CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Rahman, Naveed Mustahid |
|---|---|
| Title | Higher Education as Self-Realization - An Intrinsic Argument for the Public Funding of Higher Education |
| Summary | Many arguments for or against full public funding of higher education in the literature are premised on its instrumental aspects; while this thesis provides a different argument for full state subsidies of higher education based on its intrinsic value towards self-realization. In this regard, the arguments focus more on what it terms non-essential higher education, which are the disciplines mostly belonging to humanities and the arts. The argument in this thesis is again qualitatively different from the major arguments because this is not exclusively applicable to higher education. It covers every activity that human beings can derive meaning from, as self-realization here is conceived in a wider sense than its common Western connotation. The thesis defines every activity that brings individuals meaning or purpose in life as self-realization, and says all such activity is of utmost and equal value. For this reason, this thesis claims that public funds, barring the essential costs of society, should be dedicated to the pursuit of all these activities. This would include non-essential higher education among countless others like counting blades of grass or watching television all day. However, as resources are scarce and basic human necessities must be met, this thesis adopts Rawls’ theory which states all financial decision in society should be made to maximize the benefits to the least advantaged groups. Therefore, the social value or outcomes of all activities are relevant. This thesis argues that higher education, including non-essential higher education, also plays a central social role, and as such, should have priority in receiving public funds. Here, it also argues that justice can require recipients of non-essential higher education to participate in a fair social scheme that distributes essential labor among all capable members in society. This is therefore a supplementary, but general moral principle. It also provides a secondary argument- if a classification of the intrinsic value of different activities can be plausibly made, self-realization would be the most appropriate normative standard for it. The key argument here is that by all these standards, non-essential higher education has a strong claim to public funds. |
| Supervisor | Gheaus, Anca |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/rahman_naveed.pdf |
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