“a ‘narrow sense’ of the academic vocation that precludes saving the world”
Some academics, he says, either do not know what their job is or prefer
to do something else. He recommends a "narrow sense" of the academic
vocation that precludes saving the world, a mission for which academics
have no special qualifications. Universities talk about making students
sensitive, compassionate, tolerant, democratic, etc., but those bland
adjectives often are packed with political agendas. The "focused"
academic vocation that Fish favors is spacious enough for actual
academic skills involving "the transmission of knowledge and the
conferring of analytical skills."
(George Will, Washington Post, 11/27/2008, while speaking of Stanley Fish's book, "Save the World on Your Own Time.")
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