This paper uses the occasion of reviewing three books on university issues and higher education to discuss the ability of university faculty to enter into dialogue and discussion about higher education. The paper reviews the following books: "The Idea of a Modern University" (edited by Sidney Hook and others) a book which presents the views of professors assembled in 1972 at Rockefeller University (New York); "Qualitative Inquiry in Education: The Continuing Debate" (edited by Elliot W. Eisner and Alan Peshkin) a volume published following a conference in 1988 at Stanford University (California); and "Leadership for the Twenty-First Century" (Joseph C. Rost). The review argues that these books illustrate that university faculty members do not know how to discuss educational issues openly and constructively. Higher education must strive to discuss its mission and goals more constructively in light of empirical knowledge, analytical thought, and logical reasoning; that universities must give more attention to institutional leadership and the training and preparation of their own leaders; and that the divisiveness of campus politics precludes informed, deliberative, and constructive consideration of the universities' problems and issues. (Includes 13 footnotes.) (JB)