The ‘Herd’ does no task for Philosophy

The release of examination results opens many doors for students seeking admission into different streams and subjects. Yet when institutions offer many subjects for new admissions, philosophy is often absent or quietly ignored. The reason is familiar: no enrollment, no demand, no interest. A subject survives only if it attracts numbers, and often only when it is believed to offer clear career opportunities. In such a climate, philosophy is easily pushed aside.
Even those who study philosophy often leave the discipline, not because it lacks value, but because there is little space for it to live. Many move into theology, civil services, or other fields, and there is no fault in that. The problem lies in assuming their departure proves philosophy was useless. It may instead prove that institutions have failed to sustain a culture of reflection. When a society offers no place for philosophy, it does not eliminate questions; it only leaves them unasked.
As Friedrich Nietzsche speaks of the “herd,” he does not mean people as an insult, but a mentality that follows accepted values without questioning them. In the present context, the herd appears when education is reduced to what is popular, employable, and socially approved, while subjects that cultivate criticism and reflection are neglected. Many students do not choose philosophy, not from lack of ability or curiosity, but because it seems to lead to few opportunities. Institutions remove philosophy because there is no demand. This is precisely the problem Nietzsche warns against: when conformity determines value, questioning itself becomes marginal.
Philosophy is not an optional subject. It is where criticism begins, where freedom of thought is exercised, and where inherited values are examined. To overlook philosophy is not merely to lose one discipline, but to weaken a habit of thinking. If value is measured only by career prospects, then perhaps the crisis is not that philosophy has lost its value, but that we have narrowed the meaning of value itself.
Dr. Avothung Ezung
Postdoctoral Fellow (ICPR)
Dept. of Philosophy
NEHU, Shillong