RECOMMENDS PHILOSOPHY BE REQUIRED

In the second place the report takes up the Philosophy Requirement. "If it should be true as some of the ablest minds of the present day believe, that science has its limits and cannot explain the whole of life: if it should be true that, in addition to the world of external nature which science is learning to control, there is also a world of internal nature which religion or philosophy must teach the individual to control, then education cannot rest content with half of life, but must attempt to teach the whole.

"At the present time, when organized religion has ceased to command the allegiance of large numbers of students, it becomes urgently necessary that the college teach the business of life in all its aspects. In view of the current conflict between religion and science, a general knowledge of philosophy is equally important to the educated men as a general knowledge of science. The committee recommends, therefore, that a course in Philosophy be made a requirement for distribution without the alternative of Mathematics.

PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTIANITY SHOULD BE STUDIED

"In order to realize the larger purpose of philosophy which the committee has in mind in advancing this recommendation, it will be necessary to reorganize Philosophy A upon a new plan. . . . Philosophy A should remain a survey course but it should abandon the attempt to present the subject historically. . . . The main purpose of the course should be to offer the student a sound basis upon which to build his own philosophy by giving him rounded estimates of a few of the most important interpretations of life.

"The course should present the philosophy of Plato, that of Aristotle, of the Stoics, of Kant of one of the moderns, say Bergson, and possibly one or two others. In addition to these individual philosophies, the committee recommends the innovation of including the philosophy of Christianity in the work of the course. This suggestion is not made in a missionary or crusading spirit, but is dictated as a remedy for the prevailing ignorance concerning so important a subject. . . .

TUTORIAL SYSTEM NOT PERFECTED YET

"The building of character, it is thought, is the duty of the home and the Church. But when organized religion breaks down, as it now has in the case of many students, the conditions are changed. The college is then confronted with a new problem, namely, that of enabling the student to work out a rational view of life which accords with the teachings of science but which also takes into account those higher truths of character which science cannot teach. For the latter the student must go to philosophy. A course in philosophy is therefore the natural complement of a course in science."

Section V takes up the tutorial system in great detail. The committee regards the system as basically sound, but believes it has certain faults arising from individual practices on the part of tutors and students which should be recognized. A tabular study of departments brings out the fact that there are too few tutors in certain departments particularly in English and Romance languages. The report deplores the tendency of certain tutors to coach students specifically for the examinations, as well as that tendency sometimes noted for the tutor to devote the conference hour to lecture practice. It is recommended that tutors be made more generally accessible to students but at the same time be allowed to devote certain hours to undisturbed privacy. The advisability of having more professors engage in tutoring is also stressed, and it is recommended that the requirements for a degree in the various departments be laid upon a uniform plan.

Section VI deals with the General Examinations. It is the opinion of the committee that the Senior year in college should be the most profitable and enjoyable of the four, but that, at present, Seniors, especially those who are candidates for distinction, tend rather to look upon their last year as "a nightmare." In Sophomore and Junior years tutorial work is given too little importance, with the result that the Senior year is overburdened.

DISTINCTION RULES NEED JACKING UP

"The committee believes that this condition is the most serious defect in the operation of the tutorial system, and that the remedy lies in finding some method of giving tutorial work its proper due in the earlier years. . . . The following plan is proposed:

"1. That candidates for distinction who must acquire a much more, thorough knowledge than non-distinction candidates and who, therefore, find it most necessary to reap the full benefit of tutorial work in Sophomore and Junior years be required to complete the general knowledge of their field of concentration by the end of their Junior year;

"2. That such candidates be required to pass at that time a general written examination in order to qualify as candidates for distinction;

"3. That students who pass successfully the Junior generals be required in their Senior year to do intensive study and research under the guidance of the tutors upon some topic which they be restricted field upon which they be required to write a thesis, the standard of which should be higher than the standard now set for distinction theses.