Abstract

Baumol’s cost disease explains rising costs in education without corresponding increase in productivity. The philosophical meaning of it is in the phenomenon of relational labor that is at the core of education. Its productivity remains constant while cost increases. The total size of education as a non-progressive sector will continue to expand, while progressive sectors of economy will shrink. To avoid large social crises associated with defunding of public education, we must conceive of a cultural shift where relationality becomes the end, while learning—a means of education. The author uses the theory of Trinity developed by early Christian philosophers to construct a framework for such a shift.