C.S. Lewis on Higher Education

Why pursue a university education? Some people answer in terms of the purpose of getting a good job. Others respond in terms of the aim of earning more money. Still others answer in terms of the goal of promoting social justice. Drawing on C. S. Lewis’s belief that the purpose of life is the experience of perfect happiness, Stewart Goetz explains Lewis’s simple but overlooked view that a person should pursue a university education for the pleasure that comes from higher-level intellectual activity. Goetz not only sharpens our understanding of Lewis’s life and work in higher education, but also leads us to question why we attend, study, teach, or research at a university.