June 01, 2005
historical amnesia
I saw this cartoon and it reminded me me how much our time is a time of historical amnesia:
Historical amnesia is especially prevalent in the philosophy institution. There history seeps through the cracks of philosophy's cultural memory (of Hegel). It may well be an exaggeration to say that many analytical philosophers write dry, logical, semi-mathematical works marked by their physics envy, but philosophy does repress its own historicity; so much so that historical amnesia can be seen as is an abiding weakness of philosophy.
In the Anglo-Saxon academic philosophical tradition academic philosophers have often viewed themselves as elites, who turn away from (escape?) from society and politics and live a comfortable life in their Ivory Towers. Universities like Oxford and Cambridge are models of the practice of elitist academics living the scholarly life that is placed in oppostion to the common life they live as parents and consumers.