This is a popularization of contemporary philosophy, a piece of cultural criticism, a history of Western thought and a response to the New Atheists. We are left as helpless subjects in a tyranny of intellectual conformity.Įdward Feser, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California, seeks to free us from such a tyranny in his remarkable book The Last Superstition. Without the benefit of history and philosophy we are at the mercy of whatever intellectual fashion happens to be in vogue. History provides the modern world with a rich intellectual and experiential resource, which allows us to see radically different answers to practical problems and to conceive alternatives to modern prejudices and biases. The historian John Tosh responded that Clarke’s pronouncement depended on a remarkable lack of historical sense. It might be nice to keep the occasional mediaevalist around for “decorative purposes”, but Britain should really only invest cash in subjects that produced practical results. History, philosophy and literature were luxury goods perhaps the idle rich could dally in them, but they should not expect the tax payer to foot the bill. Universities should only focus on subjects that benefitted society, like engineering and science. In 2003 Britains’ education secretary, Charles Clarke declared that British Universities existed to serve the economy. The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism
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