I think this is the best academic abstract I have read in years.
Begin:
In this paper, I take the position that a large portion of contemporary academic work is an
appalling waste of human intelligence that cannot be justified under any mainstream normative ethics.
Part I builds a four-step argument for why this is the case, while Part II responds to arguments for the contrary position offered in Cass Sunstein’s “In Defense of Law Reviews.”
First, in Part I(A), I make the case that there is
a large crisis of suffering in the world today. (Part I does not take me very long.). In Part I(B), I assess various theories of
“the role of the intellectual,” concluding that the only role for the intellectual is for the intellectual
to cease to exist. In Part I(C), I assess the contemporary state of the academy, showing that, contrary to the theory advanced in Part I(B), many intellectuals insist on continuing to exist. In Part I(D), I propose a new path forward, whereby present-day intellectuals take on a useful social function by spreading truths that help to
alleviate the crisis of suffering outlined in Part I(A).
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2655751(The full paper won't be available to read until next month)
