Berman Book Urges Study of Law by the Liberal Arts Student

The study of law, not as a matter of professional training but as a matter of humane or liberal education, can enrich the minds of students of the arts and sciences, Harold J. Berman, professor of Law, asserts in a book published yesterday by the Foundation Press.

In "On the Teaching Law in the Liberal Arts Curriculum," Berman goes on to assert that without such study one of the most important aspects of social life is omitted from the curriculum.

"Law ranks with language, with history, with science, as one of the intellectual foundations of our faith," he says. "But today there is a danger that even educated people are losing their sense of the law as one of the great freedom-creating traditions of Western thought and action. This is due in part to the fact that the study of law has become a professional monopoly, with the result that educated non-lawyers and scarcely introduced to the basic principles and processes of our legal system."

Berman maintain that the study of law can add new dimensions to the basic perspectives of other disciplines such as sociology , history, economics, and philosophy.