Monday, September 13, 2021
An Agent of Civilization
Michael Oakeshott, "The Character of a University Education," in What Is History? and Other Essays (Exeter: Imprint Academic, 2004), pp. 373-390 (at 378):
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The part of the teacher, then, is to hold up the mirror of human achievement before a pupil; and to hold it in such a manner that it reflects not merely what has caught the fancy of a current generation, but so that it reflects something which approximates more closely to the whole of that inheritance. His business (indeed, this may be said to be his peculiar quality as an agent of civilization) is to release his pupils from servitude to the current dominant feelings, emotions, images, ideas, beliefs, and even skills, and to bring to their notice what the current world may have neglected or forgotten.
