The Moral Purpose of Higher Education: Articulacy, Strong Evaluation, and the Moral Self

<p dir="ltr">The moral purpose of higher education is twofold: to help students transmute functional conceptions of a good life to one that is guided by ethical frameworks that motivate strong evaluation of aspirations, motives, and life choices in the development of moral self-identity; and to equip students with the metacognitive features of moral wisdom to better cope with the permanent adversities of conflict, contingency, and evil that inescapably haunt human agency. After discussing developmental and ethical aspects of moral formation, and the common themes in psychological and philosophical perspectives on moral self-identity, I take up the first purpose by drawing important distinctions between strong and weak evaluation, and the goal of higher education to encourage students to move from legislative to judicial character and to cultivate the horizon of significance that grounds the life that is good to live. I take up the second purpose by stressing the importance of cultivating in students the capacity to engage in metacognitive processes to combat (without defeating) permanent adversities that threaten a life of ethical character. Helping students articulate ethical frameworks is underscored; and I conclude by stressing the parallel obligation of universities to engage in strong evaluation of the lofty goals of their mission statements and to commit with clarity to the horizon of significance that animates their core institutional values.</p>