Learning from Korea and India

Professor of law and philosophy Martha Nussbaum says the U.S. should continue to insist on a humanistic higher education. Korea and India demonstrate economic prosperity needn’t be sacrificed. “It is time to call for a return of the humanistic values represented by Santiniketan, rightly seen by Tagore as essential bulwarks of a decent political culture—not just in India, but everywhere. Korea has shown that a nation can adhere to humanistic commitments while succeeding economically. (And why not, when economic success, like democratic stability, requires a cultivated imagination and a culture of accountability?) … No nation is so secure in its commitment to democracy that it can afford to gamble its future away by pursuing the false idols of rote learning and mere technical mastery.”