Why are they Bothering?

Why are they bothering with such a tiny department?

It’s symbolic.

But philosophy’s a joke subject now – everyone knows that. A boutique subject. A museum subject. Like when you visit dramatic re-enactment events and all these people play the roles of blacksmiths and tavern wenches or whatever. We’re playing a role.

I mean, most the departments of proper European philosophy have been closed or infiltrated by analytic types. Warwick and Essex have fallen. Dundee’s down to, like, three people. Or they they’ve been merged with daft departments. We’re not just an endangered species – we’re actually extinct. So why are they bothering with us?

 

We’re the last mad humanities outpost. The true humanities. Not the compromised humanities. Not the identity politics humanities. Not the theory-drunk humanities, frothing with self-righteousness. But the proper critical thinking humanities, that’s dead everywhere else …

 

The amazing thing is that our paranoia came in useful for something. Our sense of great forces working against us. Our apocalypticism. Our doomy temperaments. It all makes sense. Turns out we have our role in all this. We’re the only people who understand it in its proper dimensions. We’re actually perfectly equipped for the times.