The death of philosophy
As a taste of the kind of slashing and burning of all that is held good by the incoming Conservative government in their rush to save £6bn (and create a second recession unwittingly), Middlesex University is closing its philosophy department. Its 1979 all over again. The next generation is going to quickly discover why the Tories are hated so much by lefties. The closure is not going to happen without a fight however; students have occupied a building called Mansion House on the Trent Park campus and are putting on free seminars for the public. Here. As they say,
"Today we announce the opening of an experimental and communal space for educational presentations and conversations at the interface between philosophy, theory, activism and art. Transversal Space is an alternative educational experience in which the boundaries between disciplines and the relations between students and teachers are blurred. Relationships and ideas are explored in an open and collective way continuing the ethos of our philosophy department and its series of events."
You know a society has hit the buffers when it reneges upon the study of philosophy.
Addendum: See the Observer piece today (9th May).
Posts
5 comments:
i'm sorry, but what have the Tories got to do with the closure? This closure is happening under Labour. An imminent Tory govt cannot automatically be responsible for the slashes that occurred under Labour. Tory, labour or lib dem, these cut backs will still occurr.
Abeg leave Tory alone, tell us what your leftist govt has done for the past 13 years, yes i guessed, nothing.
anonymous ... you wait and see ... think the tories are great? the next 12 months will reveal them for what they are 'the nasty party'
long live the left!!!
i relish the resurgence of good ole left wing activism in britain ... change never happened without a bit of dissent and the odd skirmish or two with the right wing facists :-)
First anonymous. I didn't imply that the closure of the Dept had anything to do with the Tories. However, I did suggest that this is a sign of what is to come under them.
The Labour party has an outstanding record of achievement from the past 13 years, especially in terms of improved standards under the NHS. The system is far from perfect, but in much better shape than it was in 1997.
The budget deficit the country currently has was largely as a result of the global economic meltdown and the need to prop up failing banks. It speaks little of Labour's economic management record before then. Most countries in the developed world are in a similar situation.
Of course there is the 'small' matter of Iraq and war crimes committed by Labour leaders...
There was the promised referendum over Europe that never was.
The endless new laws that have been churned out to increasingly reduce our freedoms.
Yeah an outstanding record. None of the others will be much better but to continue to allow this without a protest in the form of change of government would be suicidal. Until we get rid of whips and party politics nothing will really change.
"Most countries in the developed world are in a similar situation."
Not really. Spain, Portugal, Greece and the UK are in the worst shape. The UK have a debt situation even worse then that of Greece. That is a situation that's not sustainable. No matter the regime the UK will have a tough time ahead.
Post a Comment