The Problem of the American University

Albert Jay Nock's diagnosis of the problems in American education delivered in 1931 were quite prescient and are still relevant. In the lectures he describes how a theory of education led to the destruction of classical education throughout all levels of the American school system. What led to the replacement of education in the Great Tradition with instruction and training? Nock identifies three aspects of the American theory of education: 1) A fantastic and impracticable idea of equality, 2) A fantastic and impracticable idea of democracy, and 3) A fantastically exaggerated idea of the importance of literacy in assuring the support of a sound and enlightened public order. This theory created a shift to training which vitiated the ideal of the educated person. Well written, precise, and at times very humorous, Nock's book is still worth reading today.