3 Review(s)

In this thoughful and literate essay, Mark Schwehn argues that Max Weber and his contemporaries led higher education astray by stressing research - the making and transmitting of knowledge - at the expense of teaching moral character. Schwehn sees an urgent need for a changed orientation and calls for a "spiritually grounded education in and for thoughtfulness." Schwehn's reforms would replace individualist behaviour, the "doing my own work" syndrome derived from the Enlightenment, with a communitarian ethic grounded in Judeo-Christian spirituality. Acceptance of this "spiritual ethic" would lead scholars to show humility before their texts, trust in their colleagues' research, self-denial and openness to changing one's mind, and charity towards their students and colleagues. Schwehn examines misguided philosophies of higher education from Weber and Henry Adams to Derek Bok, Allan Bloom and William G. Perry, Jr. He draws out valid insights, always showing the theological underpinnings of the so-called secular thinkers. He emphasizes the importance of community, drawing on both the secular communitarian theory of Richard Rorty and that of the Christian theorist Parker Palmer.Finally he outlines his own prescription for a classroom-centered spiritual community of scholars. Schwehn's analysis should be of interest to all who care about higher education in America today: faculty, students, parents, alumi, administrators, trustees, and foundation officers.