Literacy has become a popular topic for scholarly investigation in recent years. Historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, and educationists, among others, have contributed to the development of 'literacy studies' as a field of inquiry. This thesis concentrates on the conceptual and ethical dimensions of literacy. The central argument is that people ought to become critically literate. This idea is developed and defended through a detailed examination of the work of Paulo Freire, and applied in evaluating contemporary debates in First World universities. The first chapter focuses on three broad literatures. A brief critique of adult literacy research is followed by a more extensive review of the wider literacy studies literature. Four areas are highlighted for comment: the oral-literate divide; the relationship between literacy and economic growth; literacy, reproduction and resistance; and postmodernist perspectives on literacy. A case for further conceptual and ethical work on literacy is advanced. Attention then turns to controversies over 'political correctness', canons and core curricula in higher education. The potential value of literacy studies scholarship for assessing debates in these areas is noted, and the merits of concentrating on Freire are considered. Freire's ideas are outlined and analysed in chapter two. Emphasis is placed on the importance of contextualized, holistic, anti-reductionist, critical readings in approaching Freire from the First World. The major tenets of Freire's philosophy are summarized, and key features of Freirean pedagogy are discussed. Liberating education, for Freire, is critical, dialogical and praxical. An exploration of Freire's theory and practice reveals a multifaceted notion of critical literacy, built around the central theme of 'reading the word and the world'. Freire speaks of critically engaging both texts and contexts, and of transforming the 'text' that is social reality itself. The third chapter addresses some of the conceptual problems signalled in chapter one. The chapter offers a framework for analysing definitions and constructs of literacy, and applies this in evaluating quantitative, qualitative and pluralist responses to the question 'What is literacy?'. Pluralist stances appear to have the most to offer in understanding the multiplicity of distinct social forms reading and writing assume. The chapter advances the view that literacies are non-neutral and not necessarily worthwhile. The value of a given form of literacy, it is maintained, can only be determined through reference to a substantive ethical position. Chapter four responds to criticisms of the assumptions which underpin Freire's ethical and educational ideal. The notion of conscientization provides the central focus throughout the chapter. Freire's pedagogy is defended at some length against strong attacks from Berger, Walker and Bowers. Programmes of literacy education, it is argued, are necessarily interventionist. Freire's promotion of critical consciousness in his work with illiterate adults in Brazil, while not without its problems and contradictions, is ultimately supported. The chapter also considers postmodern critiques of universalist thought, and reaffirms the need for political commitment in times of dramatic change and uncertainty. An individualist reading of critical consciousness is rejected, and the concept of conscientization is reappraised in light of the postmodern recognition of multiple subjectivities. The final chapter brings ideas from earlier parts of the thesis to bear on a discussion of battles over political correctness, 'Great Books', and the university curriculum. The chapter takes the position that Freire would oppose educational policies and practices premised on politically correct assumptions. This proposition is contingent upon a particular definition of 'political correctness': one which specifies intolerance of, or deliberate neglect of, opposing views as the pivotal criterion. Two main groups in the war over 'the canon' are identified: traditionalists and reformists. After finding fault with ideas from both sides of the debate, an alternative position is articulated. Building on the discussion of conscientization and critical literacy in earlier chapters, a programme based on the in-depth, dialogical examination of a small number of texts from a range of perspectives is outlined.