Something like L'Abri

If we really got serious about our love for wisdom, what would it look like?

What would it mean to make free inquiry a priority?

What would happen if all the soon-to-be disenfranchised philosophy professors started to feel their oats?

My thoughts, positively asserted:

It would mean starting an academy. It would mean locating this academy on a farm. It would mean offering students from any background the chance to master themselves. It would mean offering a life to philosophers and hence to the surrounding community.

Why a farm? Well, so that one can take advantage of the natural symbiosis of land and laborer. Men need to eat, but they only eat wisely when they understand the land. Thus, farming is an education in natural science and humility, in human anatomy and psychology. Also, students need to learn logic and languages before they can really appreciate classic works. This type of education can be easily incorporated into songs which fill the mind while the hands are at work. Give us two years and you'll have earned your keep. Also, you'll have learned Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Congratulations, now you're literate.

The farm is not only valuable because it posits so many opportunities for formation, but also because it offers a relatively high state of financial freedom to the institution. Also, many philosophers will find themselves running their own farms after they graduate, simply because this lifestyle affords them the greatest freedom to think and say what they please. Also, one who loves wisdom will naturally love himself and his body, seeking to eat pure foods and to understand the origins of his subsistence.

The farm will allow students to enter without any form of payment. All that is required is that they have no outstanding debts. They must be free to study, but can then study freely. This also means that there are no limits on how long a student can remain a student. Some may never graduate, but find that they prefer to serve the academy. All students earn their keep, so it's no loss either way. The staff are compensated by being housed and fed in quarters of their design, and through modest salaries raised through the publication of academic work and the sale of the goods of the farm. The institution will also keep a percentage of the income for its own endowment, for security against drought and disaster.

The farm will also form a school for the community to be run on the grounds. It has already been stated that novices will work as farm hands until they graduate to their coursework, but once they have begun their coursework, they will still earn their keep. They will become instructors to the children and adults of the community, offering continually running courses in language arts, natural sciences, mathematics, and even common skills. This school will also be run without charge to the student, and will accept anyone who can make it to the school house on time, without regard to their race, gender, creed, age or ability. This means that even exceptional individuals with developmental deficits can take the course on reading, even repeating the course ten times or more before moving on. This is how students will learn to teach, to have empathy, to understand the relevance of higher learning, and earn their place within the community.

After completing their thesis, which will be the property of the academy and will be published for profit (if it is deemed profitable), the student will become a professor of philosophy in his own right. He will then be free, without any debt, to create his own academy, apply for work as a master in that academy, run for public office, start his own business, or whatever he desires.

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I'd love to hear your comments on why this or something similar isn't a good idea, or simply wouldn't work. Perhaps it comes down to this simple proposition: maybe we just don't love wisdom this much...