第 43 节
作者:青涩春天      更新:2021-02-27 02:38      字数:9321
  with respect to religion; ownership; and the distribution of
  wealth。 But this need imply no constraint; nor even any peculiar
  degree of tact; much less a moral obliquity。 It may confidently
  be asserted; without fear of contradiction from their side; that
  the official leaders in this province of academic research and
  indoctrination are; commonly; in no way hindered from pushing
  their researches with full freedom and to the limit of their
  capacity; and that they are likewise free to give the fullest
  expression to any conclusions or convictions to which their
  inquiries may carry them。 That they are able to do so is a
  fortunate circumstance; due to the fact that their intellectual
  horizon is bounded by the same limits of commonplace insight and
  preconceptions as are the prevailing opinions of the conservative
  middle class。 That is to say; a large and aggressive mediocrity
  is the prime qualification for a leader of science in these
  lines; if his leadership is to gain academic authentication。
  All this may seem too much like loose generality。 With a view
  to such precision as the case admits; it may be remarked that
  this province of academic science as habitually pursued; is
  commonly occupied with questions of what ought to be done; rather
  than with theories of the genesis and causation of the
  present…day state of things; or with questions as to what the
  present…day drift of things may be; as determined by the causes
  at work。 As it does in popular speculation; so also in this
  academic quasi…science; the interest centres on what ought to be
  done to improve conditions and to conserve those usages and
  conventions that have by habit been imbedded in the received
  scheme of use and wont; and so have come to be found good and
  right。 It is of the essence of popular speculations on this range
  of topics that they are focussed on questions of use; that they
  are of a teleological order; that they look to the expediency of
  the observed facts and to their exploitation; rather than to a
  scientific explanation of them。 This attitude; of course; is the
  attitude of expediency and homiletics; not of scientific inquiry。
  A single illustrative instance of the prevalence of this
  animus in the academic social sciences may be in place。 It is
  usual among economists; e。g。; to make much of the proposition
  that economics is an 〃art〃  the art of expedient management of
  the material means of life; and further that the justification of
  economic theory lies in its serviceability in this respect。 Such
  a quasi…science necessarily takes the current situation for
  granted as a permanent state of things; to be corrected and
  brought back into its normal routine in case of aberration; and
  to be safeguarded with apologetic defence at points where it is
  not working to the satisfaction of all parties。 It is a 〃science〃
  of complaisant interpretations; apologies; and projected
  remedies。
  The academic leaders in such a quasi…science should be gifted
  with the aspirations and limitations that so show up in its
  pursuit。 Their fitness in respect of this conformity to the known
  middle…class animus and apprehension of truth may; as it
  expediently should; be considered when their selection for
  academic office and rank is under advisement; but; provided the
  choice be a wise one; there need be no shadow of constraint
  during their incumbency。 The incumbent should be endowed with a
  large capacity for work; particularly for 〃administrative〃 work;
  with a lively and enduring interest in the 〃practical〃 questions
  that fall within his academic jurisdiction; and with a shrewd
  sense of the fundamental rightness of the existing order of
  things; social; economic; political; and religious。 So; by and
  large; it will be found that these accredited leaders of
  scientific inquiry are fortunate enough not narrowly to
  scrutinize; or to seek particular explanation of; those
  institutional facts which the conservative common sense of the
  elderly businessman accepts as good and final; and since their
  field of inquiry is precisely this range of institutional facts;
  the consequence is that their leadership in the science conduces
  more to the stability of opinions than to the advancement of
  knowledge。
  The result is by no means that nothing is accomplished in
  this field of science under this leadership of forceful
  mediocrity; but only that; in so far as this leadership decides;
  the work done lies on this level of mediocrity。 Indeed; the
  volume of work done is large and of substantial value; but it
  runs chiefly on compilation of details and on the scrutiny and
  interpretation of these details with a view to their conformity
  with the approved generalizations of the day before yesterday;
  generalizations that had time to grow into aphoristic
  commonplaces at a date before the passing generation of
  businessmen attained their majority。
  What has just been said of this academic leadership in the
  social sciences; of course; applies only with due qualification。
  It applies only in so far as the principles of competitive
  enterprise control the selection of the personnel; and even then
  only with exceptions。 There is no intention to depreciate the
  work of those many eminent scholars; of scientific animus and
  intellectual grasp; whose endeavours are given to this range of
  inquiry。 Its application; indeed; is intended to reach no farther
  than may serve to cover the somewhat tactful and quietistic
  attitude of the moral sciences in the universities。 As they are
  cultivated in the great seminaries of learning; these sciences
  are commonly of a somewhat more archaic complexion than the
  contemporary material sciences; they are less iconoclastic; have
  a greater regard for prescriptive authority and authenticity; are
  more given to rest their inquiry on grounds of expediency; as
  contrasted with grounds of cause and effect。 They are content to
  conclude that such and such events are expedient or inexpedient;
  quite as often and as easily as that such are the causes or the
  genetic sequence of the phenomena under discussion。 In short;
  under this official leadership these sciences will have an
  attitude toward their subject of inquiry resembling that taken by
  the material sciences something like a century ago。
  To the credit of this academic leadership in the social
  sciences; then; it should be said that both the leaders and their
  disciples apply themselves with admirable spirit to these
  inquiries into the proper; expedient; and normal course of
  events; and that the conclusions arrived at also shed much
  salutary light on what is proper; expedient; and normal in these
  premises。 Inquiries carried on in this spirit in the field of
  human institutions belong; of course; in the category of worldly
  wisdom rather than of science。 〃Practical〃 questions occupy these
  scientists in great part; and practical; or utilitarian;
  considerations guide the course of the inquiry and shape the
  system of generalizations in these sciences; to a much greater
  extent than in the material sciences with which they are here
  contrasted。 An alert sense of the practical value of their
  inquiries and their teaching is one of the chief requisites for
  official recognition in the scientists who occupy themselves with
  these matters; and it is one of the chief characteristics of
  their work。 So that; in so far as it all conforms to the
  principles of competitive business; the line of demarcation
  between worldly wisdom and theoretical validity becomes
  peculiarly indistinct in this province of science。 And; it may be
  remarked by the way; the influence of this academic science; both
  in its discipline and in its tenets; appears to be wholly
  salutary; it conduces; on the whole; to a safe and sane; if not
  an enthusiastic; acceptance of things as they are; without undue
  curiosity as to why they are such。
  What has here been said of the place and use of the scientist
  under the current r間ime of competitive enterprise describes what
  should follow from the unrestrained dominion of business
  principles in academic policy; rather than what has actually been
  accomplished in any concrete case; it presents an ideal situation
  rather than a relation of events; though without losing touch
  with current facts at any point。 The run of the facts is; in
  effect; a compromise between the scholar's ideals and those of
  business; in such a way that the ideals of scho