Universities-and-Their-Function

WhiteheadonUniversities1UniversitiesandTheirFunction*byAlfredNorthWhiteheadAddresstotheAmericanAssociationoftheCollegiateSchoolsofBusiness,1927.ITheexpansionofuniversitiesisonemarkedfeatureofthesociallifeinthepresentage.Allcountrieshavesharedinthismovement,butmoreespeciallyAmerica,whichtherebyoccupiesapositionofhonour.Itis,however,possibletobeoverwhelmedevenbythegiftsofgoodfortune;andthisgrowthofuniversities,innumberofinstitutions,insize,andininternalcomplexityoforganization,disclosessomedangerofdestroyingtheverysourcesoftheirusefulness,intheabsenceofawidespreadunderstandingoftheprimaryfunctionswhichuniversitiesshouldperformintheserviceofanation.Theseremarks,astothenecessityforreconsiderationofthefunctionofuniversities,applytoallthemoredevelopedcountries.TheyareonlymoreespeciallyapplicabletoAmerica,becausethiscountryhastakentheleadinadevelopmentwhich,underwiseguidance,mayprovetobeoneofthemostfortunateforwardstepswhichcivilisationhasyettaken.Thisarticlewillonlydealwiththemostgeneralprinciples,thoughthespecialproblemsofthevariousdepartmentsinanyuniversityare,ofcourse,innumerable.Butgeneralitiesrequireillustration,andforthispurposeIchoosethebusinessschoolofauniversity.Thischoiceisdictatedbythefactthatbusinessschoolsrepresentoneofthenewerdevelopmentsofuniversityactivity.Theyarealsomoreparticularlyrelevanttothedominantsocialactivitiesofmodernnations,andforthatreasonaregoodexamplesofthewayinwhichthenationallifeshouldbeaffectedbytheactivitiesofitsuniversities.AlsoatHarvard,whereIhavethehonourtoholdoffice,thenewfoundationofabusinessschoolonascaleamountingtomagnificencehasjustreacheditscompletion.Thereisacertainnoveltyintheprovisionofsuchaschooloftraining,onthisscaleofmagnitude,inoneofthefewleadinguniversitiesoftheworld.ItmarkstheculminationofamovementwhichformanyyearspasthasintroducedanalogousdepartmentsthroughoutAmericanuniversities.Thisisanewfactintheuniversityworld;anditalonewouldjustifysomegeneralreflectionsuponthepurposeofauniversityeducation,andupontheprovedimportanceofthatpurposeforthewelfareofthesocialorganism.Thenoveltyofbusinessschoolsmustnotbeexaggerated.Atnotimehaveuniversitiesbeenrestrictedtopureabstractlearning.TheUniversityofSalernoinItaly,theearliestofEuropeanuniversities,wasdevotedtomedicine.InEngland,atCambridge,intheyear1316,acollegewasfoundedforthespecialpurposeofproviding`clerksfortheKing'sservice.'Universitieshavetrainedclergy,medicalmen,lawyers,engineers.Businessisnowahighlyintellec-tualizedvocation,soitwellfitsintotheseries.Thereis,however,thisnovelty:thecurriculumsuitableforabusinessschool,andthevariousmodesofactivityofsuchaschool,arestillintheexperimentalstage.Hencethepeculiarimportanceofrecurrencetogeneralprinciplesinconnectionwiththemouldingoftheseschools.Itwould,however,beanactofpresumptiononmypartifIweretoenteruponanyconsiderationofdetails,orevenupontypesofpolicySpaceforNotes↓WhiteheadonUniversities2affectingthebalanceofthewholetraining.UponsuchquestionsIhavenospecialknowledge,andthereforehavenowordofadvice.IITheuniversitiesareschoolsofeducation,andschoolsofresearch.Buttheprimaryreasonfortheirexistenceisnottobefoundeitherinthemereknowledgeconveyedtothestudentsorinthemereopportunitiesforresearchaffordedtothemembersofthefaculty.Boththesefunctionscouldbeperformedatacheaperrate,apartfromtheseveryexpensiveinstitutions.Booksarecheap,andthesystemofapprenticeshipiswellunderstood.Sofarasthemereimpartingofinformationisconcerned,nouniversityhashadanyjustificationforexistencesincethepopularisationofprintinginthefifteenthcentury.Yetthechiefimpetustothefoundationofuniversitiescameafterthatdate,andinmorerecenttimeshasevenincreased.Thejustificationforauniversityisthatitpreservestheconnectionbetweenknowledgeandthezestoflife,byunitingtheyoungandtheoldintheimaginativeconsiderationoflearning.Theuniversityimpartsinformation,butitimpartsitimaginatively.Atleast,thisisthefunctionwhichitshouldperformforsociety.Auniversitywhichfailsinthisrespecthasnoreasonforexistence.Thisatmosphereofexcitement,arisingfromimaginativeconsideration,transformsknowledge.Afactisnolongerabarefact:itisinvestedwithallitspossibilities.Itisnolongeraburdenonthememory:itisenergisingasthepoetofourdreams,andasthearchitectofourpurposes.Imaginationisnottobedivorcedfromthefacts:itisawayofilluminatingthefacts.Itworksbyelicitingthegeneralprincipleswhichapplytothefacts,astheyexist,andthenbyanintellectualsurveyofalternativepossibilitieswhichareconsistentwiththoseprinciples.Itenablesmentoconstructanintellectualvisionofanewworld,anditpreservesthezestoflifebythesuggestionofsatisfyingpurposes.Youthisimaginative,andiftheimaginationbestrengthenedbydisciplinethisenergyofimaginationcaningreatmeasurebepreservedthroughlife.Thetragedyoftheworldisthatthosewhoareimaginativehavebutslightexperience,andthosewhoareexperiencedhavefeebleimaginations.Foolsactonimaginationwithoutknowledge;pedantsactonknowledgewithoutimagination.Thetaskofauniversityistoweldtogetherimaginationandexperience.Theinitialdisciplineofimaginationinitsperiodofyouthfulvigourrequiresthattherebenor