ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we were concerned with the principles of justice which determine the individual's rightful share in whatever provision is made by his society for the continuing education of its adult members. We did not venture to discuss the principles of justice which a society ought to observe in determining what proportion of its overall resources it ought rightfully to devote to this whole form of educational provision, and indeed it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to lay down any very definite or exact rules by appeal to which this latter question could be settled, since there are so many different and rapidly changing demands on a country's resources and the degree of priority to which continuing lifelong education is entitled will necessarily vary according to the varying influence of the many different kinds of factor which go to make up the sum total of a country's fortunes and prospects. The share of its resources which can rightfully be devoted to the liberal education of adults when a country is at peace with its neighbours and enjoying great domestic prosperity, for example, will nearly always be very much higher than when that country is facing a dire and imminent military threat or when it is in the depths of a severe economic depression.
