Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life by Anthony T. Kronman (New Haven: Yale U. Press, 2007). My rating: 4 of 5 stars. Anthony Kronman had me by the time I got to the subtitle. I wanted to know, “why, indeed, have our colleges and universities given up on the […]
anthony kronman
Does Education Need to Have a Highest Good?
While mowing the grass on Sunday, here’s the question that was put to me through my headphones: Is it possible to really have education — and hence to nourish imaginations — if schools refuse to define some highest good that is ordering educational life, some higher good that is transcendent or spiritual in some way? […]
Religion, Education, and the Meaning of Life
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing my reflections on Anthony Kronman’s 2007 book Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. While I believe that his core argument is insightful, it’s marred by a few blind spots. Originally, I was going to address Kronman’s treatement […]
Three Blind Spots in Education’s End
Last week, I shared my appreciation for Anthony Kronman’s critique of higher education and defense of the humanities, Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. This week, I’d like to examine a few of Kronman’s blind spots. Next week, I’ll take a look at how Kronman treats […]
Have Colleges Given Up on the Meaning of Life?
I periodically dip into my ever-growing “to read” pile and select a book that I should have read several years ago. So, a few weeks ago, I started on Anthony T. Kronman’s defense of the humanities and critique of contemporary higher education, Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning […]