ASSAULT ON HIGHER EDUCATION: REPORTS FROM THE FRONT What a Hollywood comedy can teach us about the emptiness of mere social utility Why Intellectual Work Matters Zena Hitz I n 2001 I was a graduate student in philosophy, writing a dissertation on ancient views of self-knowledge, luxuriating in the physical and intellectual riches of Princeton University. One morning in September, as I walked as usual onto campus on a tree-lined path, one of the department staff called out something to me about a dramatic news story, and I stopped into the student center to look at a television. You know what I saw: two buildings on fire. After some minutes, one building collapsed into ash and the news announcers lost their words. At the time, my brother lived in New York City and I was sure he was dead-it took some hours to determine that he wasn't. The fear washed Zena Hitz is a tutor at St. John's College in Annapolis. 50 modernagejournal.comhttp://www.modernagejournal.com