isn't the lesson that we need people to study political science right now?
That's a quite literal interpretation of the quote, which I did not intend. John Adams studied political science because his business was the business of government. Studying political science today -- as an otherwise directionless middle-class student relying on loans and scholarships for tuition -- is not really hearing the call to favour pragmatism I believe Adams had intended.
> That's a quite literal interpretation of the quote, which I did not intend.
Yes, but considering the contemporary assault on democracy and the rule of law, it seems apt.
> the call to favour pragmatism I believe Adams had intended
It depends on what you mean by pragmatism. I'd call it public pragmatism, not mere private pragmatism. Adams calls it his "duty" to study, and goes on to talk about the "liberty" and "right" to student other subjects. The obvious interpretation, I think, especially given who Adams is and his role in the founding of the US, is that he has the obligation to fight for democracy and liberty. Otherwise, he could probably just accumulate person wealth and allow his literal descendants, and those only, to study whatever they want.
I'm actually not an American and I don't reject the proposal outright. I think the pragmatic approach is still best though: study polisci if you are actually serious about going into politics (or at least policy). But if you don't know what you want to do with your life then it's not a great idea to go into the humanities and hope for the best (while racking up a lot of debt).
Yeah going all in into political science is a bit risky, but just including some course is free and might help understanding society issues and political manipulation.
Oh yeah. I studied mathematics but I took a minor in philosophy. I studied philosophy of economics and philosophy of law, in addition to the usual metaphysics and epistemology stuff.
That's a quite literal interpretation of the quote, which I did not intend. John Adams studied political science because his business was the business of government. Studying political science today -- as an otherwise directionless middle-class student relying on loans and scholarships for tuition -- is not really hearing the call to favour pragmatism I believe Adams had intended.