ARTS
759
ABTS
be called, was relegated to a position of decided in-
feriority. Theology was in the foreground, and it
became the fashion to look upon the study of the
classics with contempt. With the eighteenth cen-
tury, however, a new era Ixjgan. I'nder the lead of
the new universities, Halle and Gottingen, philo-
sophical studies grailually regained u place of impor-
tance in the universities, and during the nineteenth
century completely recovered their ancient pres-
tige. Taking Cermany as a whole, the Faculty
of Philosophy includes to-day about one-fourth of
all the teachers in the universities. In modern
times the development of knowledge, especially of
the sciences, has, in .some imiversities, led to a
fundamental change in the constitution of the
Faculty of Arts. Owing to the multiplication of
courses, the teachers in tlic Faculty of Arts in many
cases outnumber tho.se in all the other Faculties
together. The dilliculties arising out of this condi-
tion come not only from the fact that the Faculty
of Arts in such c;ises is a larger body than it formerly
was, but also from the fact that its members have
fewer interests in common. In the days when
Aristotle was the text-book for both pliilo.sophy
and science, it was natural enough that teachers of
the two branches should work side by si<le; their co-
operation was based on both principle and method.
But to-day there is often little in common between
them, except what results from the traditional as-
sociation of their respective subjects under the same
faculty. In France, the problem has been met by
splitting the Faculty of Arts into two .separate facul-
ties, those of Letters and of Science. At most of the
German universities the Faculty of Philosophy has
remained intact, but the old humanistic group of
studies and the mathematical-science group receive
recognition respectively as distinct departments. In
a few institutions, the problem h;is boon solved, as in
France, by dividing the Faculty of Philosophy into
two separate faculties, or even into three. In Ameri-
can universities and colleges the Faculty of Arts oc-
cupies much the same position as at Oxford, although
there is considerable diversity in the names by which
it is otficially known. It usually has under its
jurisdiction the great majority of profes.sors and
students, and all courses of study outside of tlio
purely professional and technical departments. In
some cases the Faculty has been split up into several
distinct faculties; but in general there has been a
strong desire to adhere to the medieval tradition
that all cultural studies, whether undergraduate
or post-graduate, whether in the arts or in the
sciences, should be grouped together, the danger of
inefficiency being guarde<l against usually by dividing
the Faculty into a number of departments, each of
which controls, to a greater or less extent, the work
of its instructors and students.
For bibliography, eee Arts, Bachelor of.
J. A. Burns. Arts, Master of, an academic degree higher than that of Bachelor. The conferring of the degree of Master of Arts, as a title invested with certain specific academic privileges, is closely connected in origin with the early history of the University of Paris, which was the mother-university in arts as Bologna was in law. Originally, the degree meant simply the right to teach, the Licenlia dnccndi, and this right could be granted, in Paris, only by the Chancellor of the Cathedral of Notre name, or the Chancellor of St. Genevieve. According to the Third Council of Lateran, held in 1179, this Licenlia docrndi had to be granted gratuitously, and to all duly qualified applicants. It was the Chancellor's right to determine the question of the applicant's fitness. But in time, as the number of candidates for the degree increased, and the university de- veloped, the ceremony of presentation Ix-fore the
Chancellor liecamo more and more of a formality,
and the responsibility for the fitness of the candi-
date devolved upon his teacher, and his teacher's
a.ssociates. Although, liowevcr, the Chancellor's li-
cence un(|uesti()iiably conferred the right to tench, it
did not make the recipient a full Master. For this
it w!is retiuired, in addition, that the faculty in
which the Licenlia docendi was Ki\cii, should formally
recognize the recipient as a Miusler, and admit him
to a place among themselves. This ceremony, by
which the Licentiate became a full Master, was
known as Inciptio. As the term implies, the cere-
mony involved a beginning of actual teaching, the
Licentiate delivering a lecture before the faculty.
Tlie term "Commencement", as applied to gradua-
tion exercises, is but the English eouivalent of the
medieval Inceptio, and was first used at Cambridge.
The ceremony of formally investing the young
teacher with the title and insignia of a Master con-
sisted in the Ijestowal of the hirctta, or Master's cap,
the open book, and the kiss of fellowship, after
which he took his seat in the magisterial chair.
Half a year or so elapsed between the granting of
the Licence and the Inception. No examination
was required before Inception, the candidate's fit-
ness having been tested lx;fore the conferring of the
Licence. Those who received the Licenlia docendi
from the Chancellor were admitted to Inception as
a matter of course. The candidate for the Licence
in Arts had to pass two examinations, a preliminary
one. conducted by the Chancellor, and another con-
ducted by the faculty itself. In going to receive
the Licence, the candidates were arranged in the
order of their academic standing, a custom which
developed into the modern system of graduation
honours. The ceremony wius conducted with great
pomp. Part of the proceedings consisted in the
"Collations", or the giving of lectures by some of
the candidates. The CharluUirium of the University
of Paris gives the formula used by the Chancellor in
conferring the Licence as follows: "Et ego auctoritate
a]X)stolorum Petri ct Pauli in hac parte mihi com-
ini.ssa do vobis licentiam legendi, rcgendi, disputandi
et determinandi ceterosque actus scholasticos seu
magistrales exercendi in facilitate artium Parisiis et
ubique terrarum, in nomine Patris, et Filii. et Spiritus
Sancti. Amen." (Chartularium, II, App. 679.)
In medieval times, the title of Master was practi- cally synonymous with that of Doctor, the former being more in favour at Paris and the universities modelled after it, and the latter at Bologna and its derivative universities. At Oxford and Cambridge a distinction came to be drawn between the Faculties of Law, Medicine, and Theolngj' and the Faculty of Arts in this respect, the title of Doctor being used for the former, and that of Master for the latter. In Germany "Doctor" is exclusively used, but the Ger- man university diploma still frequently evidences the original equivalence of the two titles, the recipi- ent Ijeing styled MagiMcr Artium et Doctor Phitoso- phi<r. In France the original practical ctiuivalence of the Licentiate and the Mastership, or the Doctorate, developed into a distinction amounting to separate degrees. Under the present university system in France, the Bachelor may attain to the Licence in Arts one year after receiving the Baccalaureate, although generally two years at least are found necessarj'. .\fter the Licentiate, a considerable period elapses before the Doctorate can be obtained. No set time is required for the Doctorate, but the high .standard of qualification prevents candidates from applying for it for several, and sometimes for many, years after the Licentiate is received.
M Oxford, the degree of Master of Arts has re- tained much the same academic significance it had during the Middle Ages. The degree admits the recipient ipso jaclo to the Faculty of .\rts and to the
