# Professors of Unreason — Erewhon character guide

> Professors of Unreason in Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** the Professors of Unreason, Unreason

**First appearance:** 0025-xxi-the-colleges-of-unreason

## Who they are

Academics at the Colleges of Unreason who teach hypothetical logic.

## Relationships

### [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/narrator)

_professional_

The Professors of Unreason are academic figures who engage the narrator in debates about Erewhonian philosophy and logic.

### [Solomons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/solomons)

_professional_

The Professors of Unreason and Solomons interact as members of Erewhonian intellectual and commercial society.

### [Marquis of Normanby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/marquis_of_normanby)

_social_

The Marquis of Normanby and the Professors of Unreason engage in diplomatic and intellectual exchanges as representatives of different worlds.

### [Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/narrator)

_professional_

The Professors of Unreason are academic figures who engage the narrator in debates about Erewhonian philosophy and logic.

## In the story

### [To the Metropolis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/ix-to-the-metropolis)

Educated at the Colleges of Unreason, they hold degrees in hypothetics and work as straighteners, bankers, and priests, diffusing culture.

### [Current Opinions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/x-current-opinions)

Mentioned as teachers of the hypothetical language used by straighteners to name mental indispositions.

### [Birth Formulae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xviii-birth-formulae)

The narrator discusses the birth formula system with a Professor of Unreason, who defends it as a necessary compromise.

### [XXII: The Colleges of Unreason—Continued](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxii-the-colleges-of-unreason-continued)

The professors, especially the Professor of Worldly Wisdom, enforce conformity, suppress originality, and administer exams that punish clear thinking.

### [XXIII: The Book of the Machines](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxiii-the-book-of-the-machines)

The author of the Book of the Machines is implied to be one of the Professors of Unreason.

### [XXV: The Machines—Concluded](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxv-the-machines-concluded)

Implicitly referenced as the intellectual authors of the anti-machine treatise and the subsequent destruction.

### [The Views of an Erewhonian Prophet Concerning the Rights of Vegetables](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxvii-the-views-of-an-erewhonian-prophet-concerning-the-rights-of-vegetables)

The philosopher is a Professor of botany who uses logical arguments to push dietary laws to absurdity.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/endnotes)

Their theory about machine vitality is mentioned, though the narrator disclaims belief in it.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/professors_of_unreason
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters