Education as an end in itself?

Really glad about your report, hope it stays that way
I do think that most people consider the two paths you mention differently – a lot of people will ‘put up’ with education as long as that education leads them to something they desire more than the education itself…then there are people (ahem, myself included) who, if given a chance, would never work but just go to school without end. I seek solace in academia, I have recognized that in myself and it works for me. The only reason I am okay with working right now is because I made a promise to myself to go back to school for my PhD in 2011. I think people can enjoy their education regardless of the end goal but there is something about being driven to get education without any rewards at the end, except for the journey itself.

Great answer! But isn’t there a group of us in between, who’ve labored in the trenches, used education as a tool for advancement, yet who also love education as an end in itself?

@CaptainHarley there are always groups in between, always, :)

@CaptainHarley glad to hear about you report I’ve basically had my “career”; I want to complete my PhD in history as an achievement in itself, not for any career reasons. I’ll probably never teach. To me, it’s completing something that I left unfinished almost 30 years ago. I just want the satisfaction of tying up all the loose ends and being able to add those three letters after my name when writing articles.

I don’t think the why of education is as important as the doing. Education is a end in and of itself no matter what motivated the person who started down the path.

There might be a difference in what one studies.

@CaptainHarley Very glad to hear the report of your cancer in remission.

Most importantly congrats on your good news!

I don’t particularly see education as an end to itself simply because you become educated for a purpose, even if that’s as simple as enjoying the process of discovery and relishing in your new found knowledge.

Focusing more on the question though, I would think the core difference is what you get out of it along the way. If you walk the path to get from A to B you will be rewarded when you reach B. However if you walk the path for the sake of the journey, you will be rewarded each step of the way. With perhaps the greatest implication being if the first person falls from the path they may never reach their reward, whereas the second may regret having not finished but will have the pleasure of all they learned and experienced along the way.

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. I believe if you go to school, or take classes it should be the means to an end. Whatever you learn should be to further your career or start one. What would be the wisdom of gaining a PhD in anthropogenic etc and never use it less your own enlightenment? I am sure there are people who would love to be “professional students” never getting finished but we have so little time here and the quicker you can get busy about it the better you will be when you are old.

@Hypocrisy_Central but a professional student (especially in PhD fields) does get busy and furthers understanding on many important subjects – we all contribute to the world differently – I can’t imagine that a person in a dead-end, uninspiring, 9–5 office job can do more for the world than a person that conducts research to help others.

@Hypocrisy_Central In my case, finishing a “useless” PhD is an end in itself. It’s a short- term goal in the process of justifying my continued existence. A suicide-prevention strategy in a way. I don’t know what I’ll do after completing it. Right now 2–3 years is as far in advance as I can see.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I was more thinking of what the person was to do or had to for their own personal situation not so much including if that action was to the greater of society; in the end we will have to account to ourselves 1st ;-)

Congratulations on your remission and may it go on and on. Your question is excellent. I graduated from college at the usual age and went on to have several successful careers. Then, when I was in my 60s, I decided I wanted to rekindle an old passion and learn how to write plays, so I took several writing courses at a community college. I, of course, was the oldest student in the room—older by far than even the teacher. But I loved being there of my own accord. I didn’t care about grades, all I wanted was learn. I had a ball. And not only did I learn how to write plays, I also made friends with whom I still correspond. I also realized that if I’d loved my classes in college as much as did in my later years, heck. I might be another Arthur Miller.

I don’t take a utilitarian view of education, even though it is undeniably useful. Since my own college years back in the 1960s and 1970s, I have believed that you get your education for your life and not for a job. The idea that a degree would guarantee you a better job was always a bit of smoke, and more so now than ever, when no one is guaranteed a job and no one who has a job can consider it secure. But you still have your life to lead.

Here is what it means to me to get an education for your life, especially an education in the humanities:

— It gives you a framework for interpreting experience.
— It puts the human condition into perspective.
— It enriches your inner life by giving you things to think about and ways to think about them.
— It enables you to talk intelligently on a variety of subjects and opens you up to acquiring more learning from books, from the world, and from others around you.
— It makes you more interesting to yourself. You bore yourself less.
— It stretches you. You grow new muscles. You’re stronger.
— It’s entertaining.

I’ve retired from the cubicle life, and I get a senior discount when I go to the movies, yet I am back in school now for the fun of it.

@Jeruba I will not attempt to improve on your excellent answer!

@CaptainHarley It’s your life, I hope it will go on for many many years, you have the right to live it as you choose and you require the approval of no one. I’m sure your wife will support your choice.

@Jeruba… Great answer! : )) I agree.

@Dr_Lawrence… She already does. Thank you! : ))

Education is never wasted..
We learn throughout our lives, and act on this learning.
The certificate you get at the end of it really doesn’t matter if you are learning for YOURSELF.
But it will broaden your outlook on life, give you something to strive for, and most of all give you a reason to keep going.
Go for it I say!!

@stranger_in_a_strange_land Go for it !!! Then you can decide what to do once you have reached your goal.
You never know something wonderful might happem while you are travelling that road.
I hope so for your sake.

@partyparty

How very kind of you. Thank you! : ))