..no doubt as part of a plan to revert to being a polytechnic in all but name. There's a petition in support of philosophy you can sign here, and details about the proposed closure and the department here; the latter includes contact information for the administrators at UWE. Philosopher Amia Srinivasan (Oxford) kindly gave permission to share the apt e-mail she sent:
Dear Prof West; dear Dr Griffiths; dear Prof Coffey,
I am writing to express my profound disappointment and dismay at the news that UWE Bristol is proposing to shut down its philosophy department. A university without a philosophy department is not a university -- not, that is, an institution dedicated to free and humanistic inquiry. It is, instead, a technical shop that has subjected itself to the instrumentalist logic of efficiency and economic growth. If these plans are seen through, I assure you that your administration will be seen by academics across the UK and around the world as the people who not only destroyed what was once an excellent philosophy department, but moreover betrayed the values of learning, truth and education. In turn, the reputation of the institution whose interests you are charged with serving will suffer gravely. I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider.
Yours Sincerely,
Amia Srinivasan
Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory
All Souls College, Oxford
Recent Comments