Key Concepts Made Simple
- Common Sense Realism (Then)
- What it is: The belief that some truths are obvious to everyone (“self-evident”), like “treat others fairly” or “fire burns.”
- History:
- Taught at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale in the 1700s-1800s.
- Inspired America’s Founders. Phrases like “all men are created equal” come from this idea.
- Philosophers like Thomas Reid argued that everyday common sense helps us understand truth.
- Postmodernism (Now)
- What it is: The belief that truth is relative, not universal. For example, “What’s true for you might not be true for me.”
- Impact on Universities:
- Schools like Harvard now often teach that truth depends on culture, identity, or personal experience.
- This clashes with older ideas like “self-evident truths” or shared American values.
Harvard’s Big Shift
Then (1800s):
- Colleges aimed to create citizens who thought “like Americans,” using common sense to guide debates.
- Example: The Founders used Reid’s ideas to argue for equality and liberty.
Now (2020s):
- Critics say universities dismiss common sense and focus on questioning if universal truths exist.
- Example: A Supreme Court Justice (Harvard-trained) once said she couldn’t define “woman” because it’s “context-specific.”
Why Does This Matter?
- Campus Protests: Some students reject traditional American values, protesting with slogans like “America is built on oppression.” The author argues this stems from universities teaching skepticism toward the Founders’ ideals.
- Identity Over Unity: Postmodernism emphasizes differences (race, gender) over shared truths, which critics say divides people.
The Bottom Line
For over 100 years, colleges taught students to trust common sense and embrace America’s founding principles. Today, many schools encourage questioning whether those principles are valid—or even real. The author believes this shift explains why institutions like Harvard now face debates about truth, identity, and national values.