God and the ProfessorsDespite such blandishments, I repeat my charge. The professors, by and large, are positivists. And, furthermore, I say that the most serious threat to Democracy is the positivism of the professors, which dominates every aspect of modern education and is the central corruption of modern culture. Democracy has much more to fear from the mentality of its teachers than from the nihilism of Hitler. It is the same nihilism in both cases, but Hitler's is more honest and consistent, less blurred by subtleties and queasy qualifications, and hence less dangerous. I shall return to this point after I have supported my charge.
OUR EDUCATION CANNOT SUPPORT DEMOCRACY
By MORTIMER J. ADLER, University of Chicago
Delivered at the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion, held in New York, September 10, 1940
Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol VII, pp. 98-103