Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life by Anthony T. Kronman - 9780300122886 - Compare Prices on New & Used Textbooks, Cheap Textbooks

The question of what living is for—of what one should care about and why—is the most important question a person can ask. Yet under the influence of the modern research ideal, our colleges and universities have expelled this question from their classrooms, judging it unfit for organized study. In this eloquent and carefully considered book, Tony Kronman explores why this has happened and calls for the restoration of life’s most important question to an honored place in higher education.

The author contrasts an earlier era in American education, when the question of the meaning of life was at the center of instruction, with our own times, when this question has been largely abandoned by college and university teachers. In particular, teachers of the humanities, who once felt a special responsibility to guide their students in exploring the question of what living is for, have lost confidence in their authority to do so. And they have lost sight of the question itself in the blinding fog of political correctness that has dominated their disciplines for the past forty years.

Yet Kronman sees a readiness for change--a longing among teachers as well as students to engage questions of ultimate meaning. He urges a revival of the humanities’ lost tradition of studying the meaning of life through the careful but critical reading of great works of literary and philosophical imagination. And he offers here the charter document of that revival.

		Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life by Prof. Anthony T. Kronman ISBN-10: 9780300122886 ISBN-10: 0-300-12288-8 ISBN-13: 9780300122886 ISBN-13: 978-0-300-12288-6 Hardcover 2007-09-25 Yale University Press Find Lowest Price
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Product Description The question of what living is for—of what one should care about and why—is the most important question a person can ask. Yet under the influence of the modern research ideal, our colleges and universities have expelled this question from their classrooms, judging it unfit for organized study. In this eloquent and carefully considered book, Tony Kronman explores why this has happened and calls for the restoration of life’s most important question to an honored place in higher education. The author contrasts an earlier era in American education, when the question of the meaning of life was at the center of instruction, with our own times, when this question has been largely abandoned by college and university teachers. In particular, teachers of the humanities, who once felt a special responsibility to guide their students in exploring the question of what living is for, have lost confidence in their authority to do so. And they have lost sight of the question itself in the blinding fog of political correctness that has dominated their disciplines for the past forty years. Yet Kronman sees a readiness for change--a longing among teachers as well as students to engage questions of ultimate meaning. He urges a revival of the humanities’ lost tradition of studying the meaning of life through the careful but critical reading of great works of literary and philosophical imagination. And he offers here the charter document of that revival. (20080205)
Reviews

