A Comparison of Three Critics of Higher Education. Specialization Paper.

This paper presents the views of three critics of higher education in America, chosen to represent the conservative, centrist, and liberal points of view. The critics are Russell Kirk (conservative), Robert Maynard Hutchins (middle ground), and Harold Taylor (liberal); and their views are presented within the framework of six concepts: (1) outlook toward man, (2) curriculum, (3) stance toward control of one's education, (4) who should have an education, (5) use or non-use of science, and (6) process. Outlook toward man ranges from "perfectibility" (students can make their own academic decisions) to "depraved" (students must be kept in line through discipline). Curriculum is viewed in a range from liberalizing to utilitarian types of courses. The control of one's education is argued from the notions of prescriptive versus free elective. The use or non-use of science in education is argued within the context of the behavioristic versus humanistic controversy, while the question of who should have an education is part of the elitist-democratic continuum considered by all critics of higher education. The final concept to be analyzed is process, that is, rationalism (in which decisions are made to conform to postulated truths) versus instrumentalism (which views the individual as the criterion for decision and process as more important than substance). Contains 16 references. (GLR)