In the article "History as a Challenge to the Idea of the University," Jeffrey J. Williams claims that defining a university is a hard task." Williams states, "It is mistaken to think that [the university] ever existed in a pure state" (Williams 56). The ideas that combine to form a university have always been changing and have always overlapped" (Williams 56). Certain university critics have stated that the modern day university has veered off course from where it was traditionally meant to be (Williams 55). However, as Williams says, the ideas behind a university could not have veered off course if there was no firm definition of a university to begin with. Rather than an institution that has veered off course, Williams believes the university should be critiqued as an institution that has developed over a few hundred years. Refinements and accidents in the university system have culminated in the modern day institution and should be judged according to current societal standards, as well as by taking into account the path that the university system has taken over its history. By first covering the problem, then finding the solution, and finally discussing what is at stake, Williams' argument can be clearly analyzed. Without deviation from his plan, Williams' ideas can be used to disprove the approach to criticizing the modern university system. When discussing the origin and current state of the university, Williams claims the central problem is what he calls idea discourse. One major part of this argument resides where critics have a tendency of thought. This tendency is resorting to "weak idealism  (Williams 56). In this sense, weak idealism means that is developed equally from logic and societal cues. When Williams cited this weak idealism, he pointed specifically to authors Bill Readings and Hillis Miller. Both university critics claim that the university has fallen "from the presence of [its] foundational idea" (W