For some reason this came to mind:
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/...ncement-speech-brandeis-university-2013#

And this comment on the speech:
"I think, unfortunately, he's shooting the messenger. What's degrading BOTH art AND science today is the crude economic reductionism of the American right. When virtually ALL economic growth is concentrated in the 1%, the rest of us are focusing on survival. If anything is turning all of philosophy into economic utilitarianism, it's the success that the right has had in turning all of human life into a morality play where your very life depends on how much money you make, period. It's not science or 'scientism' which is doing this. We ourselves have chosen this path based on our fetish for economic success as the measure of man. When we cease to legitimize wealth as the basis of the 'meaning of life' then the arts will be safe, as will science. Until then, folks like Mr. Wieseltier will continue to get it wrong."