Exiles from Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America - Hardcover

Schwehn, Mark R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195073436 ISBN 13: 9780195073430

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1992

Synopsis

In this thoughful and literate essay, Mark Schwehn argues that Max Weber and his contemporaries led higher education astray by stressing research - the making and transmitting of knowledge - at the expense of teaching moral character. Schwehn sees an urgent need for a changed orientation and calls for a "spiritually grounded education in and for thoughtfulness." Schwehn's reforms would replace individualist behaviour, the "doing my own work" syndrome derived from the Enlightenment, with a communitarian ethic grounded in Judeo-Christian spirituality. Acceptance of this "spiritual ethic" would lead scholars to show humility before their texts, trust in their colleagues' research, self-denial and openness to changing one's mind, and charity towards their students and colleagues. Schwehn examines misguided philosophies of higher education from Weber and Henry Adams to Derek Bok, Allan Bloom and William G. Perry, Jr. He draws out valid insights, always showing the theological underpinnings of the so-called secular thinkers. He emphasizes the importance of community, drawing on both the secular communitarian theory of Richard Rorty and that of the Christian theorist Parker Palmer. Finally he outlines his own prescription for a classroom-centered spiritual community of scholars. Schwehn's analysis should be of interest to all who care about higher education in America today: faculty, students, parents, alumi, administrators, trustees, and foundation officers.

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Review

"A volume that university administrators in both religious and secular settings could usefully give their faculty colleagues to help restore a better sense of the purpose of their academic vocation....A compelling argument both for the restoration of religion in the understanding and practice of the academic vocation in general and for the more particular efforts of religious communities to transmit their convictions in the setting of modern higher education."--Commonweal"There can be no doubt that the academy in the West is undergoing, and must undergo, fundamental alterations in direction and self-understanding. Schwehn's book is a significant contribution to the necessary debate."--The Cresset"Eminently readable, solidly grounded in its sources, it makes a contribution to the debate about values in higher education. The author handles religio-spiritual questions with great sensitivity."--Robert P. Swierenga, Kent State University"Schwehn offers a universal, rational, and religiously-informed philosophy of education."--Koinonia Journal"Intelligent and provocative....Persuasive....Schwehn is certainly fighting the good fight....This thesis, ...can be fruitfully debated on any American campus. Will it be debated? Not unless Mark Schwehn provides us with a sequel, for which we may devoutly hope."--Crisis "A volume that university administrators in both religious and secular settings could usefully give their faculty colleagues to help restore a better sense of the purpose of their academic vocation....A compelling argument both for the restoration of religion in the understanding and practice of the academic vocation in general and for the more particular efforts of religious communities to transmit their convictions in the setting of modern higher education."--Commonweal "There can be no doubt that the academy in the West is undergoing, and must undergo, fundamental alterations in direction and self-understanding. Schwehn's book is a significant contribution to the necessary debate."--The Cresset "Eminently readable, solidly grounded in its sources, it makes a contribution to the debate about values in higher education. The author handles religio-spiritual questions with great sensitivity."--Robert P. Swierenga, Kent State University "Schwehn offers a universal, rational, and religiously-informed philosophy of education."--Koinonia Journal "Intelligent and provocative....Persuasive....Schwehn is certainly fighting the good fight....This thesis, ...can be fruitfully debated on any American campus. Will it be debated? Not unless Mark Schwehn provides us with a sequel, for which we may devoutly hope."--Crisis "A volume that university administrators in both religious and secular settings could usefully give their faculty colleagues to help restore a better sense of the purpose of their academic vocation....A compelling argument both for the restoration of religion in the understanding and practice of the academic vocation in general and for the more particular efforts of religious communities to transmit their convictions in the setting of modern higher education."--Commonweal "There can be no doubt that the academy in the West is undergoing, and must undergo, fundamental alterations in direction and self-understanding. Schwehn's book is a significant contribution to the necessary debate."--The Cresset "Eminently readable, solidly grounded in its sources, it makes a contribution to the debate about values in higher education. The author handles religio-spiritual questions with great sensitivity."--Robert P. Swierenga, Kent State University "Schwehn offers a universal, rational, and religiously-informed philosophy of education."--Koinonia Journal "Intelligent and provocative....Persuasive....Schwehn is certainly fighting the good fight....This thesis, ...can be fruitfully debated on any American campus. Will it be debated? Not unless Mark Schwehn provides us with a sequel, for which we may devoutly hope."--Crisis "A volume that university administrators in both religious and secular settings could usefully give their faculty colleagues to help restore a better sense of the purpose of their academic vocation....A compelling argument both for the restoration of religion in the understanding and practice of theacademic vocation in general and for the more particular efforts of religious communities to transmit their convictions in the setting of modern higher education."--Commonweal"There can be no doubt that the academy in the West is undergoing, and must undergo, fundamental alterations in direction and self-understanding. Schwehn's book is a significant contribution to the necessary debate."--The Cresset"Eminently readable, solidly grounded in its sources, it makes a contribution to the debate about values in higher education. The author handles religio-spiritual questions with great sensitivity."--Robert P. Swierenga, Kent State University"Schwehn offers a universal, rational, and religiously-informed philosophy of education."--Koinonia Journal"Intelligent and provocative....Persuasive....Schwehn is certainly fighting the good fight....This thesis, ...can be fruitfully debated on any American campus. Will it be debated? Not unless Mark Schwehn provides us with a sequel, for which we may devoutly hope."--Crisis

From the Back Cover

Exiles From Eden sounds a call to the American academic community to begin seeking a solution to the many problems facing higher education today by rediscovering a proper sense of its vocation. Schwehn argues that the modern university has forgotten its spiritual foundations and that it needs to reappropriate those foundations before it can creatively and responsibly reform itself. The first part of the book offers a critical examination of the ethos of the modern academy, especially its understanding of knowledge, teaching, and learning. Schwehn then formulates a description of the "new cultural context" within which the world of higher learning is presently situated. Finally, he develops a view of knowledge and inquiry that is linked essentially to character, friendship, and community. In the process, he demonstrates that the practice of certain spiritual virtues is and always has been essential to the process of genuine learning - even within the secular academy. Schwehn critiques philosophies of higher education he sees as misguided, from Weber and Henry Adams to Derek Bok, Allan Bloom, and William G. Perry, Jr., drawing out valid insights, while always showing the theological underpinnings of the so-called secular thinkers. He emphasizes the importance of community, drawing on both the secular communitarian theory of Richard Rorty and that of the Christian theorist Parker Palmer. Finally, he outlines his own prescription for a classroom-centered spiritual community of scholars. Exiles From Eden examines the relationship between religion and higher learning in a way that is at once historical and philosophical and that is both critical and constructive. It calls for nothing lessthan a reunion of the intellectual, the moral, and the spiritual virtues within the world of higher education in America. It will engage all those concerned with higher education in America today: faculty, students, parents, alumni, administrators, trustees, and foundation officers.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195073436
• ISBN 13: 9780195073430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 158