The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice
Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson
Abstract
The book is a collection of essays about ethical issues arising in selective higher education. The chapters, all by distinguished scholars, including one eminent university president, address the following issues: what are the proper aims of the university and what role do the liberal arts play in fulfilling those aims?: what is the justification of the humanities; how should we conceive of critical reflection, and how should we teach it to our students?; how should professors approach their intellectual relationship with their students?; how should academics approach the problems raised by so ... More
The book is a collection of essays about ethical issues arising in selective higher education. The chapters, all by distinguished scholars, including one eminent university president, address the following issues: what are the proper aims of the university and what role do the liberal arts play in fulfilling those aims?: what is the justification of the humanities; how should we conceive of critical reflection, and how should we teach it to our students?; how should professors approach their intellectual relationship with their students?; how should academics approach the problems raised by social epistemology (like the novice-expert problem) in their curriculum design and pedagogical practices?; what obligations do elite institutions have to correct for the contribution they have made, over time, to racial inequality?; and how can the university serve as a model of justice for its students? It concludes with a brief essay suggesting further avenues for research.
Keywords:
aims of the university,
justification,
humanities,
social epistemology,
academic friendship,
modelling justice,
autonomy,
intellectual humility,
equal opportunity,
racial inequality
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226259345 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: January 2016 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226259512.001.0001 |
