Prof. Jonathan Jacobs (Presidential Scholar, and Chair of Philosophy, John Jay College, CUNY) has written a paper, “The Odd Couple: Reflections on Liberal Education” (http://www.academia.edu/4539351/_The_Odd_Couple ) that clearly explains both the importance of a liberal education – and its demise, not just through a lack of courses, but, more importantly through the same content deflation that I see in mathematics. The only thing I can add to what he has written is the same thing that I have discussed here: Many of the college students who aren’t getting a good education , but instead (as Prof. Jacobs points out) are not even learning how to recognize a rational argument, become high school teachers, who are then not able to teach their students what a rational argument is.
For readers of this blog who want to read a shorter piece by Prof. Jacobs, you can read his editorial http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324577304579055511904387286.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion#articleTabs%3Darticle
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