Exiles from Eden

In this thoughtful and literate study, Schwehn argues that Max Weber and several of his contemporaries led higher education astray by stressing research—the making and transmitting of knowledge—at the expense of shaping moral character. Schwehn sees an urgent need for a change in orientation and calls for a "spiritually grounded education in and for thoughtfulness." The reforms he endorses would replace individualistic behavior, the "doing my own work" syndromederived from the Enlightenment, with a communitarian ethic grounded in Judeo-Christian spirituality. Schwehn critiques philosophies of higher education he considers misguided, from Weber and Henry Adams to Derek Bok, Allan Bloom, and William G. Perry Jr. He draws out valid insights, always showing thetheological 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 study will interest all those concerned with higher education in America today: faculty, students, parents, alumni, administrators, trustees, and foundationofficers.

"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