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Helen Small - The Value of the Humanities - 9780199683864 - V9780199683864
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The Value of the Humanities

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Description for The Value of the Humanities Hardback. In The Value of the Humanities prize-winning critic Helen Small assesses the value of the Humanities, eloquently examining five historical arguments in defence of the Humanities. Num Pages: 224 pages. BIC Classification: DSA; HP; JNAM; JNB. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 223 x 139 x 17. Weight in Grams: 376.
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.

Product Details

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Number of pages
216
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2013
Condition
New
Weight
375g
Number of Pages
224
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780199683864
SKU
V9780199683864
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-9

About Helen Small
Helen Small is Professor of English at Oxford University and Jonathan and Julia Aisbitt Fellow of English at Pembroke College, Oxford. She is the author of The Long Life (OUP, 2007) (awarded the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism 2007) and the editor of The Public Intellectual (2002).

Reviews for The Value of the Humanities
Helen Small does a good job cheerleading for [the Humanities].
Northern Echo
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
Highly intelligent
Barton Swain, Wall Street Journal
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
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
REVIEW: Ken Newton, Modern Language Review, 01/07/15, no quote.

Goodreads reviews for The Value of the Humanities


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