These days, it is not uncommon to hear commentators on higher education accuse those who spend time studying the humanities in college or university of being foolish. The idea that a person might take courses in philosophy, psychology, religion, the arts, sociology, or politics strikes many as simply ludicrous. They argue that the whole point of education is to get a job, and that to get a job a person needs to have a practical skill or possess a body of readily applicable knowledge. These goals make the study of “big ideas” in the humanities or social sciences at best ludicrous and at worst pointless.
