For those who doubt the far leftward tilt of college campuses, one needs to look no further than an article published in the University of Chicago’s Critical Inquiry to dispel such doubts. An article by Anne H. Stevens and Jay Williams titled “The Footnote, in Theory” chronicled Critical Inquiry’s most frequently cited theorists throughout its existence.
The number one cited theorist by the magazine was none other than Jacques Derrida, “the father of deconstruction.” Exactly what deconstruction means is hard to say because even Derrida himself could not give a definition. In a nutshell, deconstruction is a method for discrediting historical theorists such as Aristotle and Plato for the sole purpose of promoting Derrida’s own beliefs.
Others who appeared on the list include Noam Chomsky and Karl Marx. Noam Chomsky, whose “anti-American dementia infuses everything he writes and says,” as author David Horowitz puts it, and Karl Marx, the father of Communism, both received more than twice as many cites as Plato during the last five years.
Notably absent from the list is C. S. Lewis. It is a fair assumption that he was most likely left off the list because of his strong Christian beliefs and influences. This factor certainly sets him apart from number two on the list, Sigmund Freud, who did not have any religious convictions. Realistically, the fact the Lewis was a Christian most likely sets him apart from all the “theorists” on the list.
Other undeservingly absent theorists include Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain. Most likely they were not included because of their patriotism to a country that the cited authors despised, America. Take Noam Chomsky, for example, whose main message is “America is the great Satan.” Clearly, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the most successful nation in history, lacks anything in common with these anti-American, anti-war, and anti-Christian “theorists.”
Perhaps the most disturbing part about the article is the reason the authors cite the theorists: “footnotes…stand for a scholarly community, assembled by the author, specifically so that he can join it.” Just exactly what community are the Critical Inquiry authors trying to join? Or more importantly, what are they teaching at the University of Chicago?
Laura Ventura, an intern at Accuracy in Academia, attends law school at Indiana University. She is very familiar with footnotes.
