ABSTRACT
Teachers of the humanities – by which I mean here in particular history, philosophy, and literature – have often prided themselves on learning for its own sake: the idea that their subjects may be of some mundane practical use has even been seen as somehow demeaning – as potentially detracting from the value of what they do. And, periodically faced with the philistinism of politicians (seemingly of all political persuasions) obsessed with undefined ‘clear usefulness’,2 I have personally shared that view: assaulted by demands for ‘relevance’ and the transmission of ‘transferable skills’, I too have insisted on the inherent value of the humanities themselves, and on their value as enhancing the more ‘spiritual’ (and in practical terms maybe even ‘useless’) side of human life, on their contribution to the Socratic ideal of cultivating the soul.
