Science without humanity, knowledge without character

What should the mission of a university be?

In her 2010 book, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Martha Nussbaum argues that the mission of a university is, or should be, to prepare students for democratic citizenship. Democracy makes severe demands on its citizens. Rather than simply defer to authority, people need to know how to weigh the evidence and balance arguments for themselves. If done correctly-using logic and relying on evidence-the opportunity to argue and debate at university can enhance mutual respect. Students learn that those who hold different views from theirs are not necessarily evil or stupid.

Nussbaum views developing empathy as one of the most important goals of higher education. Seeing the world through others' eyes, envisaging distant times and remote places, are part of what Nussbaum calls the "sympathetic imagination"-the frame of mind that allows us to feel in touch with "lives at a distance". Nussbaum's description of the mission of the university is also a vigorous defence of the humanities. Students learn about other times and places from history, learn logic from philosophy, and learn how to express themselves clearly by studying English.

Thus, for Nussbaum, the mission of a university is inextricably entwined with the humanities.

Alas, in a censorious age of cancelling, shaming, and "safe" spaces, many universities are rapidly retreating from Nussbaum's vision. Several Australian universities rejected generous philanthropic grants to teach the humanities in Australia because the foundation offering the grants had "Western Civilisation" in its name. The "woke" students and academics who persuaded their universities to reject the foundation's funds inflicted more damage on the humanities than even the most benighted philistines outside the academy.

Political correctness and postmodernism have made academics wary of judging some books, thoughts and ideas to be more important or, God forbid, better than others. Yet, as citizens in a democracy, graduates will constantly be required to make judgements-on juries, for example, and every time they vote. The role of higher education is not to tell students what view to take but to teach them how to gather facts, analyse arguments and reach their own conclusions.

In a supposedly secular age, souls loom large in the literature of academic declinism. (See The Lost Soul of Higher Education by Ellen Schrecker and Harry R. Lewis's Excellence Without a Soul). I don't think I have ever heard any of my academic colleagues use the word soul, at least not in connection with the university. Yet "soul" is precisely the right word. Our universities have made a Faustian bargain. Like the scholar in Goethe's play, they have traded their souls, and such transactions rarely turn out to be win-win propositions.

Fortunately, the fight for the soul of the university is not over. In early November, a high powered group of academics and public figures (including a former President of Harvard University) announced the creation of a new university in Austin, Texas. According to the incoming president, Pano Kanelos, the new University of Austin will address the "gaping chasm between the promise and the reality of higher education." Instead of a safe space in which students are protected from challenging ideas, the new university will provide "an education rooted in the pursuit of truth." The new institution, which will be devoted to enhancing human flourishing, has already had thousands of inquiries from prospective students and academics.

This intense interest is a good sign. Job skills are essential to life, and so is money. Still, to paraphrase John Ruskin, the highest reward for university education should not be what graduates get for it but what kind of people they become by it.

Gandhi warned us to be on guard against science without humanity; politics without principle; knowledge without character; wealth without work; commerce without morality; pleasure without conscience; and worship without sacrifice. He may not have intended it, but he was making the case for the humanities. It's great to see at least some academics heeding his advice.