The other twenty-four hours I institute myself, equally 1 does, reading speeches given 50 years agone yesteryear Edward Levi, who was together with then the president of the University of Chicago. Here are roughly thoughts from "The University together with the Modern Condition," which was delivered to the University of Chicago Citizen's Board on Nov 16, 1967, together with reprinted inwards his 1969 collection
Point of View: Talks on Education (magically available via Google Books). It is both comforting together with disheartening that many of his comments could hold out delivered essentially unchanged yesteryear a speaker a half-century later.
"Our monastic tell is flooded amongst communications. The credence of myths together with aphorisms is non a novel phenomenon, of course. But the increase inwards the printed word, the rising inwards literacy, the evolution of novel way of communication all hand rising to novel burdens too equally opportunities. George Bernard Shaw had over his fireplace the motto, `They say. What tell they? Let them say.' Instead of this skepticism, nosotros ask: `How ofttimes exercise they tell it?' together with `How many tell it?' The examination of an thought becomes the frequency amongst which it is repeated. This is non a examination which promotes rational discussion. It is a setting inwards which the waves together with tides of pop thought, the credence of a simulated inevitability equally to points of view, own got magnified importance. It is a climate, together with this is especially truthful inwards matters dealing amongst education, where it is axiomatic that whatever pathetic thought volition hold out catching. Popular news has never been enough, together with it is tragic for a monastic tell if that is all the news at that spot is.
"Rational news itself is suspect. Our monastic tell is fascinated amongst the manipulative techniques of persuasion, coercion, together with power. The feel of injustice, which all must prize, is dependent area to manipulation. The devastating reality together with complexity of the problems to hold out faced, the unattainability of goals, and, tragically, fifty-fifty progress made--all feed the feel of injustice. The solutions telephone telephone for the highest intellectual powers of man, but the excitement of victories, the frustrations of defeat, the comradeship of belonging, query these powers. The concept of argue itself appears equally an artificial endeavour to split intellectual powers from the frustrations, emotions, together with accidents which drive events; the concept of argue is viewed equally a facade to foreclose change. ...
"The seat has been taken to a greater extent than than 1 time that the piece of occupation of a academy is to hold out inwards consequence a launching pad for a multifariousness of political movements. ... [T]he temptation to visit students equally an interesting resources is great. The response of universities to the characteristics of our era must convey into delineate of piece of occupation organisation human relationship the purposes of universities together with the kinds of contributions they tin john make. Universities are amidst the of import institutions inwards our society, but at that spot are other of import institutions. ... The fact that at that spot is an unmet demand does non hateful that a academy is best equipped to convey it on. ...
"Perhaps, then, 1 should ask, `What is the service of this university?' The response is traditional together with old-fashioned. Its greatest service is inwards its commitment to reason, inwards its search for basic knowledge, inwards its mission to save together with to hand continuity to the values of mankind's many cultures. In a fourth dimension when the intellectual values are denigrated, this service was never to a greater extent than required. ... The university's role is non based on a invention of neutrality or indifference to society's problems, but an approach to the problems through the alone pull which a academy is entitled to assert. It is a conservative role because it values cultures together with ideas, together with reaffirms the basic commitment to reason. It is revolutionary because of its compulsion to notice together with to know. It is little because it recognizes that the difficulties are neat together with the standards demanding."
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