In praise of lameness: A response to William Deresiewicz’s Excellent Sheep

In Excellent Sheep, William Deresiewicz describes ‘elite’ higher education as one in which students perform excellently, but only in a spirit of compliance with assigned tasks. The depth of this problem – which has a long pedigree in philosophy – is such that an advantage might be found in non-‘elite’ and even manifestly lame education. This advantage is illustrated through the story of a low point in my teaching career, in which affects of anger, shame and disappointment erupted into the classroom. Because these negative feelings can make it possible for us to discover that we actually do care, such experiences – precluded by excellent compliance – may be important ones in the course of a meaningful education.