Sir, – As a faculty member of a technological university, I was taken aback by Prof Maggie Cusack's comments, as quoted in "'We won't be teaching philosophy': Meet Ireland's five newest universities" (Education,, December 21st).
To suggest that philosophy has no place in educational institutions which prepare students for the workplace is, in my opinion, wrong.
I hope that the new technological universities are discussing important issues of critical thinking, ethics and moral judgment with all of their students. Science and technology have their origins in natural philosophy. Leadership education engages Aristotelian questions of virtue and self-efficacy. And surely Prof Cusack knows that two philosophical traditions underpin all applied research: what is reality (ontology) and what is knowledge (epistemology)?
To cast philosophy aside is a failure to recognise what it has to offer. Deeply philosophical questions, such as what kind of world do we wish to create for future generations, underpin the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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It is only in preparing our students to think meaningfully about our place and footprint in the world that we can hope to create a more sustainable future. Technological universities have a central role in achieving this. – Yours, etc,
Dr NIAMH IMBUSCH,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – In my letter of December 22nd, I mistakenly attributed remarks to Tom Boland that should have been attributed to Prof Maggie Cusack. Apologies. – Yours, etc,
CONNELL VAUGHAN,
Dublin 7.