NP no facts only interpretations

[Otto]

>
> Bauerlein:
> "Given the breadth of constructionist ideas, proponents might submit them
tentatively as speculations, hypotheses, or opinions, but in fact, this
spirited confidence phrases them as bare simplicities whose contradiction is
intellectually indefensible, and perhaps politically motivated. The aplomb
turns the issue from the truth or falsity of the premises to the mindset of
> the antagonists. Since no enlightened mind would doubt the premises,
dissent from them can only stem from the wrongheadedness of the dissenters.
As the intentions of the other side come under scrutiny, the premises
themselves
> remain untouched. A philosophical quarrel becomes a psychological
speculation."
> http://www.bu.edu/partisanreview/archive/2001/2/bauerlein.html
>

I disagree that the premises remain untouched but the question must be
allowed why someone who complains about the poor quality of student papers
(an observation that might be right or wrong, the complaint itself is as old
as there are universities producing papers) in the humanities by blaming and
dislabeling poststructuralism as a mere intellectual habit. If someone
insists on given "truths" he insists at the same time on "cause and
effect" - thus a hierarchy and here we have the political dimension of this
case.

There may be a lot of professors who make themselves an easy living
(personally I've met much more who did a good, sometimes superfine job) but
by declaring a whole academic generation as fake and lazy for questioning
the American truths and traditional values cannot be in your sense, Doug.

I can only agree to Robert that Mr. Bauerlein himself is doing in his
article exactly what he is criticising. His assertion about the
not-enough-reading academics turns a debate into a psychological
speculation. If I may speculate here I wonder if this opinion has something
to with the turnout of the last election:

"Truisms like "knowledge is a construct" and "there is no escaping
contingency" echo in book prefaces and submission requests as if they were
prerequisites to publication. Professors still waging a culture war against
the Right live and work by the credo "Always historicize!" Neopragmatists,
post-structuralists, Marxists, and feminists insist upon the situational
basis of knowledge, taking the constructionist premise as a cornerstone of
progressive thought and social reform."

Otto

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
(Bob Dylan)