Critical Thinking, Moral Courage,
and Sustainable Development Goals.
Universities as a Driving Force
for Societal Change
Daniela Dumitru
1 Introduction
The main danger for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is that they
become mere rhetoric, another “glass bead game” (Hesse 2002) which will drop in
the end, disappearing in the sands of forgetfulness. The SDGs are straightforward
elements for change and they can be pursued by everyone, either separately or integrated into more complex sustainability plans. However, they are endangered by
ideology and by just merrily talking about them, without taking any concrete action
to fulfil them.
This paper argues in favor of critical thinking as creating an environment for the
development of the courage that is crucial in attaining the SDGs. Furthermore, the
university is the starting place for the construction of the human personality. The
university should exit its current state of researching in a void by taking its true role
in society: to research for the common good. Hence, the university should reassume
its Humboldtian creed and become teleological and moral. The paper will attempt to
demonstrate that only by placing sustainability as its moral purpose can the university
truly serve society. Moreover, in view of this, courage is always needed to serve the
moral good when facing uncertainty.
The paper brings together three concepts rarely put in one place: critical thinking
(CT), courage, and sustainable development. This adds to its original approach to
the sustainability issue, in the context of encouraging the university to change and
to reassume its moral ground in society. This is a rare approach in the literature
concerning sustainability. The three concepts are often connected two-by-two: for
D. Dumitru (B)
Teacher Training Department, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Piat , a Roman˘ a 6,
Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: daniela.dumitru@ase.ro
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_12
171
and Sustainable Development Goals.
Universities as a Driving Force
for Societal Change
Daniela Dumitru
1 Introduction
The main danger for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is that they
become mere rhetoric, another “glass bead game” (Hesse 2002) which will drop in
the end, disappearing in the sands of forgetfulness. The SDGs are straightforward
elements for change and they can be pursued by everyone, either separately or integrated into more complex sustainability plans. However, they are endangered by
ideology and by just merrily talking about them, without taking any concrete action
to fulfil them.
This paper argues in favor of critical thinking as creating an environment for the
development of the courage that is crucial in attaining the SDGs. Furthermore, the
university is the starting place for the construction of the human personality. The
university should exit its current state of researching in a void by taking its true role
in society: to research for the common good. Hence, the university should reassume
its Humboldtian creed and become teleological and moral. The paper will attempt to
demonstrate that only by placing sustainability as its moral purpose can the university
truly serve society. Moreover, in view of this, courage is always needed to serve the
moral good when facing uncertainty.
The paper brings together three concepts rarely put in one place: critical thinking
(CT), courage, and sustainable development. This adds to its original approach to
the sustainability issue, in the context of encouraging the university to change and
to reassume its moral ground in society. This is a rare approach in the literature
concerning sustainability. The three concepts are often connected two-by-two: for
D. Dumitru (B)
Teacher Training Department, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Piat , a Roman˘ a 6,
Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: daniela.dumitru@ase.ro
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_12
171