LIfe of the mind

The life of the mind is a good but it is not universalizable: it is not for everyone. Nor is it "better" than the various other available ethical orientations: the musical life, the sporting life, the business life etc. The life of the mind too is becoming increasingly professionalised, specialised, of course, and in the process, esoteric. This is true even though, paradoxically, it is largely funded through educational systems designed to disseminate it.
History plays a particular role in this life of the mind. History is not especially useful for understanding or dealing with the present. But it does lend heft to the life of the mind: it is what makes it solid, capable of drawing commitment from a few who are no longer to be conceived an elite.