The rhetorical and philosophical conceptions of liberal education continue to stand in tension as they have since antiquity. The tension arises from the inherent difficulty of reconciling reason and language, the two poles of the Greek concept "logos". (MSE)

Presented is a summary of the ancient Greek idea of education and how this idea relates to the question of vocational education vs the liberal arts in higher education today. The need for vocational education is acknowledged, but it is argued that a liberal education in some form is best in the long run. (JMD)