Citizenship as an Aim of Higher Education

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the merits of civic education as an aim of higher education. First, the chapter explains how a legitimate and justifiable liberal civic education for children must (and can) strike a balance between the goods of political stability and individual freedom. Second, it makes the make the case for extending civic educational goals to higher education. The third and fourth sections show how civic educational aims look like a promising foundation for the justification of higher education. But a closer look reveals that this justification cannot strike a balance between stability and freedom. The upshot is that while it makes sense to cherish the indirect benefits of higher education for the civic capacities of graduates, these benefits ought not be understood as the overarching aim that justifies state involvement in its management and provision.