University and Universality

I. How Universal is the (German) University?

German readers please refer to German version
Feb. 17, 2008     back     home     enlarge

"Unus" means "one," and "vertere" means "to turn." Universitas denotes a space that permits to turn to any one of its locations from a single location. Spaces that do not possess this feature cannot be epistemic environments. In antiquity, a single perspective was considered possible from where all views could be taken. Consequently, each teacher of a school had to share this perspective. This corresponds to the concept of dike, justice, which developed as the ability to consider all aspects of a case from out of a single constant perspective. Law has kept up this antique concept of universitas, to date. - Teachers who disagreed with the view of the school had to take their leave to found their own institution at a different location. This epistemic location is called "unum", here. A place could not shelter more than one unum, or perspective. Thus, the disciples of Socrates split up into Megarans (center of Greece), Kyrenians (North Africa), and Academians (Athens), and sameways Aristotle moved out of the grove of Akademos outside of Athens to the temple of Lykos within the city. continue .pdf   part 2 .pdf

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