Analysis Of Dr. Peter Kreeft's Argument

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

In his essay, “Yes a College Education is Worth the Cost,” writer Rodney Smith discusses how students of this generation don’t care about receiving a great education for the future. Throughout his essay he explains how a college education is worth the cost. He stated that people between the ages of 18-34 say they would much rather get a job and make money than spend money to go back to school to obtain a higher degree. Smith’s family grew up in Oklahoma and they viewed education as an investment. Smith was influenced by his father’s upbringing and attended college and law school just like his father. By establishing and building his case about how education is worth the cost, uses a great deal of evidence, his argument is well organized, and he gains the audience’s attention. Background of the author

In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.

    In discussions of Charles Murray, he expresses his opinion on the thoughts and feelings that are being transferred to students before college, claiming them to be misleading. Murray brings to light the problem that exists in the constant pushing of guidance counselors, teachers, and even politicians to aspire for a college degree no matter what, “treating every failure to go to college as an injustice” (Murray 48). Yet, by doing so, parents and students are often blindsided by the overwhelming cost of college that many cannot afford, or the sheer amount of education students would put themselves through for no reason at all. Murray observes that “one aspect of this phenomenon has been labeled misaligned ambitions, meaning that adolescents have career ambitions that are inconsistent with their educational plans” (Murray 48). Convincing students that college is the only guiding light to a better life forces students to see college as such, an intellectual heaven where they can become anything, such as a doctor or an attorney “without understanding the educational hurdles they must surmount to achieve their goal” (Murray 48-49). They then attend a four-year university with the depiction of college as a “place where B.A.s are handed out” fresh in their minds, thoughtless as to if that particular college they are attending even has the educational requirements needed to complete their career goals (Murray 49). Unfortunately, as Murray reminds us, this is the system that  is in place. For “a brutal fact

In her essay “The Value of a College Degree,” Kathrine Porter attempts to persuade the audience of the benefits of having a “higher education,” while on the other hand, the author of “The Case against College,” Linda Lee says from her experience college is not for everyone. Both Lee and Porter have great arguments, but Lee’s argument that college is not for everyone is slightly more compelling.

Some people may argue that the main reason people go to college is not because they want to but because they “have” to. Could this be parents forcing their children out the door every day to college? Although many people dropout before graduating high school, there are a lot of high school seniors that persuaded or otherwise “peer pressured” by guidance counselors and parental guardians to attend college because it’s merely rightful. In “College Isn’t for Everyone,” W.J. Reeves argues that the concept of student and educator apathy is central to the issue of a four-year education not being a viable option for students, and open admissions

Kreeft ponders at the thought of parents sending their children to college without having knowledge of the purpose of the university in the first place. He argues that students go through an endless cycle, in which the goal is to receive an education that will enable the student to acquire a high paying job, if given the opportunity. Colleges teach a variety of skills to a student depending on what his or her major is. These skills are the foundation that gives the student the opportunity to get a job. The job will then allow the individual to have enough money in order to provide shelter for his or own self and perhaps start a family. By starting a family, the individual now has to meet the needs of his or her own children. The end goal is for the individual to send his or her children to college, thus going back to the first phase of the cycle. This ultimately puts the child or children in

The statement “philosophy of Christian education” contains much information to be unwrapped. The term philosophy literally means, in the Greek, “love of wisdom.” In this case, the study of philosophy involves a “critical

The decision to obtain a higher education beyond high school is no longer a question of if, but when. This is the question that author Caroline Bird discusses in her article, “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” written in 1975. This text strives to convince students, parents, and advisors that obtaining a degree might not be in the best interest for those involved. Circling around the idea that college is a requirement and no longer an act of free will. Bird starts the article off strongly by building her credibility through her own personal research and other credible sources as well as appealing to readers through logical reasoning using numerous statistics, but fails to convince readers and discredits her ultimate goal through a disconnect in her use of analogies.

The college education has been a necessity rather than an option or privilege and people have made us believe that higher education is needed in order to succeed in life. Most high school seniors are pressured by their guidance counsellors and parents to go to college because it is "the right thing to do." Bird states that students go to college because " . . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized." (481). She believes that college is the waste of money where the parents pour a lot of it to the institution with the belief that they are securing their children’s future.

Education plus God equals success. While this statement is true, the job of incorporating the truth about God into everything taught is becoming increasingly more difficult. Schultz charted public education’s view of reality, truth and value throughout the history of the United States to show how an unbiblical worldview has increasingly taken hold of society, the educational system and

In 1852 when John Henry Newman wrote his essay, “The Idea of a University,” he wanted to convey that a University’s purpose was to be able to educate first-rate members of the social order. Newman’s theory, although over a hundred years old, still applies to today’s college students; many are seeking higher educations to not only lead to successful careers, but to also become an improved person in society.

Grenz and Olson, passionate about the need for greater understanding of theology, have taken on a difficult task in attempting to address the concerns of those who might question the need for theology and lead them into conscientious practice of theology themselves. Who Needs Theology?, however brief and rudimentary the method, does make an effective argument for the need for everyone to engage in the study of theology and provides a basic framework from which to begin such study. It is clear from the opening pages of this book that it was written with the lay theologian in mind and therefore the book is written in a simple, clear and understandable manner. Grenz and Olson are careful to always define terms and never assume, beyond their presupposition that their audience are Christian followers, a minimum knowledge or experience prior to engaging their text. Consequently, Who Needs Theology? is very understandable and easily applicable to the average reader. However, what being is understood and applied must be considered carefully in determining the usefulness of this text.

Of course, they are disappointed to discover that philosophy has more questions than answers, and that there is no answer which has not been disputed. Nevertheless, they approach the subject in the same spirit as traditional philosophical inquiry. In this spirit, then, it is appropriate to seek an answer to the question, What is the value of education? Indeed, this question presupposes an answer to an even more basic one: What is education?

The fields of philosophy and theology are often grounds of debate. While some hold these two to be relevant and dependent on each other, others find them to be completely independent of each other. In John D. Caputo’s work, Philosophy and Theology, he expresses his view of these fields as companions. Caputo states, “Think of philosophers and theologians as fellow sailors on [the] ocean,” depicting his view of the interdependence of these two fields (Caputo 69). Through his illustration we can find the influence philosophy and theology can have on each other in facilitating our toleration of such a mysterious future and world.