ABSTRACT
One might accept the importance of civic virtue for democracy but deny that it is the role of universities to teach it. Hence, this chapter makes the case that cultivating civic virtue ought to be one of the aims of higher education. It does so partly by reflecting on the general purposes of education and the role of higher education within an education system, but also by considering and rejecting several objections to this claim. These objections include democratic arguments, such as ones that appeal to a fear of elitism and academic arguments concerning the scientific mission of universities.
