9.8 Giovanni Puglisi, Contro l’utilità del sapere umanistico

This work analyses the main theories adopted to defend humanistic studies, today threatened once again by the reorganisation of knowledge imposed by the recent phenomena of the globalisation of markets and the economic and occupational crisis.

However, these defensive theories all have in common the desire to show the “usefulness” of humanistic disciplines.

The author, while comprehending and sharing the theories presented, suggests that the champions of humanistic knowledge undertake a substantial change of course, affirming the unity of knowledge (at the same time humanistic and scientific) and laying claim to the non-utilitarian nature of the disciplines that place man and human thought at the centre of their research.