Know the Truth

When U.S. educators recite their favorite injunction, "Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," what sort of truth do they mean? Last week, in his annual report to the Carnegie Foundation, President Oliver C. (for Cromwell) Carmichael, ex-Chancellor of Vanderbilt University and long a ranking U.S. educator himself, gives his own blistering answer to the question. In the course of his answer, he flatly accuses his fellow educators of too often confusing truth with a collection of undigested facts.

The average history textbook, for instance, "which so often determines the tone of classroom instruction, is chiefly a recital of facts . . . objective, noncontroversial, a record of events. It recounts what happened . . . but often fails to ask why it happened [or] what the meaning is . . . This gets into the realm of opinion, and in this scientific age scholarship and instruction shun the speculative . . . The real issues are frequently sidestepped because no scientific proof is possible."

In short, says Dr. Carmichael, higher learning has fallen for "the cult of objectivity, [which] has resulted in a generation of irresponsible intellectuals, of men without convictions. As a warning, Germany is cited. There scientific learning reached its peak . . . Yet it was also there that the leadership . . . was unable to resist a fanatic who led the nation to a ruin more tragic . . . than that suffered by any other in modern history . . . "

The implication is that education which takes a detached view of life and society, that never leads students to face issues . . . tends to produce men and women who are spectators rather than actors . . . They view both sides of questions with equanimity, seeing the strengths and weaknesses of each . . . but never align themselves with either of the contending forces. Surely the effective citizen . . . must be willing to stand up and be counted, to make a commitment, to throw his weight on the side of truth . . .

"Pursuit of the truth is undoubtedly the highest function of the university, but that is not synonymous with scientific research. It refers to search for reality, for meaning, for ultimate answers . . . The quotation so frequently cited to suggest the goal of education is incomplete. It is as follows: 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' [John 8:31-32) . . . Divested of its other implications, the clause referring to discipleship suggests that a commitment is involved if one would find the truth. Commitment to certain basic assumptions is a necessary starting point in the quest for truth . . ."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.