Killing the Spirit: Higher Education in America

by Page Smiht

A critique of modern universities criticizes "publish or perish" policies, academic fundamentalism, misapplication of scientific method, and the growing dependence on research grants from the government and big business

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Religion, Academia

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[John G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without question THE best book I have ever read concerning higher education, about what it proclaims to be and do, about what it actually does and the wide gulf that separates the two. I found this gem of a book via "Impostors In The Temple" written my Martin Anderson which is excellent in its own right, but from a different angle that this book.
Smith is a history professor, strikes me as having a streak of dissidence and defiance and honor that is not terribly prevalent in academics. Seems to stride with the working and common man over the powerful and elite as well. I always think it's important to be aware of the author's background and biases and their perspective. Smith is an academic whistle blower.
You don't often see discussion of the spirit or soul or psyche of the educational complex, they try to limit the talks to what is objective and scientific and can be measured and Smith calls them out on it, there is no such thing as scholarly objectivity. Smith is quite critical and uses withering comments to call attention to his insights. You can tell he doesn't hold the system in high regards and he used plain and forceful language to help you understand why.
I have two degrees, have worked in higher education for over 10 years on and off and this man tells it like it is. It confirms my own insights and suspicions about what it really going on. Here's a sample from page 294 - "Specialization is another common disease of the spirit - that is, excessive specialization at the cost of any capacity for generalization or any awareness of the unity of life."
"Knowledge for its own sake, which denies any moral structure in the world, any absolutes, any finalities. Everything is relative, of equal importance or unimportance. You cannot indefinitely omit one-half or more of human experience without paying a heavy price. Then, finally, there is simply the brute fact of size, the disease of giantism. True learning is clearly incompatible with immensity. Formalism, lifeless routines, bureaucratic obtuseness, coldness of heart and impoverishment of spirit are the inevitable consequences of excessive size."
On the cover of this book is a portion of a mural (this is panel #17: Gods of Modern Civilization) painted by Jesse Clemente Orozco as part of 150 foot work which is at Dartmouth University called "The Epic of American Civilization." This depiction gives me the chills, but yet is quite accurate and telling of the real spirit of higher education, not what I call "the illusion of care" or the "illusion of relevance" which you'll hear coming form those with vested interests. Take a look at this image - [...] and you will see the death force, that which literally kills the spirit and all that it comes into contact with. My conclusion about higher education coincide with Smith's, that it is a sterile, barren environment populated my almost pathological and sadistic/masochistic personality types who have little to offer of real use. It's almost as if they are an endangered species hiding in a wildlife refuge from reality. Which would be fine, if they weren't entrusted to teach and develop real intellect and potential, a charge that they have betrayed. They need to be exposed and held accountable and this book sheds much needed light on these vermin.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, written in 1990, is subtitled "Higher Education in America". Smith goes through the history of higher education, then covers topics such as "publish or perish" and various areas of study (the sciences, social sciences, humanities, women's studies). I found this book to be true and depressing. Just recently, I read online of a college that offered only one course of studies, the humanities. It seemed strange, but after reading this book, I see that we have abandoned the idea of truly educating The Whole Man and are more and more specialized, to the detriment of both the individual and our culture. This quote addresses this: "A 'worthy view of life' is made up, in essence, of ideas. Ortega y Gasset notes that we 'cannot live on the human level without ideas. Upon them depends what we do...We are our ideas.' The sociologist Louis Wirth makes the same point: 'A society is possible in the last analysis because the individuals in it carry around in their heads some sort of picture of that society.' Without such a picture, society begins to unravel. It seems to me an alarming, even terrifying fact that our ideas determine our actions ad that our collective ideas define our society, for better or for worse. The ideas of fascists and racists determine behavior just as surely as the ideas of saints. To think wisely and well is to live wisely and well. So we can never be indifferent or casual about what young men and women are taught, or, equally, no taught. To not teach something is to relegate it to the junk pile of discarded and irrelevant ideas.

[Mario · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the first few chapters detailing the origins of education were very useful. The succeeding chapters appeared much more polemical and apocalyptic than what has become of society. Many of his qualms with higher education ring true today, and it is still a desired commodity (unrightfully so) and society still functions. Admittedly, my personal disagreement with his dislike of Western Civ courses, his claims of educational racism, and his belief the university is designed negatively for women lead to a distaste for the latter chapters in the novel.

[Kelton McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye-opening account of the downfall of academia with the shift from focusing on an education and supplement to the human experience towards a soul-less business model with excessive bureaucracy and meritocracy.

[Scott Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

30 years ahead of it's time. the blueprint for what was going wrong and the call no one chose to listen to. think it is time to defund all universities, and let them fend for themselves in the marketplace.