On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton research fellow and Journal of Markets & Morality executive editor Dylan Pahman to talk about education. They begin with the 18th-century vision of education advanced by America’s Founders. Why did they believe education was necessary for a free society, and what kind of education did they have in mind?

The discussion then turns to attempts by St. John Henry Newman, F.D. Maurice, and Abraham Kuyper to build institutions of liberal learning in 19th-century Europe. What innovations did these men introduce to education? How did their approaches differ from what came before (and each other), and where were there continuities? What can we learn from these attempts in addressing the crisis in education today?

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Benjamin Rush Proposes a system of public schools for Pennsylvania | Monticello

Discourse 5: “Knowledge Its Own End” | John Henry Newman

Learning and Working | F. D. Maurice

Like Bright Stars: Abraham Kuyper on the Nature and Vocation of the Scholarly Sphere | Dylan Pahman

Pano Kanelos on the University of Austin | Acton Line

The Next Generation of Church Leaders | Acton Line