第 14 节
作者:青涩春天      更新:2021-02-27 02:38      字数:9322
  for at the bands of these men in whose discretion rest the
  fortunes of the American universities。 There should be at least a
  fighting chance that; with something larger; manlier; more
  substantial; to occupy their attention and to shape the day's
  work for them; these seminaries of learning may; under instant
  pressure; turn their best efforts to their ostensible purpose;
  〃the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men;〃 and to
  forego their habitual preoccupation with petty intrigue and
  bombastic publicity; until the return of idler days。
  NOTES:
  1。 An inquiry of this kind has been attempted elsewhere: Cf。 The
  Instinct of Workmanship。 chapter vii; pp。 321…340; 〃The Place of
  Science in Modern Civilization〃; American Journal of Sociology。
  Vol。 XI (March; 1906); pp。 585…609; 〃The Evolution of the
  Scientific Point of View;〃 University of California Chronicle
  (1908); Vol。 X; No。 4; pp。 395…416。
  2。 Cf。 The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the
  Industrial Arts; ch。i and pp。 30…45; 52…62; 84…89。
  3。 In the crude surmises of the pioneers in pragmatism this
  proposition was implicitly denied; in their later and more
  advisedly formulated positions the expositors of pragmatism have
  made peace with it。
  4。 The essential function of the university is to bring together;
  for the transmission of experience and impulse; the sages of the
  passing and the picked youths of the coming generation。 By the
  extent and fulness with which they establish these social
  contacts; and thus transmit the wave of cumulative experience and
  idealist impulse  the real sources of moral and intellectual
  progress  the universities are to be judged。  Victor
  Branford; Interpretations and Forecasts; ch。 VI。 〃The Present as
  a Transition。〃 p 288。
  5。 Cf。; Geo。 T。 Ladd; University Control; p。 349。
  6。 Cf。; e。g。; J。 McKeen Cattell; University Control; Part III;
  ch。 V。; 〃Concerning the American University。〃 〃The university is
  those who teach and those who learn and the work they do。〃 〃The
  university is its men and their work。 But certain externals are
  necessary or at least usual  buildings and equipment; a
  president and trustees。〃
  〃The papers by other writers associated with Mr Cattell in
  this volume run to the same effect whenever they touch the same
  topic; and; indeed; it would be difficult to find a deliberate
  expression to the contrary among men entitled to speak in these
  premises。
  It may be in place to add here that the volume referred to;
  on University Control; has been had in mind throughout the
  following analysis and has served as ground and material for much
  of the argument。
  7。 Cf。 The Instinct of Workmanship; ch。 vi; vii。
  8。 With the current reactionary trend of things political and
  civil toward mediaeval…barbarian policies and habits of thought
  in the Fatherland; something of a correlative change has also
  latterly come in evidence in the German universities; so that
  what is substantially 〃cameralistic science〃  training and
  information for prospective civil servants and police magistrates
  is in some appreciable measure displacing disinterested inquiry
  in the field of economics and political theory。 This is
  peculiarly true of those corporations of learning that come
  closely in touch with the Cultus Ministerium。
  9。 Cf。 〃Some Considerations On the Function of the State
  University。〃 (Inaugural Address of Edmund Janes James; Ph。D。;
  LL。D。); Science; November 17; 1905。
  CHAPTER II
  The Governing Boards
  In the working theory of the modern civilized community;
  that is to say in the current common…sense apprehension of what
  is right and good; as it works out in the long run;  the
  university is a corporation of learning; disinterested and
  dispassionate。 To its keeping is entrusted the community's joint
  interest in esoteric knowledge。 It is given over to the
  single…minded pursuit of science and scholarship; without
  afterthought and without a view to interests subsidiary or
  extraneous to the higher learning。 It is; indeed; the one great
  institution of modern times that works to no ulterior end and is
  controlled by no consideration of expediency beyond its own work。
  Typically; normally; in point of popular theory; the university
  is moved by no consideration other than 〃the increase and
  diffusion of knowledge among men。〃 This is so because this
  profitless quest of knowledge has come to be the highest and
  ulterior aim of modern culture。
  Such has been the case; increasingly; for some generations
  past; but it is not until quite recently that such a statement
  would hold true unequivocally and with an unqualified generality。
  That the case stands so today is due to the failure of
  theoretical interests of a different kind; directly and
  immediately it is due to the fact that in the immediate present
  the cult of knowledge has; by default; taken over that primacy
  among human interests which an eschatologically thrifty religious
  sentiment once held in the esteem of Christendom。 So long as the
  fear of God still continued to move the generality of civilized
  men in sufficient measure; their theoretical knowledge was
  organized for 〃the glory of God and the good of man;〃  the
  latter phrase being taken in the eschatological sense; and so
  long the resulting scheme of learning was laid out and cultivated
  with an eye to the main chance in a hereafter given over; in the
  main and for its major effect; to pains and penalties。 With the
  latterday dissipation of this fear of God; the scheme of
  knowledge handed down out of a devout past and further amplified
  in the (theoretically) Godless present; has; by atrophy of
  disuse; lost its ulterior view to such spiritual expediency; and
  has come to stand over as an output of intellectual enterprise
  working under the impulsion and guidance of an idle curiosity
  simply。 All this may not be much to the credit of civilized
  mankind; but dispassionate reflection will not leave the fact in
  doubt。 And the outcome for the university; considered as an
  institution of this modern culture; is such as this conjuncture
  of circumstances will require。
  But while such is the dispassionate working theory; the
  long…term drift of modern common sense as touches the work of the
  university; it is also a matter of course that this ideally
  single…minded course of action has never been realized in any
  concrete case。 While it holds true; by and large; that modern
  Christendom has outlived the fear of God;  that is to say of
  〃the Pope; the Turk; and the Devil;〃  it does not therefore
  follow that men take a less instant interest in the affairs of
  life; or carry on the traffic of their lives with a less alert
  eye to the main chance; than they once did under the habitual
  shadow of that barbarian fear。 The difference is; for the purpose
  in hand; that the same solicitous attention that once converged
  on such an avoidance of ulterior consequences now centres on
  questions of present ways and means。 Worldly wisdom has not
  fallen into decay or abeyance; but it has become a wisdom of ways
  and means that lead to nothing beyond further ways and means。
  Expediency and practical considerations have come to mean
  considerations of a pecuniary kind; good; on the whole; for
  pecuniary purposes only; that is to say; gain and expenditure for
  the sake of further gain and expenditure; with nothing that will
  stand scrutiny as a final term to this traffic in ways and means;
  except only this cult of the idle curiosity to which the seats
  of learning are; in theory; dedicate。 But unremitting habituation
  to the competitive pursuit of ways and means has determined that
  〃practical〃 interests of this complexion rule workday life in the
  modern community throughout; and they are therefore so intimately
  and ubiquitously bound up with current habits of thought; and
  have so strong and immediate a hold on current workday sentiment;
  that; hitherto; in no case have the seats of learning been able
  to pursue their quest of knowledge with anything like that
  single…mindedness which academic men are moved to profess in
  their moments of academic elation。
  Some one vital interest of this practical sort; some variant
  of the quest of gain; is always at hand and strenuously effective
  in the community's life; and therefore dominates their everyday
  hab