A critical ethic in a knowledge economy: research degree candidates in the workplace

This paper provides a philosophical viewpoint to questions regarding the role and purpose of the research degree. Drawing on non-binary accounts of knowledge within the philosophical tradition, it argues against the instrumentalist conception of applied knowledge evident within higher education policy. The paper identifies a critical ethic at work within the views of research candidates who do a research degree to complement an established professional career. A parallel is identified between the critical ethic that is evident within professional's conceptions of the role and value of a research degree and the notion of philosophy as a way of life that was prevalent in antiquity. The implications for research pedagogy of treating criticality as a way of life are then explored through Ronald Barnett's alternative model for higher education as a facilitator of 'critical being'.