The Value of the Humanities - Hardcover

I can especially commend The Value of the Humanities to an Irish audience ... [it will] serve both as an inspiration and as a template for authors wishing to take up the challenge of defending research in a broad spread of disciplines from the short-sighted but ultimately ruinous plans of todays utilitarians. (Nicholas Canny, Dublin Review of Books)

The Value of the Humanities a stimulating, unemotional, closely argued book seeks to shift the debate away from overly negative criticisms of government policies and to adopt a reflective and measured approach to the issues. (Colin Steele, Australian Book Review)

Highly intelligent (Barton Swain, Wall Street Journal)

a lucid summary of the case for the humanities that avoids the victim complex that is the bane of such discussions. (David Willetts, Times Higher Education)

Helen Small does a good job cheerleading for [the Humanities]. (Northern Echo)

The Value of the Humanities provides a critical account of the principal arguments used to defend the value of the Humanities. The claims considered are: that the Humanities study the meaning-making practices of culture, and bring to their work a distinctive understanding of what constitutes knowledge and understanding; that, though useful to society in many ways, they remain laudably at odds with, or at a remove from, instrumental use value; that they contribute to human happiness; that they are a force for democracy; and that they are a good in themselves, to be valued 'for their own sake'. Engaging closely with contemporary literary and philosophical work in the field from the UK and US, Helen Small distinguishes between arguments that retain strong Victorian roots (Mill on happiness; Arnold on use value) and those that have developed or been substantially altered since. Unlike many works in this field, The Value of the Humanities is not a polemic or a manifesto. Its purpose is to explore the grounds for each argument, and to test its validity for the present day. Tough-minded, alert to changing historical conditions for argument and changing styles of rhetoric, it promises to sharpen the terms of the public debate.