What is the value of education? To answer that question, one must first define “value”. Most would define value as the worth of said object. Many people would say that the worth of education is what it brings to students. Regardless of how the value of education is perceived, many of history’s most famous philosophers and writers like Paulo Freire, Frederick Douglass, and Martha Nussbaum all seem to agree on the same general idea: the value of education is the empowerment that it gives people.
Paulo Freire states in his essay “The Banking Concept of Education,” that the world has perceived education in a certain was and has adopted a form of education that is very useless. This form of education, also known as “the banking concept”, is described …show more content…
In his essay “Learning to Read,” Douglass expresses how education allowed him to realize the injustices of slavery. After reading and learning about Richard Sheridan’s speeches on emancipation, Douglass states, “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” (Douglass 27). Douglass refers to this new knowledge as possibly a curse rather than a blessing (Douglass 27). He explains, “It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 27). Douglass is expressing how when he found out how cruel and wrong slavery was, he would have rather been as clueless about it as his fellow slaves in order to avoid feeling the amount of fury and hatred towards the people oppressing the slaves. While there may have been some “bad” from becoming knowledgeable, Douglass’ biggest benefit from education was to be able to accomplish his greatest goal: to become free. Through his ability to read and write, Douglass knew he would eventually be able to write his own pass to freedom (Douglass
Paulo Freire states in his essay “The Banking Concept of Education,” that the world has perceived education in a certain was and has adopted a form of education that is very useless. This form of education, also known as “the banking concept”, is described …show more content…
In his essay “Learning to Read,” Douglass expresses how education allowed him to realize the injustices of slavery. After reading and learning about Richard Sheridan’s speeches on emancipation, Douglass states, “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” (Douglass 27). Douglass refers to this new knowledge as possibly a curse rather than a blessing (Douglass 27). He explains, “It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 27). Douglass is expressing how when he found out how cruel and wrong slavery was, he would have rather been as clueless about it as his fellow slaves in order to avoid feeling the amount of fury and hatred towards the people oppressing the slaves. While there may have been some “bad” from becoming knowledgeable, Douglass’ biggest benefit from education was to be able to accomplish his greatest goal: to become free. Through his ability to read and write, Douglass knew he would eventually be able to write his own pass to freedom (Douglass