A Historical Inquiry into the Relationship-Setting Between Libera l Arts and Basic Disciplines : A Preliminary Discussion on Securing the Academic Identity of Liberal Arts

The purpose of this paper is to historically clarify the relationship between liberal arts and basic disciplines, thereby revealing the limitations of basic disciplines within the the disciplinary system, and to establish the role of liberal arts within those limitations from the perspectives of research and education. Securing the academic legitimacy of liberal arts and Sciences(LAS) extends beyond merely improving liberal arts programs. it is directly linked to the task of reconfiguring the entire academic structure within the university. However, today's liberal arts education is disproportionately focused on teaching and lacks a robust research foundation, leading to persistent questions about its status and identity as an academic discipline. Therefore, reconstructing the relationship between liberal arts and basic disciplines is a core task for overcoming these structural limitations and enhancing the academic standing of LAS.Since the modern era, the humanities have gradually lost their function of fostering integrated human development as they shifted to a specialized, discipline-centered research system. Overwhelmed by research-oriented culture and pragmatism, they became marginalized into monumentalized scholarly discourse, while the educational foundation for realizing humanistic values also weakened. Social sciences became compartmentalized in response to modern state formation and practical demands, yet they faced criticism for becoming mired in state ideology, positivism, and scientism. This led to an inability to fully explain the complexity of human behavior and the totality of social structures, subordinating them to instrumental rationality. Natural science accumulated academic expertise by transitioning from the integrated cognitive system of the Quadrivium to specialized disciplines, yet this gave rise to problems of interdisciplinary fragmentation and the reduction of science's ethical implications. All three domains reveal structural limitations within the institutional framework of specialized disciplines, weakening interdisciplinary connectivity and social accountability, making it difficult to address today's complex problems. The reason we must establish liberal studies in humanities, liberal studies in social sciences, and liberal studies in natural sciences as new forms of the liberal arts is precisely to overcome these limitations.Liberal arts as an academic discipline must transcend the existing framework centered on education and establish itself as an integrated discipline anchored in the mission of research which pursues truth and the mission of education which is based on the transmission of knowledge. LAS must be established as a discipline that encompasses both the theoretical aspect of building cross-disciplinary achievements in foundational studies and the practical aspect of pursuing human self-formation—a discipline that combines academic excellence with humanity. This, ultimately, represents the path through which the liberal arts can secure their sustainability as an “old future”