Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Should You Go to University?
David Hume, letter to James Birch (May 18, 1735), ed. Ernest Campbell Mossner, "Hume at La Flèche, 1735: An Unpublished Letter," Texas Studies in English 37 (1958) 30-33 (at 32):
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But as you know there is nothing to be learnt from a Professor, which is not to be met with in Books, & there is nothing requir'd in order to reap all possible Advantages from them, but an Order & Choice in reading them; in which, besides the small Assistance I can give you, your own Judgement wou'd alone be sufficient; I see no reason why we shou'd either go to an University, more than to any other place, or ever trouble ourselves about the Learning or Capacity of the Professsor.Thanks to Kevin Muse for drawing my attention to Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Turpin (February 5, 1769):
The only help a youth wants is to be directed what books to read, and in what order to read them.
