The American Mind: Closing Further

David Brooks has created another little stir with his piece on conservatives (or the lack thereof) in academia. David Adesnik doubts the tyranny of liberals, while Jonah Goldberg mostly endorses Brooks' analysis.

Goldberg's is the better response, because it suggests that what really matters is not current political partisanship but where one stands on curricula constituted by the great books or liberal education. Adesnik makes somewhat similar remarks, but he makes it sound as if all academic debates are silly or arcane, meaningless "ivory tower" disputes about which we shouldn't worry.