With corporate America, academia, and the cultural institutions of this country now captured by the political left, how does conservativism, libertarianism, and classical liberalism forge ahead? How can one encourage the study and promotion of Liberty Fund’s mission of the “ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals”? And, assuming citizens must have “some capacity to read and write and reason” if such a society is to exist, what kind of educational arrangement is best suited to cultivate this ideal?
Sometimes to move forward one first has to look back. In March 28-31, 1971, Liberty Fund explored these questions in a seminar held in Indianapolis with B.A. Rogge’s and P.F. Goodrich’s position paper, “Education in a Free Society,” that set forth the problem of American university education. Gottfried Dietze, Russell Kirk, Henry Manne, and Stephen Tonsor were invited to present papers in response to Rogge and Goodrich. There also were about a dozen more participants to the seminar, which included George C. Roche, Jameson G. Campaigne, John Chamberlain, Israel M. Kirzner, and Arthur A. Shenfield. The culmination of this seminar was the 1973 publication, Education in a Free Society, with the addition of Dorothy L. Sayers’ classic essay about primary and secondary education, “The Lost Tools of Learning,” to complement the presenters’ expertise about university education.
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