Quotessence
Home / Books / Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition

Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition

Book by Russell Kirk · 3 quotes · Academic Freedom, Natural Law, Natural Rights

Filter quotes by topic

AllAcademic FreedomNatural LawNatural RightsTruthCatholic ChurchDemocracyEducationEthicsGod TermHumanismIsmJohn DeweyMedievalPapacyProtestantReformationRelgionRhetoricSecularUniversity

Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition Quotes

“And, substantially they hope to supplant the “disciplining of the higher faculty of the imagination” by what they call “education for democracy.” ... The very banality of the expression helps to ensure its triumph. Who could be against education? Who could be against democracy? Yet the phrase begs two questions: What do you mean by “education”? And what do you mean by “democracy”? The school of Dewey has long been fond of capturing words and turning them to their own purposes: they tried hard to capture “humanism”, and even laid siege to “religion” Now I am convinced that if, by “education,” the champions of this slogan mean merely recreation, socialization, and a kind of custodial jurisdiction over young people, then they are deliberately perverting a word with a reasonably distinct historical meaning and making it into what Mr. Richard Weaver, in his book, "Ethics of Rhetoric”, calls a "god-term"—that is, a charismatic expression drained dry of any objective significance, but remaining an empty symbol intended to win unthinking applause”

EducationDemocracyEthicsHumanismRhetoricAcademic FreedomRelgionJohn DeweyGod Term
Book:Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition
Create image

“The first obligation is to Truth, and that a Truth derived from an apprehension of an order more than natural or material. I think that man who will not acknowledge the Author of their being have no sanction for truth Dedication to an abiding Truth and to the spiritual aspirations of humanity excised, the pursuit of power and the gratification of concupiscence are the logical occupations of rational men in a world that is merely human and merely natural.”

TruthNatural LawNatural RightsAcademic Freedom
Book:Academic Freedom: An Essay in Definition
Create image