Economics, Competition and Academia: An Intellectual History of Sophism versus Virtue

Donald Stabile places current concerns over the commercialization of academia in a historical context by describing the long-standing question of the extent to which market economics can and should be applied to higher education. The debate between Plato and Aristotle on one side and sophists on the other provides a foundation for the modern debate of endowment versus tuition models.

The author tackles the intellectual discourse over the mission of higher education and the effect markets an...