The Aims of Higher Education ― Problems of Morality and Justice

In this book, philosopher Harry Brighouse and Spencer Foundation president Michael McPherson bring together leading philosophers to think about some of the most fundamental questions that higher education faces. Looking beyond the din of arguments over how universities should be financed, how they should be run, and what their contributions to the economy are, the contributors to this volume set their sights on higher issues: ones of moral and political value. The result is an accessible clarification of the crucial concepts and goals we so often skip overeven as they underlie our educational policies and practices.

The contributors tackle the biggest questions in higher education: What are the proper aims of the university? What role do the liberal arts play in fulfilling those aims? What is the justification for 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 students, both in social interaction and through curriculum? What obligations do elite institutions have to correct for their historical role in racial and social inequality? And, perhaps most important of all: How can the university serve as a model of justice? The result is a refreshingly thoughtful approach to higher education and what it can, and should, be doing.

Harry Brighouse is professor of philosophy at the University of WisconsinMadison. He is the author of several books, includingSchool Choice and Social Justice and On Education, and is, most recently, coauthor ofFamily Values: The Ethics of Parent-Child Relationships. Michael McPhersonis president of the Spencer Foundation and was previously the president of Macalester College in St. Paul. Prior to that he was professor of economics, chairman of the Economics Department, and dean of faculty at Williams College. He is coauthor or editor of several books, including Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy, and Public Policy and cofounder of the journalEconomics and Philosophy.