R. Hutchins on the Importance of Great Books Education in Higher Education and the Battle of Great Books with Experimental Science

Abstract

According to Robert Maynard Hutchins, the ideal education is the education that develops intellectual virtues, spirituality and morality. The aim of education should be to develop the mind in an intellectual dimension. This can be achieved through liberal education equipped with universal and unchanging principles. Indeed, education through liberal arts and great books is the best education for the best. However, according to him, in recent times, vocational education, scientific experimentation and specialization have replaced liberal education in order to provide economic contribution. In order to solve the educational problem he identified, Hutchins invited Mortimer J. Adler, who was working on liberal education, to the university and they worked together. In this context, the aim of the present study is to reveal Hutchins's thoughts on liberal arts and great books education, as well as to analyze his criticisms of higher education institutions dominated by the experimental method and to determine his struggle for the rebirth of intellectual education and great books education in higher education. Document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. According to Hutchins, the purpose of the university should be nothing more than reviving metaphysics and realizing the intellectual and spiritual revolution in line with the findings obtained. For none of the great changes, such as the rise of experimental science, specialization, and industrialization, can make the effort for these goals irrelevant. On the contrary, they make the effort to provide everyone with a liberal arts and great book education all the more necessary and urgent.

Keywords

• Educational Sociology

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References

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Cite this publication

@article{bayrak2025r,
  author = {Bayrak, Beyhan},
  title = {{R. Hutchins on the Importance of Great Books Education in Higher Education and the Battle of Great Books with Experimental Science}},
  journal = {Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters},
  volume = {43},
  number = {1},
  pages = {222--240},
  publisher = {Hacettepe {\"U}niversitesi},
  year = {2025},
  month = {4},
  issn = {1301-5737},
  doi = {10.32600/huefd.1672053},
  url = {https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/r-hutchinste-yuksekogretimde-buyuk-kitaplar-egitiminin-onemi-ve-buyuk-kitaplarin-deneysel-bilimle-savasi},
  language = {tr},
  keywords = {Educational Sociology},
  abstract = {According to Robert Maynard Hutchins, the ideal education is the education that develops intellectual virtues, spirituality and morality. The aim of education should be to develop the mind in an intellectual dimension. This can be achieved through liberal education equipped with universal and unchanging principles. Indeed, education through liberal arts and great books is the best education for the best. However, according to him, in recent times, vocational education, scientific experimentation and specialization have replaced liberal education in order to provide economic contribution. In order to solve the educational problem he identified, Hutchins invited Mortimer J. Adler, who was working on liberal education, to the university and they worked together. In this context, the aim of the present study is to reveal Hutchins's thoughts on liberal arts and great books education, as well as to analyze his criticisms of higher education institutions dominated by the experimental method and to determine his struggle for the rebirth of intellectual education and great books education in higher education. Document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. According to Hutchins, the purpose of the university should be nothing more than reviving metaphysics and realizing the intellectual and spiritual revolution in line with the findings obtained. For none of the great changes, such as the rise of experimental science, specialization, and industrialization, can make the effort for these goals irrelevant. On the contrary, they make the effort to provide everyone with a liberal arts and great book education all the more necessary and urgent.},
  affiliation = {D{\"u}zce {\"U}niversitesi}
}

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bayrak, Beyhan
TI  - R. Hutchins on the Importance of Great Books Education in Higher Education and the Battle of Great Books with Experimental Science
T2  - Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters
VL  - 43
IS  - 1
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/04/08/
SP  - 222
EP  - 240
PB  - Hacettepe Üniversitesi
SN  - 1301-5737
DO  - 10.32600/huefd.1672053
UR  - https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/r-hutchinste-yuksekogretimde-buyuk-kitaplar-egitiminin-onemi-ve-buyuk-kitaplarin-deneysel-bilimle-savasi
AB  - According to Robert Maynard Hutchins, the ideal education is the education that develops intellectual virtues, spirituality and morality. The aim of education should be to develop the mind in an intellectual dimension. This can be achieved through liberal education equipped with universal and unchanging principles. Indeed, education through liberal arts and great books is the best education for the best. However, according to him, in recent times, vocational education, scientific experimentation and specialization have replaced liberal education in order to provide economic contribution. In order to solve the educational problem he identified, Hutchins invited Mortimer J. Adler, who was working on liberal education, to the university and they worked together. In this context, the aim of the present study is to reveal Hutchins's thoughts on liberal arts and great books education, as well as to analyze his criticisms of higher education institutions dominated by the experimental method and to determine his struggle for the rebirth of intellectual education and great books education in higher education. Document analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. According to Hutchins, the purpose of the university should be nothing more than reviving metaphysics and realizing the intellectual and spiritual revolution in line with the findings obtained. For none of the great changes, such as the rise of experimental science, specialization, and industrialization, can make the effort for these goals irrelevant. On the contrary, they make the effort to provide everyone with a liberal arts and great book education all the more necessary and urgent.
KW  - Educational Sociology
LA  - tr
AD  - Düzce Üniversitesi
ER  -