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the higher learning in america-第2章

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beliefs; of mythology; theology; philosophy or science。 But



whatever shape it falls into in the given case; it makes up the



substantial core of the civilization in which it is found; and it



is felt to give character and distinction to that civilization。



    In the apprehension of the group in whose life and esteem it



lives and takes effect; this esoteric knowledge is taken to



embody a systematization of fundamental and eternal truth;



although it is evident to any outsider that it will take its



character and its scope and method from the habits of life of the



group; from the institutions with which it is bound in a web of



give and take。 Such is manifestly the case in all the historic



phases of civilization; as well as in all those contemporary



cultures that are sufficiently remote from our everyday interests



to admit of their being seen in adequate perspective。 A passably



dispassionate inquiry into the place which modern learning holds



in modern civilization will show that such is also the case of



this latest; and in the mind of its keepers the most mature;



system of knowledge。 It should by no means be an insuperably



difficult matter to show that this 〃higher learning〃 of the



modern world; the current body of science and scholarship; also



holds its place on such a tenure of use and wont; that it has



grown and shifted in point of content; aims and methods in



response to the changes in habits of life that have passed over



the Western peoples during the period of its growth and



ascendancy。 Nor should it be embarrassingly difficult to reach



the persuasion that this process of change and supersession in



the scope and method of knowledge is still effectually at work;



in a like response to institutional changes that still are



incontinently going forward。(1*)



    To the adepts who are occupied with this esoteric knowledge;



the scientists and scholars on whom its keeping devolves; the



matter will of course not appear in just that light; more



particularly so far as regards that special segment of the field



of knowledge with the keeping and cultivation of which they may;



each and several; be occupied。 They are; each and several;



engaged on the perfecting and conservation of a special line of



inquiry; the objective end of which; in the view of its adepts;



will necessarily be the final and irreducible truth as touches



matters within its scope。 But; seen in perspective; these adepts



are themselves to be taken as creatures of habit; creatures of



that particular manner of group life out of which their



preconceptions in matters of knowledge; and the manner of their



interest in the run of inquiry; have sprung。 So that the terms of



finality that will satisfy the adepts are also a consequence of



habituation; and they are to be taken as conclusive only because



and in so far as they are consonant with the discipline of



habituation enforced by that manner of group life that has



induced in these adepts their particular frame of mind。



    Perhaps at a farther remove than many other current



phenomena; but none the less effectually for that; the higher



learning takes its character from the manner of life enforced on



the group by the circumstances in which it is placed。 These



constraining circumstances that so condition the scope and method



of learning are primarily; and perhaps most cogently; the



conditions imposed by the state of the industrial arts; the



technological situation; but in the second place; and scarcely



less exacting in detail; the received scheme of use and wont in



its other bearings has its effect in shaping the scheme of



knowledge; both as to its content and as touches the norms and



methods of its organization。 Distinctive and dominant among the



constituent factors of this current scheme of use and wont is the



pursuit of business; with the outlook and predilections which



that pursuit implies。 Therefore any inquiry into the effect which



recent institutional changes may have upon the pursuit of the



higher learning will necessarily be taken up in a peculiar degree



with the consequences which an habitual pursuit of business in



modern times has had for the ideals; aims and methods of the



scholars and schools devoted to the higher learning。



    The Higher Learning as currently cultivated by the scholars



and scientists of the Western civilization differs not



generically from the esoteric knowledge purveyed by specialists



in other civilizations; elsewhere and in other times。 It engages



the same general range of aptitudes and capacities; meets the



same range of human wants; and grows out of the same impulsive



propensities of human nature。 Its scope and method are different



from what has seemed good in other cultural situations; and its



tenets and canons are so far peculiar as to give it a specific



character different from these others; but in the main this



specific character is due to a different distribution of emphasis



among the same general range of native gifts that have always



driven men to the pursuit of knowledge。 The stress falls in a



somewhat obviously different way among the canons of reality by



recourse to which men systematize and verify the knowledge



gained; which is in its turn due to the different habituation to



which civilized men are subjected; as contrasted with the



discipline exercised by other and earlier cultures。



    In point of its genesis and growth any system of knowledge



may confidently be run back; in the main; to the initiative and



bias afforded by two certain impulsive traits of human nature: an



Idle Curiosity; and the Instinct of Workmanship。(2*)



    In this generic trait the modern learning does not depart



from the rule that holds for the common run。 Men instinctively



seek knowledge; and value it。 The fact of this proclivity is well



summed up in saying that men are by native gift actuated with an



idle curiosity;  〃idle〃 in the sense that a knowledge of things



is sought; apart from any ulterior use of the knowledge so



gained。(3*) This; of course; does not imply that the knowledge so



gained will not be turned to practical account。 In point of fact;



although the fact is not greatly relevant to the inquiry here in



hand; the native proclivity here spoken of as the instinct of



workmanship will unavoidably incline men to turn to account; in a



system of ways and means; whatever knowledge so becomes



available。 But the instinct of workmanship has also another and



more pertinent bearing in these premises; in that it affords the



norms; or the scheme of criteria and canons of verity; according



to which the ascertained facts will be construed and connected up



in a body of systematic knowledge。 Yet the sense of workmanship



takes effect by recourse to divers expedients and reaches its



ends by recourse to varying principles; according as the



habituation of workday life has enforced one or another scheme of



interpretation for the facts with which it has to deal。



    The habits of thought induced by workday life impose



themselves as ruling principles that govern the quest of



knowledge; it will therefore be the habits of thought enforced by



the current technological scheme that will have most (or most



immediately) to say in the current systematization of facts。 The



working logic of the current state of the industrial arts will



necessarily insinuate itself as the logical scheme which must; of



course; effectually govern the interpretation and generalizations



of fact in all their commonplace relations。 But the current state

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