"THE CASE FOR HUMILITY"

In the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly there is published and article by R. K. Hack on "The Case for humility" which every member of American educational institutions, both undergraduates and faculty, would do well to read. Mr. Hack has attempted to bring peace to the continually warring Modernist and Humanist parties, but not in any weak, timid spirit--he does not tell these men to stop fighting because the present educational system is correct. Far from it! But Mr. Hack does print out that the only thunder the Modernist has is that the Humanist is all wrong, while the continuous cry of the Humanist is that the Humanist is all wrong, while the continuous cry of the Humanist is that the Modernists are fools. Proceeding this way, nothing will be accomplished. It is time for humility to play its part. Let both sides admit that reform is needed and then get together to see what can be offered to solve the difficulty.

Mr. Hack is not in sympathy with the present education system. "Education has during the last century become more and more a drill to produce power; but we must make of it a path to freedom and self-control." "The weak point is that we have relied upon instruction to produce educated men." Particularly are American universities and lower schools scored. Mr. Hack has not been yellow in giving his opinions. In spite of his severe charges, however, he is hopeful. "Freedom and self-control must be won by each man for himself;. . . . . hereafter the chief emphasis will be placed upon learning and not upon instruction, upon the effort of the student to acquire and to understand and not upon the ways and means by which facts are presented to him."

We can only commend Mr. Hack's opinions. The tendency to cram for examinations, to haggle over marks, to amass information relative to nothing other than the mer possession of it, are all symptoms of an educational disease that this writer sees clearly. But whether we agree with Mr. Hack's constructive ideas or not, it is great relief to find in his work a fearless bidding to Mr. Flexner and his opponents to stop their howling. The world is tired of fighting over terms. If there are faults with modern education, negative criticism alone will not go far toward curing them.