Via this Nonist post, I read the great discussion happening at Varieties of Unrelgious Experiences on Humanism and the virtue of anxiety. Pretty interesting stuff.
I don’t feel versed well enough to add to the discussion there, but it does raise an interesting question. There is this general anxiety (or crisis) in the humanities regarding purpose, but I rarely hear (or rather, read about) this kind of anxiety from compositionists. Certainly, I’ve read arguments that first-year composition should not be required, but nothing along the lines of this kind of anxiety. I’m wondering if it has to do with our placement in the institution (initially and still today a service to the university). Hmmm…
