"the minority are not good": Emerson

First of all, this sentence fragment: " . . . we should place less reverence and more respect into the concept of the ?'scholar'."--is considerably less than coherent. Perhaps one might allege that my understanding is deffective, but that makes little sense to me.

In the second place, Emerson's argument: "All that is urged by the saint for the superiority of faith over works is as truly urged for the highest state of perception over any performance."--is an argument which does not resonate with me. In the first place, the argument of "the saint" for the superiority of faith over works is one which i consider to be the basest of the many and painfully obvious hypocricies of christiantiy. In the second place, i don't buy Emerson's argument for "intellectual perception" over performance. The majority of privately-funded liberal arts colleges and Universities in the United States are religious foundations. The public universities of this nation were all established, almost without exception, precisely for performance in aid of the economic advancement of the state which funds the establishment. I consider it pre-eminently reasonable for a state to stipulate that the citizen's tax dollars expended in an institution of "higher education" be spent to improve the economic condition of the polity.

As in the case of "art for art's sake," it is possibly--but not axiomatically--true that it is laudable to seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Any individual who wishes to pursue either of those ends is free to do so--at their own expense. Whether or not they personally will be worthy of anyone's respect for having done so will certainly depend in large measure on the extent to which they are civil and useful to their friends. Under no circumstances can i accept the argument that any polity is obliged to pay for such a pursuit out of the public till.

Setanta

The complete sentence is-- I have for a long time been convinced that we should place less reverence and more respect into the concept of the ?'scholar'. We can have reverence for George Washington but we can respect the soldier who is injured while saving her buddy. Reverence is a goal seldom achievable by the common woman but respect is within the grasp of every man and woman.

Your objection with the sentence about the saint is based on your particular biases?-I cannot refute those things.

I suspect that most people will agree with you that a college education is for the purpose of making a better living. I tend to agree also but I think there are other values than maximizing production and consumption.

I suspect most liberal arts colleges are private. I tend to agree that the citizens should get the kind of colleges they desire. I suspect Emerson would agree with me that after schooling is complete there is plenty of time for a person to take up the task of examining life.

My point was not about the purpose of a university education--rather, it was about the purpose of a state government in establishing and funding the institution.