It's Ultimately The Purpose Of Education To

Very Often When We Aim At The Best, Or What We May Think Is The Best For Our Children, We Aim Really At Lesser Things, Such As Getting Into A Certain College.

One Of The Appeals Of Markets, As A Public Philosophy, Is They Seem To Spare Us The Need To Engage In Public Arguments About The Meaning Of Goods. So Markets Seem To Enable Us To Be Non-judgmental About Values. But I Think That's A Mistake.

Today If You Look At Most Economic Textbooks, Economics Is Not Defined By Subject Matter. It's Presented As A Science Of Social Choice That Applies Not Only To Material Goods - Not Only To Flat-screen Televisions - But To Every Decision We Make, Whether It's To Get Married, Or To Stay Married, Whether To Have Children And How To Educate Those Children, Or How To Look After Our Health.

I Do Think It Is Very Important That The Religious Communities Do Try To Bring Their Teachings And Their Insights To Bear On The Stem Cell Debate And On The Debate About Genetic Engineering.

I Think The Reason We Might Hesitate To Pay Cash To Students For Doing Well On Tests Or Getting Good Grades Or Reading Books Is That We Sense That The Monetary Payment Is An Extrinsic Reward.