Here’s Simon Reid-Henry in the New Statesman on why the attack on Middlesex philosophy is part of a wider assault on the humanities:
The philosophy department at Middlesex is a case in point. This is one of the leading lights of continental philosophy in this country, with an international reputation for furthering our understanding of the classics of European thought – be it Kant or Hegel, Sartre or Badiou – alongside a concern to re-appraise those works in light of present day political and ethical dilemmas.
It is, moreover, the highest Research Assessment Exercise-rated subject at Middlesex. Which means that even by the increasingly ridiculous standards used to measure and to monitor academic work in this country, the department is about as “relevant” as you could want philosophy to be. And as a former polytechnic that was holding its own alongside the Russell group of top twenty universities, one wonders quite what else such a department might have been expected to do.
Brian Leiter’s influential US-based philosophy news site has also reported the news – check out the comments thread for more astonished and outraged reactions.
Save Middlesex Philosophy 
The statement article says: “Perhaps this is why the university’s website trumpets the department’s “lively and active research culture, with staff producing important and groundbreaking research, much of which features in the undergraduate course”. ”
When one follows the mentioned hyperlink: http://www.mdx.ac.uk/404.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/courses/undergraduate/philosophy/philosophy.aspx it says “the page was not found”
This is not a mistake and seems that the administration has disabled the page.
Yes, the link in the New Statesman article goes to a page that doesn’t exist any longer. The new undergraduate page just says the course is no longer being offered. The new postgraduate page says they’re recruiting full-time students only but makes no mention of the department’s closure.
Yes the above-mentioned page has been quickly taken away but thanks to Google you can see them here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iUqF1NyfFWwJ:www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/philosophy/philosophy.aspx+site:http://www.mdx.ac.uk+%22philosophy+degree%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
But more importantly is this page which has also been taken away by the administration:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:O5tzRiZeLfoJ:www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/philosophy/index.aspx+site:http://www.mdx.ac.uk+%22philosophy+degree%22&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
Half of the description of the course is filled with the university’s boasting about the RAE results: “At Middlesex University, London we specialise in all areas of history of philosophy and modern European philosophy, with an emphasis on broad cultural and intellectual contexts and a distinctive sense of the social and political functions of philosophy. Building on its grade 5 rating in the 2001 research assessment exercise, Philosophy at Middlesex was awarded a score of 2.8 on the new RAE scale in 2008, with 65% of its research activity judged ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.”