Acquiring Habits as the Ultimate Objective of Higher Education

Abstract

This study begins with a series of general considerations on the context of higher education and the conceptual basis for study habits. A distinction is made between two types: thought habits and study habits. There is, however, a unity or harmony between them, as it is difficult, if not impossible for our intellectual capacity to develop without study. Several aspects associated with the “crisis in higher education” are analyzed, and the author suggests the university’s primary goal for society is not productive or useful in nature, but to increase, at the very least, the virtuous common good of its citizens. To do so, the university must add to the personal virtue of each if its students. Given the crisis in higher education, it is felt that study habits can be a strategy to influence students’ and teachers’ relationship with knowledge; that is, with intellectual habits, which can be acquired only by achieving the truth. This is an important aspect to emphasize. There are sections on teaching and higher education, the values of the university teacher, research on study habits and the meaning of the university, and the person as the subject of education.