Progress and Values in the Humanities: Comparing Culture and Science by Gay Volney | Hardcover (2009) | Academic Research, Cultural Studies & Philosophy Books | Perfect for Scholars, Educators & Humanities Enthusiasts

As an academic, and a clinical social worker, I read with interest and fascination Dr. Gay's "Progress and Values in the Humanities: Comparing Culture and Science". The world of the academic has changed drastically in recent decades as it has tried to juggle the mentality of students as consumers, faculty as necessary revenue generators, and the purpose of a college education evolving (or devolving, depending on your point of view) to keep pace with rapidly accelerating technological advances. Amos Tversky and Daniel Khaneman highlighted our cognitive biases that we use to make decisions in uncertain times, as Michael Lewis points out in “The Undoing Project,” so too, the academy often unfairly compares two differing fields of study, the humanities and the sciences, and tries to evaluate them by trying to align dissimilar qualities. Gay corrects that unfair bias by emphasizing the need for different rules of magnification in these disciplines. I am not an authority on the works of the philosopher Heidegger or even the political theorist Arendt as the prior reviewer comments on, but I did find Gay’s text very helpful in understanding and identifying the difficulties that occur when trying to “evaluate” different scholarly works of colleagues. Dr. Gay is able to make compelling arguments about the need for and legitimacy of the humanities by drawing on his extensive background in psychoanalysis, religion, anthropology, and pop culture. His contributions extend beyond the academic arena, however. The psychotherapy field continues to battle the need for scientific evidence vs. the wisdom acquired through the clinical experience of empathy and insight. This text provides a much needed voice in this political, economic, and ideological struggle by recognizing and supporting the need for both “art and science” in our quest for knowledge and meaning.