Education's End - Putting the Big Rocks in First While reading Education's End, I was reminded of a story (frequently attributed to Steven Covey) involving a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar set on a table, about a dozen fist-sized rocks, a bucket of gravel, a bucket of sand, and a pitcher of water. The speaker carefully places the rocks, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar is filled to the top and no more rocks will fit inside, he asks, "Is this jar full?" Usually, an audience says yes, but then the speaker successively adds buckets of gravel, sand, and water, each time impressing upon his audience the jar is not full. Finally, he explains the lesson from the demonstration: if you don't put in the big rocks first, you'll never fit them in. Education's End by Anthony Kronman, former Dean of Yale Law School, is an excellent analysis--I highly recommend it--of a critical issue that affects the framework of American society. A thoughtfully planned and carefully balanced argument about the role of the humanities in education, Education's End exposes the current shortcomings in higher education. For Kronman, the big rocks--the things of value--in education are the questions: What is the meaning of life? How should we spend our time? How can we succeed in the art of living? For much of our history U.S. education included the big rocks; they were part of a college education. Today, this is no longer true. Kronman reviews what he believes to be an unfortunate path traveled by higher education in the U.S., breaking down the regrettable history into three eras. First, during the antebellum era beginning with the opening of Harvard University, there was a focus on God, a Christian perspective, and an emphasis on "the ancient model of virtue and order." Second, during the era of secular humanism following the Civil War, there was a focus on family and country, and an emphasis on "modern ideas of individuality and creative freedom." And third, during our modern era, there is a focus on political correctness and the research ideal. The research ideal places an emphasis on research that restricts scholarship to a narrow field of specialization, and it requires publishing something new with the understanding that any contribution will be superseded. Chapter 3 (The Research Ideal) is excellent, but Kronman is really just beginning his critique. In Chapter 4 (Political Correctness), he skillfully, but tactfully, slays the three-headed monster of modern political correctness: diversity, multiculturalism, and constructivism (post modernism). After explaining why the natural and social sciences are better able to survive in the current environment, he peels away the layers of misguided intentions that appear to support political correctness exposing the problems for the humanities. For example, discussing why multiculturalism is unacceptable, he explains how "an internal dialogue" carried on by each succeeding generation of thinkers and authors throughout western history offered a unique teaching opportunity that is unavailable in other cultures. Highlighting the weaknesses with each aspect of political correctness, Dean Kronman argues that the status quo short-changes teachers, denies students, and deprives society of a value previously enjoyed during the era of secular humanism. Kronman's arguments are frequently understated, but this book is nothing less than an indictment of how the humanities are taught today: we prepare students for careers, but not for life. Also, he does more than just lament this failure today to ask the big questions. He blames the academy for abandoning a trust respected during the era of secular humanism that it carried forward until the 1960s, keeping alive a continuity--through the humanities--of teaching a curriculum that reached back to the classical era. He explains that this tradition of arts and letters continued a legacy that allowed students to see themselves as a participant in the "great conversation." As part of that squandered inheritance, Kronman notes the diminished role of the humanities in education today. In the past, humanity teachers felt qualified and confident enough to guide their students through questions about the meaning of life and about how to spend their lives. Unfortunately today few, if any, humanities professors feel it appropriate to ask or instruct on the big question.
A void for filling Kronman writes a compelling argument as to why college humanities and traditional liberal arts programs should provide the necessary spiritual and moral direction for our maturing youth. The reader should expect his argument to be compelling, he was the Dean of the Yale Law School and he teaches the Directed Studies Program at Yale. The book is compelling and captivating. Most people would struggle with a book so focused on such a seemingly esoteric subject. But Kronman's subject is is compelling and while lengthy - his arguments are almost alarmist in tone. The reading flows rapidly along throughout most of the book! Kronman takes on political correctness, constructivism, and religious fundamentalism (American grown as well as the Islamic brand), and warns us of the potential for threats to our culture and a more subtly, to civilization. While I don't question the validity of his arguments, I do question of the relevance of some of his points. He is advocating sandbagging, but the river is already out of its banks. He argues we could contain the crest of the flood despite the flooding today. (My simple and inelegant metaphor - not his). His history and tracing of the evolution in collegiate philosophy and development are accurate and insightful. His assesment of the vacuum in spiritual teaching and direction on America's college campuses is on point and certain to irritate humanities professors across the nation (as well as evangelicals and a few priests). He avoided political connections that could be made,the facist nation state and Nazi Germany - but the connections are there for anyone with familiarity in German or European history. The book is topical, virile,and provoking. Humanities departments would be well served to devise a study of the book and include it in their course offerings! But make no mistake, it is more exciting than any college course book. It is worthy of your time and consumption ant any age.
***1/2 Pretty Good and Fairly Interesting I picked this up at the library because of the interesting cover. Its small size indicated an easy read, though glancing at the table of contents I suspected I would not like the author's conclusions very much, not being a fan of secular humanism, though open minded in general. Reading the first couple of chapters, however, I was favorably impressed with the author's well written thinking on the subject. In the end, I would say that this book has more substance than most attempts in this area and is also clearly written. So worth reading. On the other hand, its perhaps unnecessary, but noticeable attempt at arguing that life as a whole has sufficient meaning outside of belief in God comes up fundamentally empty handed, as it must. Yet I mostly agree with the author's well meaning conclusions about the teaching of humanities, but with certain reservations. Importantly, I question whether, without at least acknowledging that people can indeed reaffirm belief in God, when delving into the meaning of life,one can truly be open to and show due respect for belief in God, contrary to several of the author's comments and protestations that political correctness is self defeating. I would like to see a humanities course which honestly reflected the development of human thought such that neither a atheist nor theist, without an ax to grind, could object as biased. Perhaps an impossibility these days. The very name "secular humanism" seems a politically charge one that holds unnecessary bias. Sorry, guess I'm not the Ivy League type. As much as the author seems like a decent chap, one still gets the impression his philosophy of life is well designed for the affluent and bright. Forget about common human nature, on the plus side. What about the sick, the poor, the lame? What is that person's meaning of life? The author naturally fails to say. Why not give religion its due for at least being (and perhaps the author would disagree) universal and eternal in nature compared to secular humanism, which yes, does suffer from political correctness and other trendy confines associated with the liberal, affluent, materialistic (in the philosophical sense) myopia of much of US academia. If nothing is universal or eternal, then when the unavoidable dash of political correctness etc. in thrown in to poison the pot, there does not seem to be a valid answer to what is fundamentally in common, one which is not under attack by some favored minority interest group or post-modern nihilist. The author's pitiful offer of human commonality in the fact that we die is not very inspiring, to say the very least. Nevertheless, with some reservations and limitations, a fairly interesting and well written book coming from the precincts of elite academia.
Beware Author's Bias Against Religion I read "Education's End" after the glowing recommendation Charles Murray gave it in Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality. I thought that Dr. Kronman made some interesting arguments, but I was very much turned off by his treatment of religion throughout the book. He criticizes religion as "mindless obscurantism" and dismisses the idea that there is one answer to the meaning of life that actually IS better than all competing ones. He also claims that to have religious faith one must "sacrifice the intellect" as if reason and faith were set in opposition to each other, rather than being complementary ways of knowing. He argues that religion would "have us surrender our humanity" if we acknowledge a being greater than ourselves. He writes: "It is not God that needs to be remembered. It is man. Only the recollection of humanity is an adequate response to the meaninglessness that haunts us....This, and only this, has any real promise of leading us out of the spiritual crisis in which we find ourselves today." The type of secular humanism for which Dr. Kronman argues in "Education's End" may absolutely be better than the current dismal situation of the humanities in today's universities. What is True, Good, and Beautiful may be found in secular works as well as in religious ones (though one of course must be careful to reject what is false in them). But secular humanism isn't the best solution to the spiritual crisis that plagues modern society. Humans cannot save themselves, only God can.
A MUST READ FOR PROSPECTIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS This book is a must read for anyone that is contemplating graduate school in one of the social sciences or humanities. Professor Kronman objectively explains the emphasis on the so-called "research model" that sometimes seems to be more interersted in statistics for their own sake rather than reasonaed substance.