What is "...the highest function of the university..."?

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https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Cheering_and_Bashing/0mZF3mdvHogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22The+highest+function+of+the+university+is+to+inculcate+in+its+students+a+thirst+for+knowledge+of+eternal+and+unchanging+principles.%22%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover

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Post by gggg gggg
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Cheering_and_Bashing/0mZF3mdvHogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22The+highest+function+of+the+university+is+to+inculcate+in+its+students+a+thirst+for+knowledge+of+eternal+and+unchanging+principles.%22%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover

- The reason you go to university is to be taught, is to learn how to think more clearly, to call into question the ideas that you came with and think about whether or not they are the ideas you will always want to hold. A university education at its best is a time of confusion and questioning, a time to learn how to think clearly about the values and principles that guide one's life. Of course, it's also a time to acquire the skills needed for jobs in the "real world," but the part about becoming an adult with ideals and integrity is also important.

Joan Wallach Scott

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Post by gggg gggg
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Cheering_and_Bashing/0mZF3mdvHogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22The+highest+function+of+the+university+is+to+inculcate+in+its+students+a+thirst+for+knowledge+of+eternal+and+unchanging+principles.%22%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover

- There are students whose religious upbringing is going to make them feel uncomfortable in a class where certain kinds of secular ideas are presented. There are students whose ideas about history or sexuality are going to be similarly challenged to question, to affirm or to change those ideas. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be exposed to them; that's why they're at school. That's why they come to university: to be taught how to think well and critically about material that they're being presented with. But it's the teacher who is certified to teach them how to do that.

Joan Wallach Scott

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Post by gggg gggg
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Cheering_and_Bashing/0mZF3mdvHogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22The+highest+function+of+the+university+is+to+inculcate+in+its+students+a+thirst+for+knowledge+of+eternal+and+unchanging+principles.%22%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover

- The thing about education - and why I'm so passionate about the position and status of the university - is that it's supposed to teach citizens how to think better, how to think critically, how to tell truth from falsehood, how to make a judgment about when they're being lied to and duped and when they're not, how to evaluate scientific teaching. Losing that training of citizens is an extremely dangerous road to go down.

Joan Wallach Scott

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Post by gggg gggg
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Cheering_and_Bashing/0mZF3mdvHogC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22The+highest+function+of+the+university+is+to+inculcate+in+its+students+a+thirst+for+knowledge+of+eternal+and+unchanging+principles.%22%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover

- The university is the place where the pursuit of truth is taught, the rules for learning how to pursue it are explained, and students begin to understand how to evaluate the seriousness of truth. Those are incredibly important lessons, and only the teachers' academic freedom can protect them because there will always be people who disagree with or disapprove of the ideas they are trying to convey.

Joan Wallach Scott