Uniwersytet i mity (w perspektywie sporu Allana Blooma i Marthy Nussbaum)

Abstract

The article discusses two formulas for the ‘university’ that contended with each other in the 1980s in the USA: Allan Bloom’s modernist one and Martha Nussbaum’s moderately postmodernist one. Both claimed to have been rooted in ancient traditions, trying to prove the universality of their own narration concerning the myths of God and Nature. While pondering upon the best formula for the university of the 21st century, we should perhaps reconsider the proposals of the American scholars, weighing their assets against their drawbacks. The first one, which draws upon the myth of God, views the university as secular temple, which represents the state, and professors and students as a special, privileged group of people, dedicated to theoretical reasoning and regulative propositions that aim at building up a universalized society. Those who refuse to adjust to the great regulative idea and reject hierarchy should be subdued by force or, if necessary, by war. Such an attitude, certainly, raises very serious doubts. The second formula for ‘university,’ refers to the myth of Nature and is characterized by pragmatic and nonviolent solutions, always assuming that the best way of achieving consensus is a dialogue between people, groups, states (which constitute a set of complex cosmopolitan relations). And such should be the aims of the university, or better: various universities, which share the same core of interdisciplinary ideas, and which enable interactions between representatives of different religions, races, sexes, etc. This laudable aim, however, seems helpless when confronted with those antagonists who are likely to assume aggressive stances. Nussbaum’s perspective, which treats all cultural conventions as equally valuable, does not offer any practical advice on how to deal with those who betray hegemonic intentions.