The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.
Stanley FishRead
In general, higher education does not know how to speak for its interests. It offers a stance that is defensive, cowardly and likely to be ineffective.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Higher education is often unable to effectively advocate for its own interests, leading to defensiveness and ineffectiveness.
Stanley Fish critiques higher education for its inability to articulate its interests confidently. He suggests that rather than presenting a strong and proactive stance, the sector often adopts a defensive and timid approach that undermines its effectiveness in advocating for itself and addressing its challenges.
Themes
Higher EducationAdvocacyDefensivenessIneffectivenessCritique
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion on the future of higher education, this quote can highlight the need for universities to adopt a more assertive role in policy discussions.
More from Stanley Fish
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Language is not a handmaiden to perception; it is perception; it gives shape to what would otherwise be inert and dead.
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It is of no help to us that there is an absolute truth of the matter of things because unfortunately, none of us are in a position to say definitively what that is - although we all think that we are.
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Opinion-sharing sessions are like junk food: they fill you up with starch and leave you feeling both sated and hungry. A sustained inquiry into the truth of a matter is an almost athletic experience; it may exhaust you, but it also improves you.
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