John Cardinal Newman, Mark Edmundson, and Allan Bloom have their personal views of a liberal arts education. On some points they agree, and on others they do not. Newman wrote a piece on the liberal arts education versus the structured university and what kind of people both produce. Edmundson wrote about today's liberal arts student and student's attitude toward work in today's world. Bloom says that rock music changes people for the worse. It makes people more savage or barbarian like, says Bloom. Bloom feels that rock music opposes Newman's idea of a liberal arts education. All three of these men produce important points about the liberal arts education and its benefits and its downfalls. .
Newman's article touches on many present day issues for college decision, even though it was written in the 1800s. Newman was before his time. His idea of a university is that a university is a very structured place where education is the main objective. Growth of the overall person is not important in a university, according to Newman. Newman says that in a liberal arts college, the student get a good education but also gets outlook and makes them a well rounded individual. Newman likes the idea of a liberal arts education because a person is not trained in one specific area. Students are taught to think independently and form their own opinions on a certain matter. Liberal arts students are well versed in every area and are able to handle themselves in a productive manner in any given situation. A liberal arts education produces a person proficient in many areas instead of being an expert in one area. Newman thinks this is beneficial because if one is an expert in one specific area and that fails then one has nothing to fall back on. With a liberal arts education, one can do almost anything because the education is so versatile. "It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point to detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant.