Word: formalization
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...confusion of accusations and defenses. On one side, it was reasoned that a university which includes members of many different religions should not officially embrace one to the exclusion of others; and some held further that it was not within the function of the contemporary Harvard to take any formal stand whatsoever concerning religion. The opponents of this view contended that commitment to religion necessitated the choosing of one, that just as a church can not be treated as a "cafeteria," as one professor described it, neither can Harvard be religious, abstractly, without carrying this belief into practice through...
President Pusey noted that the climax of a Harvard education was once a formal course in moral philosophy which constituted the main activity of the Senior year, and was taught by the President of the College. He described this course as "a comprehensive study of human nature, ranging over the whole field of physical, moral, and intellectual philosophy ... it dealt with the individual, the family, and the state; with law and freedom, with practical problems of economics and government, with property rights and slavery, and with questions posed in generation after generation concerning belief ... it never lost sight...
Reinstituting the formal course at Harvard today is almost unthinkable, not because the subject matter has become obsolete, but because the didactic nature and ultimate aims of the course would seem to conflict with other values now implicitly considered more important to the College. One of these values, that of independence, is not strictly speaking a part of the curriculum, but it is talked about often, and its significance is felt in many aspects of Harvard life. Another value, that of critical scholarship, is taught in nearly every course in the University...
...inconsistent to assume that while college students should be treated as adults, their moral education should be attended to more closely. The banishment of religion from the formal province of the university does not remove the responsibility for moral education; on the contrary, it makes the problem more difficult. President Pusey has asserted that these things cannot be taught. Nevertheless, an awareness and concern on the part of the College is necessary if they are to be learned...
...performance of miracles. To this question, the church brings the meticulous accounting of a bank examiner, the ferreting instincts of a good detective, and the judicial lore of centuries of precedents. In practice, these are embodied in an initial diocesan investigation of claims to sainthood, followed by a formal examination before an appointed court of the Congregation of Rites in Rome. Even when the claims are upheld by the court, decades, years or centuries may elapse before the Pope's official ruling...