Modern Renaissance Person: A Piece of Cake

I would like to find a book that might define the characteristics of a domain of knowledge that a person might need to meet the criteria of "educated acquaintance" that Aristotle speaks of. A person with an educational acquaintance with a domain of knowledge is a person who is "critical" in that field. It appears that Aristotle means the general principles and conclusions of the field that a person who is "critical" in that field would have.

Can anyone suggest a book that I might read that would spell out what one might need to know and why they would need to know it to meet the criteria of having an "educational acquaintance" with a domain of knowledge?

Check out the The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

http://www.bartleby.com/59/

Nodaddy

Thanks for the reference.


I have been made aware that what I want can be found in books about the philosophy of science. A Wikipedia quote follows:

Philosophy of science studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of science, including the formal sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences. In this respect, the philosophy of science is closely related to epistemology and metaphysics. Note that issues of scientific ethics are not usually considered to be part of the philosophy of science; they are studied in such fields as bioethics and science studies.

In particular, the philosophy of science considers the following topics: the character and the development of concepts and terms, propositions and hypotheses, arguments and conclusions, as they function in science; the manner in which science explains natural phenomena and predicts natural occurrences; the types of reasoning that are used to arrive at scientific conclusions; the formulation, scope, and limits of scientific method; the means that should be used for determining when scientific information has adequate objective support; and the implications of scientific methods and models, along with the technology that arises from scientific knowledge for the larger society.

Wonderful thread!

My question is this, how broad does the range of knowledge have to be in order to be considered a modern-day renaissance man. Is there any grey area at all?

I think it is in the eye of the beholder. I also think the pleasure will be in the journey and not in the destination. Ernest Becker is an author with whom I am very delighted with. I think his book "Beyond Alienation" is a worthwhile read if you are interested in such things.

http://faculty.washington.edu/nelgee/hidden/solomonsound.htm This is a great one hour audio about Becker's ideas given by a very good lecturer.

excelent, thanks