America’s elite universities have come to understand themselves as engines of meritocracy, selecting the most accomplished and gifted students and providing them with an education and academic credentials that will help to propel them into positions of influence and authority. The meritocratic ideal is often criticized on egalitarian grounds, but there are other, less obvious, problems that meritocracy brings in tow, including its effects on the character of future elites. Without a countervailing principle, meritocracy erodes social solidarity and fosters flat souls. Christopher Lasch and Michael Young provide invaluable guides as we seek to understand the perils of meritocracy and search for an ideal of education that seeks to combine excellence and humility.

Luke Foster is Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Political Science at the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government, University of Notre Dame.

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