Thank you for the thoughtful, well reasoned essay. Fundamentally, I agree with you. However, from my perspective as a lifelong academic, I would disagree that "the purpose of the university [is] to produce scholarship in pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful." Rather, I think that the purpose is to produce scholarship in pursui…
Thank you for the thoughtful, well reasoned essay. Fundamentally, I agree with you. However, from my perspective as a lifelong academic, I would disagree that "the purpose of the university [is] to produce scholarship in pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful." Rather, I think that the purpose is to produce scholarship in pursuit of information which leads to knowledge, and critical thinking skills which transform knowledge into what we might call "wisdom." It may or may not be "good," or "beautiful." That's the individual's call. One of the unspoken problems in this pursuit is the fact that so many in the Academy (from faculty to students) have such a restricted knowledge base that they are hobbled from the start. If you've never read anything that was published prior to the 1990s, if you have no real understanding of the fundamental principles on which a science is based, if you've never critically analyzed the foundational writings in your field, if you are unable to "steal man" the points of view with which you disagree, you simply cannot participate in the traditional tasks of the university. Thank you, again, for your poignant op-ed. Sincerely, Frederick
Yes. As Bill Pound here puts it, universities were once oriented toward "the discovery, propagation, and preservation of knowledge." This is now being subordinated to the social justice mission (if not abandoned completely) and all the horrible features that go along with it, one such feature being the rejection of reason itself as "white" or "colonialist."
Thank you for the thoughtful, well reasoned essay. Fundamentally, I agree with you. However, from my perspective as a lifelong academic, I would disagree that "the purpose of the university [is] to produce scholarship in pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful." Rather, I think that the purpose is to produce scholarship in pursuit of information which leads to knowledge, and critical thinking skills which transform knowledge into what we might call "wisdom." It may or may not be "good," or "beautiful." That's the individual's call. One of the unspoken problems in this pursuit is the fact that so many in the Academy (from faculty to students) have such a restricted knowledge base that they are hobbled from the start. If you've never read anything that was published prior to the 1990s, if you have no real understanding of the fundamental principles on which a science is based, if you've never critically analyzed the foundational writings in your field, if you are unable to "steal man" the points of view with which you disagree, you simply cannot participate in the traditional tasks of the university. Thank you, again, for your poignant op-ed. Sincerely, Frederick
Yes. As Bill Pound here puts it, universities were once oriented toward "the discovery, propagation, and preservation of knowledge." This is now being subordinated to the social justice mission (if not abandoned completely) and all the horrible features that go along with it, one such feature being the rejection of reason itself as "white" or "colonialist."