Critical theorists can't win a debate by simply asserting that everyone who disagrees with them is irrational or badly motivated and it's cringe that they're trying.
A major roadblock to reformation of academic thinking and methods is the comfort and security that critical theory provides. The pursuit of objective truth is very hard because of our limitations in thinking and the fragility of our egos. We are constantly confronted by our ignorance. Much of learning is challenging what we think we know. It is very discomfiting to lose one’s sense of what one thinks he knows, to question his theories, to exist in uncertainty. Critical Theory obviates these “problems” by discarding reason, logic, and consistent and disciplined adherence to the pursuit of objective truth and replacing them with my truth, my lived-experience. Critical Theory provides security for ego by tearing others down. Notice that the critical theorist doesn’t ever build anything. His ego is dependent upon how bad he can present others. Critical Theory provides the appearance and accolades of academic integrity and rigor without the need and drudgery of actual work. Confront reality or secure comfort by indulging in self-centered critical destruction of others. The hard road or the easy road. The red pill or the blue pill.
A major roadblock to reformation of academic thinking and methods is the comfort and security that critical theory provides. The pursuit of objective truth is very hard because of our limitations in thinking and the fragility of our egos. We are constantly confronted by our ignorance. Much of learning is challenging what we think we know. It is very discomfiting to lose one’s sense of what one thinks he knows, to question his theories, to exist in uncertainty. Critical Theory obviates these “problems” by discarding reason, logic, and consistent and disciplined adherence to the pursuit of objective truth and replacing them with my truth, my lived-experience. Critical Theory provides security for ego by tearing others down. Notice that the critical theorist doesn’t ever build anything. His ego is dependent upon how bad he can present others. Critical Theory provides the appearance and accolades of academic integrity and rigor without the need and drudgery of actual work. Confront reality or secure comfort by indulging in self-centered critical destruction of others. The hard road or the easy road. The red pill or the blue pill.
Can it happen? How will we turn this if the academy is saturated? It seems an almost insurmountable task.
Edit needed: “This sort of reasoning has now permeated humanities departments, and for reasons *to* numerous to list here…”
Spot on and well said.