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by nsomaru
3534 days ago
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"The aim of the University is a true enlargement of mind... the power of viewing many things at once." [0] Would very much like to see Cardinal Newman's Ideas around 'liberal' and 'servile' education catch the attention of the HN crowd. We're doing learning and advancement all wrong by focusing on utilitarian outcomes for universities rather than pure development of the mind (whence would flow marvellous creativity). [0] http://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/ |
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"Instances, such as these, confirm, by the contrast, the conclusion I have already drawn from those which preceded them. That only is true enlargement of mind {137} which is the power of viewing many things at once as one whole, of referring them severally to their true place in the universal system, of understanding their respective values, and determining their mutual dependence. Thus is that form of Universal Knowledge, of which I have on a former occasion spoken, set up in the individual intellect, and constitutes its perfection. Possessed of this real illumination, the mind never views any part of the extended subject-matter of Knowledge without recollecting that it is but a part, or without the associations which spring from this recollection. It makes every thing in some sort lead to every thing else; it would communicate the image of the whole to every separate portion, till that whole becomes in imagination like a spirit, every where pervading and penetrating its component parts, and giving them one definite meaning. Just as our bodily organs, when mentioned, recall their function in the body, as the word "creation" suggests the Creator, and "subjects" a sovereign, so, in the mind of the Philosopher, as we are abstractedly conceiving of him, the elements of the physical and moral world, sciences, arts, pursuits, ranks, offices, events, opinions, individualities, are all viewed as one, with correlative functions, and as gradually by successive combinations converging, one and all, to the true centre."
If the quote comes from this, it is crucially leaving off the continuation: "...as one whole, of referring them severally to their true place in the universal system, of understanding their respective values, and determining their mutual dependence." This implies that by learning a lot, you enlarge your mind, and then can connect everything. This has nothing to do with learning how to learn, especially as a primary goal of university. Here is a college that supposedly follows his guidance: http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/academics/true-enlargement-... Again, from that page, "it is plainly both the knowledge of architectonic principles and the familiarity with the substance of the various arts and sciences of which a liberal education is composed, including such pursuits as history, literature, rhetoric, mathematics, and the study of the natural world." So what you learn matters.
Thanks for the link though, should be interesting reading later. I agree it'd be nice if universities embodied some of the purpose they historically set out to be for, and we resurrected utilitarian trade schools with tight integration into what companies want so that those without the inclination or ability to pursue intellectualism can still learn something useful and create a better life for themselves.