The Trivium : The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric: Books: Sister Miriam Joseph,Marguerite McGlinn

One of the lost arts of our times is the art of communication. And communication is:

com·mu·ni·ca·tion
n.

1. The act of communicating; transmission.
2. The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior.

However, as simple as the above definition may be there are so many assumptions that we take for granted when we try to communicate that we fail to admire the beauty behind it. Hence there is some truth to the expression that God is in the details. As one reader pointed out, “this book was written for college students in the 30’s and 40’s” and it just amazes me how much knowledge the profs assumed the students had. This books deals in the classical three arts of: Grammar, Logic and Rhetorics. To think that a bachelors was awarded to those who has mastered these arts is anachronistic by today’s standards. I recommend this book for all of those who like to learn how to think, communicate and reason in a clear and concise way. (Did I just do that in a clear and concise way?)

Consider the following to illustrate what The Trivium is all about:

The Liberal Arts were divided into the Trivium (”the three roads”) and the Quadrivium (”the four roads”).

The Trivium consisted of:

* Grammar
* Rhetoric
* Logic

The Quadrivium consisted of:

* Arithmetic — Number in itself
* Geometry — Number in space
* Music, Harmonics, or Tuning Theory — Number in time
* Astronomy or Cosmology — Number in space and time

The best thing of all is that Sis Miriam takes into account the metaphysical implications of language and reality. Consider this quote from chapter 1 Language and Reality:

ILLUSTRATION: Relationship between metaphysics and language arts
The discovery of the planet Pluto in 1930 illustrates the relationship between metaphysics and the
language arts. The planet Pluto had been a real entity, traveling in its orbit about our sun, for centuries;
its discovery in 1930 did not create it. By being discovered, however, it became in 1930 for
the first time a logical entity. When it was named Pluto, it became a grammatical entity. When by its
name knowledge of it was communicated to others through the spoken word and also through the
written word, the planet Pluto became a rhetorical entity.11

And:

Phonetics prescribes how to combine sounds so as to form spoken words correctly.
Spelling prescribes how to combine letters so as to form written words correctly.
Grammar prescribes how to combine words so as to form sentences correctly.
Rhetoric prescribes how to combine sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into a whole composition
having unity, coherence, and the desired emphasis, as well as clarity, force, and beauty.
Logic prescribes how to combine concepts into judgments and judgments into syllogisms and
chains of reasoning so as to achieve truth.

Beautiful eh?
Well let me give you some more morsels of truth with this complimentary chapter you can download courtesy of Paul Dry Books here.

I guess I need to update my copy since I think I have the original 1930’s and it maketh my head hurteth when I tryeth to understandeth it. Sis Miriam is probably turning away from her beatific vision just to scorn my leet grammar skilz.

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