On Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:37:54 +0000 (UTC) 123hop at comcast.net writes:
> This essay is a mess. The "humanities" predate the industrial revo as
> the "trivium" constituted an aspect of higher learning since the
> middle ages.
Well, Eagleton says that it the humane disciplines "in their present form" which emerged in the 18th century, presumably, as opposed to their earlier forms such as the trivium of the medieval universities. I think he is basically correct here. Certainly, universities in their modern form began to take shape in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the advent of the French university model in the wake of the French Revolution, and the emergence of the German university model in the wake of reforms promoted by Wilhelm von Humboldt, based on Schleiermacher's ideas on higher education. Humboldt's reforms led to the development of the modern research university in Germany.
>
> Moreover the humanities will not disappear from all universities;
> they will remain in the elite institutions (at least in the U.S.),
> where they will be taken up by the children of the rich, who can
> afford to pursue non-practical ends. The humanities will then become
> the domain of courtiers and revolutionaries.
But at least for 90% of students, the humanities will be but a memory.
>
> As for the humanities existing apart from other disciplines....that
> has been the case for a long time. In fact, it has been even worse;
> they have been isolated and have attempted to reintegrate themselves
> by becoming "scientific," that is by stripping away their social and
> political dimension and by adding various distorting professional
> jargons.
True enough, but it seems even that is not likely to save the humanities. It's interesting to look at what's been going on in the UK in the last few years. Already, under the previous Labour government, efforts were well underway to close down humanities departments at many universities, a process that will no doubt be accelerated by the cuts being pursued by the current Tory/Liberal government. In the US, the erosion of the humanities has been a much slower, dragged out process, whereas in the UK, things have been proceeding in a much more dramatic manner.
>
> J.
>
>
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math ____________________________________________________________ How to Stay Asleep Cambridge Researchers have developed an all natural sleep aid just for you. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d0e6a409648786cc39st02vuc