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第9章

the higher learning in america-第9章

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they are able to present their contentions。 By virtue of this



same training; as well as by force of current practical interest;



the technologist and the professional man are; like other men of



affairs; necessarily and habitually impatient of any scientific



or scholarly work that does not obviously lend itself to some



practical use。 The technologist appreciates what is mechanically



serviceable; the professional man; as; for instance; the lawyer;



appreciates what promises pecuniary gain; and the two unite with



the business…man at large in repudiating whatever does not look



directly to such a utilitarian outcome。 So that as members of the



academic staff these men are likely to count at their full weight



toward the diversion of the university's forces from



disinterested science and scholarship to such palpably



utilitarian ends。







    But the active measures so taken by the academic authorities



at the instance of the schoolmasters and 〃practical〃 men are by



no means the only line along which their presence in the academic



corporation affects the case。 Intimate association with these



〃utilitarians〃 unavoidably has its corrupting effect on the



scientists and scholars; and induces in them also something of



the same bias toward 〃practical〃 results in their work; so that



they no longer pursue the higher learning with undivided



interest; but with more or less of an eye to the utilitarian main



chance; whereby the advantages of specialization; which are the



reason for these schools; are lost; and the pride of the modern



community is wounded in its most sensitive spot  the efficiency



of its specialists。



    So also; on the other hand; the formal incorporation of these



technological and professional men in the academic body; with its



professedly single…minded interest in learning; has its effect on



their frame of mind。 They are; without intending it; placed in a



false position; which unavoidably leads them to court a specious



appearance of scholarship; and so to invest their technological



discipline with a degree of pedantry and sophistication; whereby



it is hoped to give these schools and their work some scientific



and scholarly prestige; and so lift it to that dignity that is



pressed to attach to a non…utilitarian pursuit of learning。



Doubtless this pursuit of scholarly prestige is commonly



successful; to the extent that it produces the desired conviction



of awe in the vulgar; who do not know the difference; but all



this make…believe scholarship; however successfully staged; is



not what these schools are designed for; or at least it is not



what is expected of them; nor is it what they can do best and



most efficiently。



    To the substantial gain of both parties; though with some



lesion of the vanity of both; the separation between the



university and the professional and technical schools should be



carried through and made absolute。 Only on such conditions can



either the one or the other do its own work in a workmanlike



manner。 Within the university precincts any aim or interest other



than those of irresponsible science and scholarship  pursuit of



matter…of…fact knowledge  are to be rated as interlopers。







                                IV







    To all this there is the ready objection of the schoolmasters



and utilitarians that such a project is fantastic and



unpractical; useless and undesirable; that such has not been the



mission of the university in the past; nor its accepted place and



use in the educational system of today and yesterday;。 that the



universities of Christendom have from their first foundation been



occupied with professional training and useful knowledge; that



they have been founded for utilitarian purposes and their work



has been guided mainly or altogether by utilitarian



considerations;  all of which is conceded without argument。 The



historical argument amounts to saying that the universities were



founded before modern civilization took on its modern character;



before the disinterested pursuit of knowledge had come to take



the first place among the ideals of civilized mankind; and that



they were established to take care of those interests which were



then accounted of first importance; and that this intellectual



enterprise in pursuit of disinterested knowledge consequently was



not at that time confided to the care of any special



establishment or freely avowed as a legitimate interest in its



own right。



    It is true that; by historical accident; the university at



large has grown out of professional training…schools; primarily



schools for training in theology; secondarily in law and



medicine。 It is also true; in like wise and in like degree; that



modern science and scholarship have grown out of the technology



of handicraft and the theological philosophy of the



schoolmen。(7*) But just as it would be a bootless enterprise to



cut modern science back into handicraft technology; so would it



be a gratuitous imbecility to prune back the modern university to



that inchoate phase of its life…history and make it again a



corporation for the training of theologians; jurists and doctors



of medicine。 The historical argument does not enjoin a return to



the beginning of things; but rather an intelligent appreciation



of what things are coming to。



    The genesis of the university at large; taken as an



institution of civilized life; is an incident of the transition



from the barbarian culture of the middle ages to modern times;



and its later growth and acquirement of character is an incident



of the further growth of modern civilization; and the character



of this later growth of the university reflects the bent of



modern civilization; as contrasted with the barbarian spirit of



things in the mediaeval spiritual world。



    In a general way; the place of the university in the culture



of Christendom is still substantially the same as it has been



from the beginning。 Ideally; and in the popular apprehension; it



is; as it has always been; a corporation for the cultivation and



care of the community's highest aspirations and ideals。 But these



ideals and aspirations have changed somewhat with the changing



scheme of the Western civilization; and so the university has



also concomitantly so changed in character; aims and ideals as to



leave it still the corporate organ of the community's dominant



intellectual interest。 At the same time; it is true; these



changes in the purpose and spirit of the university have always



been; and are always being; made only tardily; reluctantly;



concessively; against the protests of those who are zealous for



the commonplaces of the day before yesterday。 Such is the



character of institutional growth and change; and in its



adaptation to the altered requirements of an altered scheme of



culture the university has in this matter been subject to the



conditions of institutional growth at large。 An institution is;



after all; a prevalent habit of thought; and as such it is



subject to the conditions and limitations that surround any



change in the habitual frame of mind prevalent in the community。



    The university of medieval and early modern times; that is to



say the barbarian university; was necessarily given over to the



pragmatic; utilitarian disciplines; since that is the nature of



barbarism; and the barbarian university is but another; somewhat



sublimated; expression of the same barbarian frame of mind。 The



barbarian culture is pragmatic; utilitarian; worldly wise; and



its lear

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