Art is also powerful according to Vendler, capable of inspiriting interest and curiosity about other "aesthetic matters" including philosophy, history and other disciplines (Vendler 1). Vendler also states that the arts "are too profound and too far reaching to be left out of our children's patrimony" suggesting that the arts have a right in schools and should be considered as serious as other subjects including math or biology (Vendler, 2004; Field, 2004). Further, Vendler argues that the arts can teach individuals more about heritage than other subjects including philosophy and even history because the arts offer a picture of the way mankind was, has lived and may live in the future (Field, 2004).

Vendler suggests that people would be sleepwalkers as Wallace Stevens proposes in his poem "Somnambulisma" that wonder through life without conscious acknowledgment of their existence I they fail to participate in the arts and recognize the vital contributions the arts have to offer (Field, 2004; Craig, 2004). The arts offer mankind a unique vantage point from which "multiple perspectives on history and philosophy" can be examined (Field 1). No other discipline affords one the opportunity to explore the interrelatedness of the physical, spiritual and emotional components of living as art does.

Conclusion

In her work "The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar" Helen Vendler takes a giant step forward and proposes that the arts are central to humanities. She continues by suggesting that studying the arts is more...

This flies in the face of traditional thinking that suggests that history or philosophy is central to humanities studies. Vendler even goes as far as suggesting that history studies may not be necessary for Liberal Arts majors that have ample experience studying the arts (Field, 2004).
Why are the arts so important? The allow humankind the opportunity to experience life while still living. They enable an expression of the mental, physical and spiritual components of human nature that are so vital to our understanding of life as we know it. As Vendler suggests life without arts would be dull, boring and even meaningless.

Works Cited

Craig, Bruce. "Poet Helen Vendler Delivers Jefferson Lecture." National Coalition for History, 10(20): 2004, May. 10 October 2005: http://hnn.us/readcomment.php?id=34866&bheaders=1

Field, Kelly. "Jefferson Lecture: Harvard Poet Says History Is Not Essential To Liberal

Education." (2004- May). Chronicle of Higher Education, 10, October 2005: http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/5058.html

Gewertz, Ken. "The centrality of the arts." 2005. Harvard University Gazette, (17):1, 10

October 2005: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/03.17/01-vendler.html

Vendler, Helen. "The Ocean, the Bird and the Scholar." (2004). Helen Vendler Lecture, 10 October 2005: http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/vendler/lecture.html

Ocean Bird