Teachers of literature and philosophy possess specialized knowledge, Fish asserted, but they do not have a ministry. The humanities can’t save us, and in fact they don’t really “do” anything, other than give pleasure to “those who enjoy them.” Those of us involved with the humanities should reconcile ourselves to the futility of it all, and embrace our uselessness as a badge of honor. At least that way we can claim that we are engaged in “an activity that refuses to regard itself as instrumental to some larger good.”
This sustained shrug elicited a blast of energetic and mostly negative response from the Times’ online readers.
This is because many Americans, still in thrall to Puritanism, simply cannot think that there can be anything worth doing that doesn't have some practical, uplifting value. It is why Puritanism of every stripe is always anti-human, because the essential note of being human is the capacity to do something just for the sheer fun of it. Hence, the oppressive earnestness of so much critical blather.
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