Category Archives: academia

The Impersonal University

For this discussion: Mike Rice, the administration and Rutgers faculty | Preserving class at Princeton When I first started in political philosophy, I wondered about the French “liberty, equality, fraternity” versus the whole of American history. All of American history is the tension between liberty and equality, with we the people at various times emphasizing …

April 6, 2013 – 10:39 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia, politics | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

I’m fed up with Megan McArdle’s condescending rants about the academy, even though the picture she paints has a lot of truth

McArdle has another rant about universities and grad school. I don’t feel like saying anything that hasn’t already been said. To sum up previous commentary: I do know academia is in dire need of reform, but I don’t know how much McArdle is helping that cause. See “In Defense of the Liberal Arts” for the …

February 18, 2013 – 5:09 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia | Comments (0)

In Defense of the Liberal Arts

“…in many liberal arts fields, the only possible consumer of the research in question is a handful of scholars in the same field.  That sort of research is valuable in the same way that children’s craft projects are priceless–to their mothers.  Basically, these people are supporting an expensive hobby with a sideline business certifying the …

January 10, 2013 – 9:43 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia | Comments (1)

The State of Philosophy on the Internet

1. Sometimes the Internet and modern media technology are responsible for explosions of new talent. There’s no doubt in my mind we’ve been treated to a bunch of exceptional chess players and some great photographers because of our increasingly digital life. I have reasons to suspect that despite access to a number of terrific resources, …

April 19, 2012 – 5:22 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education, movies | Tagged | Comments (2)

Letter to a Young Intellectual

for Madeline Frohlich – happy birthday Dear Madeline: Humid air yesterday and today weighed us on campus down. It refreshed at first. Before – too much dryness, an annoying cold. A breeze and some accompanying warmth, moisture and sunshine invigorated many. Then we started feeling sluggish and sleepy. I got little done yesterday, a bit …

March 15, 2012 – 3:22 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (0)

Colin McGinn: “…it is really quite clear that academic philosophy is a science.”

Note: someone pointed out that McGinn’s piece is probably satire. I had suspected this, but was looking for “A Modest Proposal” type reasoning. Still, the acronym he uses for his renaming committee is “C.R.A.P.” Is that enough to make this whole thing a joke? I’ll admit I’m not the best at spotting jokes. I did …

March 5, 2012 – 7:16 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (2)

The fight over college athletics is really a fight over what the University means

1. In some ways, it was natural for the university to become a type of sports franchise. I think of the pettiness of various professors, administrators and students I’ve encountered at a number of schools – schools that may not have Division I teams – and can’t help but wonder what end that spirit of …

January 29, 2012 – 9:39 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (0)

The Accessibility of Philosophy

1. At Barnes & Noble today. It looked trashed from holiday shopping. There wasn’t much left on the Philosophy shelves. Very few volumes of Nietzsche or Plato; couldn’t even find a copy of “Twilight and Philosophy” (my favorite book, besides this). The store was also reorganized. Philosophy was back in a corner that it took …

January 5, 2012 – 6:36 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia, education | Comments (1)

Paraphrase of Fr. James Schall’s “The Obsolescence of the Colleges: On the Paperless and Placeless Institution”

Not intended to be a faithful reproduction or report of the original talk, not in the least. Fr. Schall was introduced by Dr. Susan Hanssen as one who could show others how to “think with the mind of the Church.” As will be clear below, I got something very different from his remarks. Only under …

November 5, 2011 – 11:42 pm | By ashok | Posted in academia | Comments (2)

5/9/11

No one mentions how much time the liberal arts takes, and that makes me wonder. I’m seeing a lot of people I know and trust as teachers try to cram 50 million bits of information into their students’ heads – thoughts on things like thumos and logos in Plato’s Republic – with absolutely no consideration …

May 9, 2011 – 3:33 am | By ashok | Posted in academia, education, personal | Comments (2)