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The Crisis of Modern Tertiary Education and the Last Bastion of Ethics

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Modern tertiary education has undergone a profound transformation. Influencer Davon Eriksen, despite his somewhat naïve neoliberal perspective on value as purely market returns, offers insights that have contributed to the wide appeal of his books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Eriksen correctly observes that modern Western universities no longer offer education in the traditional, civilizational sense. The kind of education most people receive today would not have been provided to free citizens in ancient Greece or Rome; instead, it would have been tailored to slaves. Free citizens were educated in the liberal arts—fields that fostered their ability to learn and adapt to future challenges. They studied philosophy and other theoretical subjects to navigate complex social environments and develop the skills needed to meet emerging demands. In contrast, the training provided to slaves was designed to produce proficiency in specific, predefined tasks.

The distinction Eriksen draws between education and training is crucial. Education equips free individuals with the intellectual tools to develop competence across an unlimited range of future endeavors. Training, by contrast, confines individuals to narrow skill sets, preparing them only for repetitive tasks.

Daniel Nehring expands on this critique in his incisive analysis of British universities, describing them as “edu-factories.” These institutions increasingly refer to students as “customers” and prioritize the sale of narrowly tailored skill sets over the cultivation of intellectual breadth. The result is the commodification of diplomas at the expense of true education.

While Eriksen and Nehring provide excellent arguments, I would like to add my perspective as a professor of philosophy with over 30 years of experience. Modern Western universities have adopted a vocational school model that discourages traditional scholarship and prioritizes mass production. This does not only affect the students, who graduate with limited knowledge in their fields, but also the academic staff, who are pressured into becoming producers of low- to medium-quality content.

The reality is stark: academics today rarely read. The demands of producing books, publishing articles, teaching, and managing administrative tasks leave no time for reflection or critical engagement. It is not uncommon for a single academic to produce a book every one or two years and dozens of articles annually. Combined with personal responsibilities—family, health, and social obligations—it becomes clear that this level of output leaves no room for sustained scholarship.

Universities no longer require academics to read; they only require them to write. This has given rise to a culture of dilettantism, where the pursuit of intellectual depth is sacrificed for the relentless chase of measurable “output.” The result is a loss of reflection, contemplation, and critical examination—qualities that are foundational to true education.

In the midst of this intellectual decline, ethics remains a beacon of hope. Applied ethics—whether in business, bioethics, or professional contexts—offers a glimpse of what education can still achieve. It serves as a remnant of the liberal arts tradition, a field that encourages free thought and critical inquiry even in a system dominated by vocational training.

Ethics may well be the last barrier against the deintellectualization of Western academia. It stands as a reminder of what universities once were and what they could strive to become again: institutions that prioritize intellectual rigor, genuine scholarship, and the education of free citizens.

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