Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Moral Mess of Higher Education

337 Pages·2019·14.621 MB·English

by  Jason Brennan, Phillip Magness

CRACKS IN THE
IVORY TOWER

CRACKS IN 
THE IVORY
TOWER

THE MORAL MESS OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
Jason Brennan
Phillip Magness
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1
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Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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© Oxford University Press 2019
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Brennan, Jason, 1979- author. | Magness, Phillip W., author.
Title: Cracks in the ivory tower : the moral mess of higher education /
Jason Brennan and Phillip Magness.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019] |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018058356 | ISBN 9780190846282 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780190846299 (universal PDF) | ISBN 9780190846305
(electronic publication) | ISBN 9780190932824 (Oxford scholarship online)
Subjects: LCSH: Education, Higher— Moral and ethical aspects— United States. |
Education, Higher— Economic aspects. | Universities and colleges— United
States— Sociological aspects.
Classification: LCC LB2324 .B75 2019 | DDC 378.001— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2018058356
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Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
CONTENTS

1. Neither Gremlins nor Poltergeists 1
2. What Academics Really Want 22
3. Why Most Academic Advertising Is Immoral Bullshit 46
4. On Reading Entrails and Student Evaluations 82
5. Grades: Communication Breakdown 109
6. When Moral Language Disguises Self- Interest 134
7. The Gen Ed Hustle 157
8. Why Universities Produce Too Many PhDs 186
9. Cheaters, Cheaters Everywhere 214
10. Three Big Myths about What’s Plaguing Higher Ed 229
11. Answering Taxpayers 258
Notes 279
Bibliography 301
Index 313
v

CRACKS IN THE
IVORY TOWER

1

Neither Gremlins nor Poltergeists
Gremlins, as you know, are horrid little beasts. At night, they creep
around and sabotage your stuff. Is your dishwasher broken? Probably
gremlins.
Poltergeists are even more insidious. Poltergeists are incorporeal
spirits that possess your home. They smash the dishes, trash the furni-
ture, and play white noise on your TV while you sleep. You can’t trap
or kill a poltergeist, unlike a gremlin, because poltergeists lack physical
bodies. Burn your house down and they’ll just move elsewhere.
Both gremlins and poltergeists are mythical saboteurs. But it’s not
surprising that people invent such legends. As anyone who’s ever taught
economics, sociology, or biology knows, most people have trouble un-
derstanding how an event could happen without someone or something
making it happen.
Witness how ancient peoples tended to believe a god or spirit
haunted every tree, bush, and river. Witness how contemporary people
stand over their ruined homes and wonder why God decided to send
a flood their way. Witness how when an election goes badly, partisans
blame hackers. When the stock market plummets, people blame Wall
Street. If their football team loses, they think someone tampered with
the balls or the field.
People have a hard enough time understanding how natural events
could result from natural laws, rather than supernatural will. They have
an even harder time comprehending how many things that happen in
society could be the product of human action but not human design.
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