Students spend a great deal of time and money on tertiary study; therefore, vocational subjects would a better investment in terms of immediate job opportunities. However, not everyone has an aptitude for science, engineering or medicine, and there is a need for graduates with expertise gained from art courses.
In subjects such as philosophy, students learn a valuable set of skills. They become active thinkers who learn how to solve problems, rather than passive learners who memorize facts and other people's ideas. Philosophy students become proficient at critical and moral thinking, argumentation and debate. The ability to examine and analyze topical issues or challenge the status quo is very important. After all, someone needs to question the results or indeed the usefulness of scientific research, the political's assertions, and historical events and assumptions in general. What is more, scandals in business and government emphasize the need for ethics in the corporate and public domain? The sciences and business are clearly very important for our community, and those who have talent should, of course, pursue a university degree and a career in those fields. If, however, they also have training in logic and analytical thinking or a broad general knowledge from studying arts subjects, they are more likely to be able to solve problems, create initiatives, identify bias and avoid major pitfalls as they progress through their careers.
In short, I wholeheartedly disagree with the statement to a considerable extent that arts subjects should not be taught. I suggest that every student should have instruction in philosophy, history or arts subjects, even if they elect to major in the sciences, because learning critical thinking skills, and developing wide background knowledge, will benefit them enormously in later life. In addition to this general training, our society needs specialist graduates in art subjects to make their contribution to a well-rounded society.
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