ABSTRACT

The therapeutic turn in education can be explained as the increasing emphasis on emotion over the intellect. It might seem that Oxford, or any university, might be immune from the therapeutic turn as the duty of academia is primarily an intellectual one, the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Ron Barnett saw the 'therapeutic university' in more positive terms as a conceptual development, a possible new vision of a university offering individual and social therapy to deal with uncertainties about life as well as uncertainties about knowledge. If life in higher education is to be worth living, the therapeutic turn has to be recognized and rejected in favour of a Socratic turn. It is something every academic can do. They can argue and criticize everything, and there are encouraging signs that a Socratic turn is possible.