“More welders and less philosophers.”1
Thus spake former presidential candidate Marco Rubio in a 2015 Republican debate, describing his approach to improving the economy and reforming higher education. His strategy: increased investment in vocational training and (implicitly) decreased support for liberal arts education, epitomized by the study of philosophy. Many other US politicians and policy makers share his approach, each holding up a different liberal arts field to make their point. There's anthropology: Florida governor Rick Scott declared in 2011 that the state “doesn't need a lot more anthropologists,”2 as he advocated for science, technology, math, and engineering degrees. More programmers, fewer anthropologists. Languages and literature, too, have been the exemplars of financially fruitless majors; Kentucky governor Matt Bevin described his approach to reform: “There will be more incentives to electrical engineers than French literature majors. There just will.”3 More engineers, fewer comp lit professors. And we...