Exiles from Eden : religion and the academic vocation in America

In this thoughtful and literate study, Schwehn argues that Max Weber and several of his contemporaries led higher education astray by stressing research - the making and transmitting of knowledge - at the expense of shaping moral character. Schwehn sees an urgent need for a change in orientation and calls for a 'spiritually grounded education in and for thoughtfulness.' The reforms he endorses would replace individualistic behavior, the 'doing my own work' syndrome derived from the Enlightenment, with a communitarian ethic grounded in Judeo-Christian spirituality.