You might be surprised to learn that this bit of ignorance poses no obstacle to me in the classroom.
I suppose it would if I approached the teaching of Descartes as a matter of explaining why reading Descartes will make you a better person, but that is not how I teach Descartes, nor does any philosopher I know teach Descartes in that way.
In contrast, defenses of the humanities are not — and cannot be — conducted in an inquisitive spirit, because a defensive spirit is inimical to an inquisitive one.
Politicization is a way of arming the humanities for its political battles, but it comes at an intellectual cost.
Politicization silences these and other questions, whereas the function of the humanities is to raise them.
Persons:
Descartes