Kepler College - Criticism and Controversy

Criticism and Controversy

The school and the Higher Education Coordinating Board approval have been criticized due to Kepler's focus on astrology. One critic affiliated with the University of Washington compared the study of astrology to the study of tae kwon do or quack medicine. The school's name also has been a subject of comment. John Silber, the chancellor of Boston University suggested that the name "honored Kepler not for his strength but for his weakness, as if a society advocating drunkenness named a school for Ernest Hemingway." Silber noted, "The fact is that astrology, whether judged by its theory or its practice, is bunkum. In a free society there is no reason to prevent those who wish to learn nonsense from finding teachers who want to make money peddling nonsense. But it is inexcusable for the government to certify teachers of nonsense as competent or to authorize — that is, endorse — the granting of degrees in nonsense." Ironically, Kepler himself took a dim view of astrology. Sir Oliver Lodge observed that Kepler "is continually attacking and throwing sarcasm at astrology, but it was the only thing for which people would pay him, and on it after a fashion he lived."