On the Meaning of the University

• Main Author: McMurrin, Sterling M., Ed
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah 1976
• Subjects: College Role; Cultural Context; Educational Benefits; Educational Philosophy; Educational Responsibility; Futures (of Society); Higher Education; Individual Needs; Quality of Life; Social Responsibility; Universities; Values

The meaning of education is addressed in this book of philosophical essays by seven authors. Focus is on education in the context of the issues that currently confront students, teachers, educational institutions, and people concerned with the quality of contemporary life. The volume examines the cultural foundations of society and finds the meaning of a university in knowledge, its intrinsic value and its uses, and in reason and reasonableness. "Reconciliation of Tradition and Modernity in Universities," by Lord Eric Ashby, confronts one of the decisive problems that education generates as it attempts to move into new territory while preserving the authentic values of the past. In "Democracy and Distinction in American Education," Brand Blanshard treats another basic dilemma: the apparent conflict of the ideal of democracy with the ideal of individual distinction. In "The Individual and Society," John Gardner examines the university's role in achieving both individuality and strength in social institutions. T.R. McConnell deals with the question: Do we have a "Surfeit or Dearth of Highly Educated People?" Mina Rees in her essay, "The Ivory Tower and the Marketplace," sorts out the questions that must be asked by all educators who seriously believe that the university of the coming decades must be responsive to the practical interests of society while preserving its task as creator of knowledge and wisdom. In "Forces for Change in American Higher Education," David Pierpont Gardner argues that the university of the future must accommodate a variety of forms and structures. The introductory essay suggests that the philosophy of education is a function of the value structure of the culture. (LBH)