The Humanities Are Not A Luxury Summary

From the oldest philosophers of each culture, to the modern thinkers of today, individuals have often pondered what makes the human existence unique. The human experience is varied, explained through artistic virtues such as poetry and painting, and intensive study of historical struggles. Despite this, some view the field, aptly named the Humanities, as irrelevant, a passing luxury item bent on being thrown away. In her article, “The Humanities Are Not a Luxury: A Manifest for the Twenty-First Century,” Martha Nell Smith details the struggles of the humanities against both real, and metaphorical issues, ranging from funding shortcomings to family views on the validity of a degree. Through personal reflection and focus on the development of a business-like academic system, Smith shows the inherent distrust and anger towards humanities that cause the incorrect belief that they are a luxury to prevail.
(1) This unique capability opens the argument on what it means to think, to be human. Unfortunately, the thought on what this means runs into shortcomings according to Mark Yurdof. Smith laments that Yurdof, the President of the University of California, marginalizes the humanities by claiming that they have a consistent financial burden on Universities, words that bring up memories of Smith’s father. (2) This relation shows the prevailing thought about the department, that they are burden, a leech on the more profitable educational pursuits that must be handled somehow. Smith points out that the prevailing thoughts on humanities are that due to their lack of return on outside revenue, individuals in the schools begin to become angry, and this anger leads them to make decisions against the department. (2-3) These issues with the humanities however, are based on an error in logical