Tough questions
Sir: If Paul Johnson really knew what aca- demic philosophers talk about these days (And another thing, 18 July), his bile might rise more than it does now. As a lecturer in philosophy, I cannot fob off my students by telling them that my subject is not meant to be 'useful' — nor, what with the 'sexual harassment' codes now coming into force, could I get away with the kind of behaviour Mr Johnson attributes to the late Professor Ayer. My first-year students are, instead, treated to my wisdom on (inter alia) suicide, abortion, war and pornography (this last subject working wonders for attendance fig- ures), and my final-year students discover all about Ethics and International Rela- tions. But if Mr Johnson is still uncon- vinced, let him subscribe to the vast num- bers of new journals on business ethics, medical ethics, the environment, etc. encompassing the sensible and the tedious, the trendy and the obscure. Perhaps he would then say that the real trouble with philosophy these days is not that it doesn't tell us how to live and die, but that it does, and that its only saving grace is that nobody reads it.
Piers Benn
Department of Moral Philosophy, The University, St Andrews, Fife
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