Human Flourishing and Higher Education

<p class=ql-align-justify>This book provides a more overarching inclusive appraisal of human flourishing especially as it applies to the larger society and higher education. In an increasingly fractured world it is imperative that both internal (individual) attributes of that notion be juxtaposed with external (social economic and political) factors that may either enhance or constrain development toward a more fulsome realization of human flourishing. The text focuses more on external contingencies since that side of the equation has been more submerged through history than the former model. Thus the chapters take on a kind of Deweyan approach in that they simultaneously treat school and society rather than a narrow look at only higher education. The methodological lenses for the book include critical pedagogy critical social theory philosophical analysis and qualitative research.</p><p class=ql-align-justify> </p><p class=ql-align-justify>The volume uses the term human flourishing as opposed to human thriving because (1) it connotes a fuller flavor for the means and ends in developing both individuals and societies; (2) thriving sometimes connotes a sense of status a problematic aspirational goal; (3) more universities and colleges are creating centers for human flourishing as in the case of Baylor Harvard Notre Dame of Maryland and Stanford. In sum human flourishing seems more attuned to the larger aims of liberal education building a good life and a saner society and the forging of continuous efforts toward higher ethical aims. Indeed it is more synonymous with fulsome growth in individual identity and the enrichment of cultural development within a pluralistic world.</p>