Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
both strongly believed that the continued viability of a republic depends on an
educated and virtuous citizenry. Public education and even the practice of some
of the professional schools (e.g., medicine and law) since at least the early
twentieth century to require a degree in another school (e.g. Liberal Arts and
Sciences) before being admitted to the undergraduate program (i.e., the M.D.
and J.D. or LLB, respectively). This lateral move is unique to the U.S.;
entering medical and law students in the E.U. need not already have a college
degree. I submit that the Founding Fathers’ firm political belief in the importance of an educated electorate
concerns the value of not only having a broad array of knowledge, but also reason
being able to assess its own inferences, or assumptions; for inferences, or
leaps of reason, go into political judgments. Ultimately, voters make
judgements, whether concerning the worthiness of candidates on a ballot, their
policies, or proposals on a referendum. To the extent that subjecting
assumptions to the “stress test” of reasoning is not a salient part of
secondary education, an electorate is likely to make sub-optimal judgements,
resulting in suboptimal elected officials, public policies, and laws.
The full essay is at “A
Homework Assignment for ‘We the People’.”
