Ways forward in the humanities

Abstract

The Humanities are moribund and we cannot identify, let alone pursue, ways forward in the Humanities until we confront what I shall here call "the four tyrannies": the tyrannies of ignorance, of habits, of time and of the self. To address the tyranny of ignorance, we must resolve the challenges of scepticism: for ignorance can function as a shield and excuse, as well as a threat to our deepest desires. To confront the tyranny of habits, habits of mind as well as of behaviour, we must recognise the domain of dogma - the application of yesterday's answers to tomorrow's problems. The tyranny of time forces us to consider the relentless implications of change; for although the traditions of the past alone make the present intelligible, we cannot justify our future actions only in terms of a vanished context. To fight the tyranny of self, we must identify the myriad factors in life which engender and endorse egoism; these include, let me alert you, some central practices within education itself.