Speaking of Universities

by Stefan Collini

When I was an undergraduate I attended the annual dinner in which final-year students mixed with the academics who were fellows of their college. I was seated across from a much older man whom I had never met before, and in the course of the evening we fell into a discussion about such small topics as what the basis of law is and what the limits of the law’s regulation of individual life should be. As it happened, I had just that week been set to read the classic works on the theory of Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill for my course in the history of political thought, so, helped by the generous supply of college wine, I found I had many brilliant opinions to express on these topics. I started to argue with this older man, with all the assurance of a twenty-one-year-old who, a few weeks earlier, had never heard of Utilitarianism but who now knew exactly what was wrong with it and why no reasonable person could seriously entertain it for a moment. He argued back, thoughtfully and tactfully but also with some vigour. We must have argued for quite some time because suddenly I was aware that most of the other diners had left and the staff were beginning to clear the tables. My interlocutor graciously said that he had found our discussion very interesting and we went our separate ways. I went to bed extremely pleased with myself for having so triumphantly set him straight about the obvious defects of the shallow theoretical position he had tried to uphold. I...