Matthew Arnold 1822-1888
Arnold Matthew followed his father as an educator and religious reformer without entering either of his father’s professions He occupied his time with issues affecting public education
Arnold Purpose of education: Build an appetite for knowledge and teach the means for gaining it Society: Needs values and order
Arnold After 1867, the year of the Second Reform Bill, Arnold turned from writing poetry to prose
Arnold He advocated a humanism based on “the best that has been said and thought in the world” The goal: subjection of man’s lower nature to his higher
Arnold His religion: “culture” He believed in: Classicism Rational theology Public education
Arnold He was a “Victorian secular humanist” Christianity is noble (not Truth) The Bible: a great literary book Christ’s teachings: symbolic Believed in human perfectibility