Personal Growth — December 23, 2010

What Is Education For?

One thing a school might be doing in generally educating the student is teaching him or her appropriate patterns of responsible civic behavior, says Harvard professor Sean Kelly.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Money and power and physical pleasures are not irrelevant in making life worth living. But they are certainly not sufficient on their own. So whether you are studying mathematics or business or philosophy or medicine, or whether you have simply devoted yourself to the physical pleasures of life, you have a right to hope that the life and career you pursue in these areas is in addition one that you experience as meaningful and worthwhile. This is the sense in which a general education ought to be the right of every student no matter what discipline he or she is in.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

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