading the student toward an understanding of nature through the theoretical models they postulate. 通过艺术的方式, the student is led to the sciences of philosophy and theology, where he comes to understand reality in terms of its own principles and causes.
伟大的著作
恰当地说, 所使用的材料都是名著, the original works of the greatest minds in our tradition, 古今皆有. Certain among them are emphasized in the formation of the students—for example, the writings of 柏拉图 and Aristotle in philosophy and those of St. 奥古斯丁和圣. 神学上的托马斯. Since 托马斯·阿奎那 College is explicitly a Catholic college, 神圣的经文 and the magisterium of the Church are understood to be the most important sources of enlightenment.
It is appropriate that each of the tutors of the College (as the teachers are known) be able to guide the students in all of the different parts of the curriculum because these parts converge on theo逻辑al wisdom. The unity and intrinsic order of the divisions of learning must be evident above all. Only when the tutor himself is competent in all the liberal arts, 在现代实验科学中, 在哲学和神学方面, 他能表现出这种整合吗. 这要求很高，但至关重要.
Liberal education is equally demanding for the student. The student does his own understanding and reasoning. He is the primary agent in his education; he is led from the known to the unknown only by means of words and other signs. Rather than passively receiving knowledge, the student must strive to apprehend the concepts signified by the teacher’s words and to perceive the relationships that are pointed out to him. If he fails to see for himself, he fails to learn.
教程的方法
Learning is best achieved with small groups of students, where the tutor has the opportunity to determine what each understands at any given time and every student has ample occasion to express himself and to make his difficulties known. 教学需要思想的交流. 环境是个人的. 教学方法为导师制. Each student is expected to be well prepared in order to take the initiative in the discussions at any time. He is constantly questioned by his tutors and fellow students, 通过这种方式, through the vigorous exercise and application of his new learning, 他将使这些学科成为他自己的. His interest is not superficial erudition. Rather, for education to occur, the disciplines must become his own habits of thought. 他们必须成为男人. These habits of thought do not make the liberally educated man an expert in any given field, but they ground him in what is basic and provide him with the principles to judge specialized knowledge giving him the best preparation for specialization. The specialist cannot properly say what he knows if his knowledge lacks breadth