Precis Portal
Solved Precis
2003
Original Passage
If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good members of a society. Its ah is the art of social life, and its end is fitness for the world. It neither confines its views to particular professions on the one hand, not creates heroes or inspires genius on the other. Works indeed of genius fall under no art; heroic minds come under no rule; a University is not a birthplace of poets or of immortal authors, of founders of schools, leaders of colonies, or conquerors of nations. It does not promise a generation of Aristotle or Newton’s of Napoleons or Washington’s of Raphael’s or Shakespeares though such miracles of nature it has before now contained within its precincts. Nor is it content on the other hand with forming the critic or the experimentalist, the economist or the engineer, through such too it includes within its scope. But a University training is the great ordinary means to a great ordinary end; it aims at raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying true principles to popular aspirations. It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them, it teaches him to see things as they arc, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought, to detect what is sophistical and to - discard what is irrelevant. It prepares him to fill any post with credit, and to master any subject with facility.
Title
The Practical Aims of University Education
Solved Precis
The essential, practical purpose of a University is to train good members of a society, equipping individuals for "the art of social life" and "fitness for the world". It is neither intended to produce geniuses (like poets or conquerors) nor merely specialized professionals (like critics or engineers). Instead, university training serves as the conventional method for achieving a common goal: elevating society's intellectual tone, cultivating public thought, and guiding popular aspirations with "true principles". This education grants individuals clear judgment, eloquence, and the ability to detect fallacies and discard irrelevant arguments. Consequently, it prepares a man to fill any post and master any subject with facility and creditably.