Edward Feser: Why Are Universities Dominated by the Left?

Tech Central Station ^ | 02/13/2004 | Edward Feser

[Tolik]

Here are some of his articles discussed on FR:

Does Islam Need a Luther or a Pope?

Posted by SJackson
On 12/04/2003 8:27:57 AM EST with 66 comments
TCS ^ | 12-5-03 | EDWARD FESER
It has become the conventional wisdom in the two years since 9/11 that the trouble with Islam is that, unlike Christianity, it never had a Protestant Reformation. The idea seems to be this: Christianity was (so it is held) rigid and authoritarian before Luther and company came along and paved the way for liberal democracy, science, and all things modern and good; Islam's problem is that it remains stuck in its "Medieval phase," still awaiting Reformers of its own.  This analysis dovetails nicely with the conceptions most people have these days of the Reformation, of traditional Catholicism, and of...

What Libertarianism Isn't

Posted by rob777
On 12/22/2001 11:53:08 AM EST with 262 comments
Lew Rockwell.com ^ | December 22nd 2001 | Edward Feser
The notion that the political alliance between libertarians and conservatives is contingent and inherently unstable has become a cliché, and a tiresome one at that, usually made by persons who have little understanding of either libertarianism or conservatism. And despite appearances, the recent testy exchanges between the conservative National Review’s Jonah Goldberg and the libertarian Reason magazine’s Nick Gillespie and Virginia Postrel do nothing to confirm the cliché.It is not that the idea of a fusion of libertarianism and conservatism does not raise important and difficult philosophical issues; it does. The emphasis within traditional conservative thinking on authority, including the ...

Edward Feser: The Mustache on the Left [about delusion that right-wingers are closet totalitarians]

Posted by Tolik
On 01/08/2004 8:19:28 AM EST with 27 comments
TechCentralStation ^ | 01/08/2004 | Edward Feser
As a Bush re-election later this year looks increasingly likely, some left-wingers worry that Howard Dean is too risky a candidate to put up against a popular President. There is, of course, the obvious comparison to McGovern and the fear that a true believer may inevitably be a sure loser. There is also the worry that Dean may not in fact be so true a believer in the first place: he did support Newt Gingrich's Medicare reforms, after all, and has been a little too cozy with gun rights advocates; might he not betray the Left in order to appeal...

[anniegetyourgun]

I select "all of the above."

Great post...thanks, Tolik.

[Thane_Banquo]

socialism, whatever its practical failures, is motivated by the highest ideals and that its luminaries -- especially Marx -- have much to teach us

I took a History of Economic Thought class last summer. We covered Marx.

I actually enjoyed reading about Marxism as espoused by Marx. It comes through very clearly that Marx was an irrational raving lunatic. But he was also an entertaining irrational raving lunatic.

Marx can teach us a lot. He can teach us what happens to a country when they base their entire political and economic system on a self-contradictory and patently insane system of thought.

[Tolik]

Edward Feser from Tech Central Station: The modern professoriate is best understood as a kind of priesthood, and its religion is Leftism. The first of a two-part series on universities and the Left.

You liked his previous article. Check this one out.

[foreverfree]

bump

[martin_fierro]

Robert Brandon, chair of the Duke University Philosophy Department, gives this explanation of why faculties at U.S. universities usually lean to the political left: "We try to hire the best, smartest people available. If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire."

[Tolik]

Please, let me know if you want or don't want to be pinged to Edward Feser articles.

If you want to bookmark his articles discussed at FR: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/k-edwardfeser/browse

[brbethke]

You neglected the "Avoiding the Draft" theory. I've met an inordinate number of professors who entered college in the 1960's primarily to keep their 2S deferment, stayed on for grad school again just to keep their 2S, and eventually wound up with a PhD and totally unfit to work anywhere else except in academia.

People with ambition, people who are motivated by a desire to make money and achieve material success -- in other words, conservatives -- by and large exhibit a pronounced desire to get out of college so they can start making some serious bucks. Naturally, then, what remains in your pool of potential teachers is the dregs.

[Tolik]

WOW, that's rich.

I second that comment in the article: "In intellectual terms, Professor Brandon's smug thesis raises another question: If he's so bright, how could he be dim enough not only to believe such an absurd notion, but to hail it publicly? "

He probably can't honestly, very honestly comprehend, how can any smart person have views different from his. At the same time he most likely believes that he IS a very tolerant person.

I think he and alike forfeit the right to be called a scientist.

[Morgan's Raider]

BUMP for tonight's perusal.

[gobucks]

Dear Tolik,

How does one say 'thanks', when superlatives are not sufficient?

This post, for me, a veteran, and an MS degreed individual, in quantitative modeling in geoscience, from one of the top ten universities when these loony lefties live, me whose mother has a PhD in genetics and teaches evolution for pete's sake, for me, this is one of the top ten articles posted here at FR in all the years I've been lurking, and recently, posting.

New Priesthood? This author hits it so squarely it is unreal. UNREAL. These 'priests' are not called PROFESSors for nothing.

So, however insufficient, thanks, many, many thanks.

Thank you.

[gobucks]

PINGING Mr. RWP.

You are an above average intelligent man RWP - and I state that in all sincerity.

I would be very, very interested in what you think of thoughts of the author of this post.

[joesnuffy]

Marx was great...he let his family starve & freeze..nearly to death....while he pursued the more lofty goals of raising the level of 'conciousness' of the workers...
Religion, may have been to Marx, the opiate of the people...but it was religion (Christianity at least) that kept them working and feeding their familes

[Our man in washington]

Bump for later.

[Mmmike]

Don't forget the tax-exempt foundations theory! Check this out:

It is no exaggeration to say that without the financial intervention of the Ford Foundation there would be no African American studies, women's studies, or queer studies as we know them.

[redgolum]

Very interesting article. I had a roommate in college who is now on his way to being a professor. Many of this articles descriptions fit him to a tee. Head in the clouds, no common sense, the idea that a good living was owed him.

I went to the real world and while I will have to work hard for what I get, at least I can see what works and what doesn't.

[PhilipFreneau]

>> You neglected the "Avoiding the Draft" theory. I've met an inordinate number of professors who entered college in the 1960's primarily to keep their 2S deferment, stayed on for grad school again just to keep their 2S, and eventually wound up with a PhD and totally unfit to work anywhere else except in academia.

Agree. There were enormous numbers of PhDs in less mathmatically-challenged fields, such as sociology and social work, who had no place to go but to pump gas (which many did) until the government, universities, and public schools came through for them by creating positions for a literal army of social workers.

[Tolik]

You are very welcome. He nails it, doesn't he?

My son is in 10th grade, and choosing a college becomes top priority. To get a good education in the field he wants (completely undecided so far) and not to waste time and money on the BS: it is a nice balancing act.

[cornelis]

PhD's in psychology now run to administration, where they don't teach, but hand down mandates, demand revisions and restructions by fiat, believing their science to be the queen to govern the rest. This pattern is not leftism. It's bad human nature and you'll find it anywhere.