Ideas Critique

James M. Hulbert in "What do we produce in the knowledge factory and for whom? A Review Essay of The Knowledge. . ." supports Mark Edmundson's main point in his article, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education." They both view that American colleges have been corrupted by our culture. However James Hulbert goes a step further by blatantly criticizing corporations for creating this consumer-driven society which has now allegedly pervaded the educational realm. On the other hand, Edmundson is willing to admit his fallacies as a professor for succumbing to the consumerism of college and places the blame on several sources, parents and professors included.

Both professors have reached the conclusion that a majority of college students are only seeking to obtain their degrees in order to kick off their careers without earnestly attempting to become an expert in their respective field. Their overall thesis is mostly true. Students are for the most part perversely quiet in the classroom, shy about going to professor's office hours, and they view eccentricity as abhorrent. However, for the sake of arguing against their thesis, Hulbert's adamant anti-corporation feelings revealed in the article could be, potentially to some at least, the precise problem of why students feel it unneccessary to speak up in class, not our consumerist society. If a student does not want to be ridiculed in front of an auditorium sized class, it may just be best to keep his/her mouth shut.

Also, the two authors provide no realistic solution to what they regard as an urgent problem in our colleges today. Closing down fraternities, clubs, and sports teams will not go too well for most people concerned in college affairs and modifying universities so that students will have no choices choosing classing, etc will also not fair well for the customer (student) who is paying the university a more than generous amount of tuition.