Writing philosophically about the purposes and values of higher education is a delicate process and problematic to boot. No amount of admiration can conceal the present funding concerns of higher education institutions. Some facts of the matter require acknowledgment, though more in the interests of common sense than peace of mind. Throughout the developed world higher education funding is under increasing scrutiny. Administrations have responded by examining models of reform and transformation to preserve their institutions. These models are giving rise to a ‘change agenda’ promoting greater efficiency (reform) and novel configurations of disciplines (transform). Changes across the sector are deconstructing ancient academic divisions. There is uncertainty about what will be different in the aftermath of change. Merely arguing against change, in the expectation that it will be convincingly deflected, is a Sisyphean task. The range of interests with attachments to the sector makes pursuing such arguments a tantalizing undertaking. Presumably, a subset of the interest groups, de facto a power elite, would prefer any debate to remain superficial. This concern is an irrelevancy philosophically speaking. The business of philosophical analysis is not propaganda.