answers.input_text: short
answers.span_text: those subjects or skills that in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free person
questions: where did the term liberal arts come from
name: Liberal arts education
contexts: Liberal arts education ( Latin : liberalis , free and ars , art or principled practice ) can claim to be the oldest programme of higher education in Western history . It has its origin in the attempt to discover first principles -- ' those universal principles which are the condition of the possibility of the existence of anything and everything ' . The liberal arts are those subjects or skills that in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free person ( Latin : liberalis , `` worthy of a free person '' ) to know in order to take an active part in civic life , something that ( for Ancient Greece ) included participating in public debate , defending oneself in court , serving on juries , and most importantly , military service . Grammar , logic , and rhetoric were the core liberal arts ( the Trivium ) , while arithmetic , geometry , the theory of music , and astronomy also played a ( somewhat lesser ) part in education ( as the Quadrivium ) .