What Is Education Really For?

Modern education suffers from a foundational crisis because it prioritizes technical methods over the ultimate purpose of human existence. By operating within a "sandbox of means"—focusing on standardized testing, curriculum, and funding—institutions avoid defining what a human being is for, effectively smuggling in unexamined, non-neutral philosophies. This systemic failure stems from a "fact-value" split that relegates moral truths to private opinion, while influential theories from Rousseau and Dewey prioritize self-expression and perpetual growth over virtue and objective reality. Consequently, students are often reduced to economic units or consumers of sensation rather than rational creatures. A recovery of education requires returning to Christian humanism, where the intellect is trained for freedom and the heart is formed toward the good, ultimately reorienting the entire educational process toward the formation of saints rather than mere economic utility.