[Glossary] A Criticism of Great Books

1. (Clark 1988, 20-21):

"President Hutchins [University of Chicago] before World War II was the first to bring public attention to the need for a basic philosophy to unify education. Against the prevailing tide he struggled to convict education of a fragmentary, disjointed approach and to urge a unified approach governed by basic principles. Now he has many educators to echo his demands. They have sounded a needed note and deserve our gratitude. But they seem to have failed in one very important point. It will, I trust, not be construed as a lack of appreciation if a single criticism is offered in conclusion."

"The one great flaw in the work of President Hutchins is that while he emphasized the need for a basic philosophy to unify education, he failed to supply the philosophy. For the contents of his ideal curriculum he proposed a series of great books. This program is one of considerable excellence, and it has enjoyed wide popularity. It not only reintroduced some of the great books into college courses, but from 1945 to 1955 adults formed clubs to discuss them. There must have been a dozen, possibly twenty, such discussion groups in the medium-sized city of Indianapolis. Even some of President Hutchins' opponents conceded that these books had been unwisely neglected for many years. Their study and discussion was a great improvement. But, note well, the books proposed do not present a single, unified philosophical system, nor have I been able to discover that President Hutchins provided for their explication on the basis of a definite philosophy. In other words, Hutchins analyzed modern education, diagnosed its disease, said that a remedy is needed, but failed to write the prescription. Now, if someone wishes to unify education, it is not enough to say that a philosophical basis is necessary. To accomplish such a result, it is essential to provide the philosophy."


Reference:

Clark, Gordon H. 1988. A Christian Philosophy of Education. 2nd ed. Jefferson, Maryland: The Trinity Foundation.

End.