Response to John Guillory

AbstractJohn Guillory’ s account of the “disciplinary object” of the humanities provides a new description of the nature of humanistic inquiry that seeks to unify the various disciplines and differentiate them from other disciplines. He suggests that a “better defense” of the humanities can be reserved for another day. But a full understanding of the implications of his “new ontology” yields the materials for such a defense, which would be grounded in concepts of freedom and accountability.