I just got my hands on the book that people are talking about up and down the East Coast: Education’s End. Written by former Dean of the Yale Law School Anthony Kronman, Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life argues, so far as I understand, that the German research ideal – to add to knowledge at all costs – has led to great advances for humanity in the sciences and maybe even knowledge in the humanities, but no help for the thousands of college students who want to know how to live their lives. The most popular religious figures on today’s campus are the one’s most morally demanding and “reactionary”: the evangelical Christian Bible leaders and the Chabad rabbi.
We have created a system in which grades are the currency paid in exchange for labor in the classroom. This may keep us reading Plato, but it is not human and should not be the humanities. The answer needn’t be a renewed dogmatism.
If my teacher disagrees with my moral claims, then I know we are comrades in a common search, a reciprocal quest for more perfect being. A good teacher is not neutral, but she is not evangelical. She is Socratic. Socrates and his successors, the humanities, can be morally concerned while being agnostic about God. If this is Kronman’s message, then his book is Good News.
Look for future posts as I get time to read it. I hope to hear from other readers, too. In the meantime, what do people think about the College again serving in loco parentis? Kronman’s dedication recalls the first time he was told “That’s a metaphysical question” by his mother. We call Yale alma mater. My mother no longer tells me what I believe; shouldn’t she at least ask to have a conversation about it?
Comments (4)
The academy should not be dictating answears to the basic questions of what is it all about or what is the good life, but rather should be exposing students to the value of thinking through these issues and how they have been addressed by those that have gone before and those now speaking to those problems. At the same time a student should also be exposed to the historical cause and or consequences of any particular answear. To believe that ideas may have material causes and social consequences does not mean that any given individual's personality is only a product of her gender, race and/or social class. Surely the humanities should help us appreciate that as human beings we are infinitely more complex that any such relatively simplistic reduction.
Posted October 17, 2007 11:53 PM
Posted on October 17, 2007 23:53
The academy should not be dictating answears to the basic questions of what is it all about or what is the good life, but rather should be exposing students to the value of thinking through these issues and how they have been addressed by those that have gone before and those now speaking to those problems. At the same time a student should also be exposed to the historical cause and or consequences of any particular answear. To believe that ideas may have material causes and social consequences does not mean that any given individual's personality is only a product of her gender, race and/or social class. Surely the humanities should help us appreciate that as human beings we are infinitely more complex that any such relatively simplistic reduction.
Posted October 17, 2007 11:52 PM
Posted on October 17, 2007 23:52
Al, I like your post but am confused by your interpretation of the current academic/university moral environment. Isn't Michael's point that the guide says, "some have found putting their foot here to be just right while others thought that was not a good spot and they did fine too."
It is a great thing to test your teachers' truths but what if their truth is "we don't teach truth anymore". My question to Michael is, perhaps the academy should not back away from moral guidance but is your physics or your Latin professor an appropriate substitute for you mother ( or father)?
Posted October 9, 2007 5:23 PM
Posted on October 9, 2007 17:23
You're young, but eager, and I hope an allegory suffices.
If you're climbing a mountain that at least a few others have climbed ahead of you, you might wish to listen to a few words of advice on how to make the ascent a little easier.
The key of course is figuring out the right mountain for you, and intuiting an honest guide, one who really can look down from a spot on top and say "it's better to put your foot over here".
You don't have to believe anyone's teachings or dogma, but if over time some teachings prove to deliver results consistent with claims, you may find the validation based on personal experience enough to take more claims from the same source on faith. At least for awhile, perhaps until their truth in turn can be verified based on your own conscious experiences.
And so it goes. A little humility, open mindedness and courage to live the values you believe in will all serve you well.
My advice: by all means read Kronman's book, and a thousand others; have discussions with your mother, your peers and professors and especially those who disagree with you. But in the end make up your own mind. And don't worry about sounding scholarly, erudite or others agreeing with you....be authentic to your nature and your destiny will find you.
Good luck and God's speed.
Posted October 5, 2007 10:25 PM
Posted on October 5, 2007 22:25