Book Review | Let's Be Reasonable
- Greg McNeilly
- Dec 10, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 19

LET’S BE REASONABLE: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education | Jonathan Marks, Princeton University Press (2021), 231p.
Marks pushes conservatives to reform the academy rather than abandon it. He first tackles common stereotypes and misconceptions about the sources of the failure of higher education economics. Then, and more interestingly, he makes the case for embracing the fundamentals of a liberal (small L) education.
Here, Marks pays homage to those who sought to bring elements of the “elite” subjects to the economically distressed.
The author rejects the utilitarian claims for a purpose amongst higher education planners who often use adjectives like “integrative, interdisciplinary, interconnected, entrepreneurial, twenty-first century, complex, dynamic, and problem-solving...” Nor does the writer support the outcome of a certain kind of “cultural literacy” or the massive production of, in Locke’s terms, those who are “logical chicaners.”
In the end, Marks argues for a system that produces productive pluralism, the open inquiry that buttressed the creation of the Enlightenment and the attendant Industrial Revolution.
Academic freedom only matters when at least two competing ideas can clash - if only one is present, debate is not. The range and veracity of discussion are a keen indicator of the academy's health and worth.