The Maroon Tiger,
1947 Summary
Writing in the campus newspaper, the Maroon Tiger, King argues that
education has both a utilitarian and a moral function.
Citing the example of Georgia's former governor Eugene Talmadge,
he asserts that reasoning ability is not enough. He insists that character and
moral development are necessary to give the critical intellect humane purposes.
King, Sr., later recalled that his son told him, "Talmadge has a Phi Beta
Kappa key, can you believe that? What did he use all that precious knowledge
for? To accomplish what?"
This essay, written
sometime during King's junior year at Morehouse, explores the dual function of
education. According to King, education must "discipline the mind"
and orient human life around a set of morals. Without this latter component,
King warns, education is "a ship without a compass.
Famous Quotes
"To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is
one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh
evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the
facts from the fiction." Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education
"The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to
think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with
efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society." Martin Luther King,
Jr., The Purpose of Education
"Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true
education."
Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education
The
Purpose of Education
Morehouse
College, 1948
As I engage in the
so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often
find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education.
Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with
the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over
the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble
ends rather than means to an end.
It seems to me that
education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society:
the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to
become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the ligitimate goals
of his life.
Education must also
train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and
to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life
become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this
point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A
great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and
scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in
many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from
the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education.
Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from
the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.
The function of
education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think
critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest
menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with
reason, but with no morals.
The late Eugene
Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even
America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr.
Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an
inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?
We must remember that
intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of
true education. The complete education gives one not only power of
concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad
education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge
of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.
If we are not careful,
our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical
propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be
careful, teachers!
