CAMPUS

One perspective on Newman

While the purpose of a university is obviously to increase knowledge, I think it is important to understand its limitations. I think one of Henry Newman’s most important claims is:

“Quarry the granite rock with razors,
or moor the vessel with a thread of silk;
then may you hope with such keen and
delicate instruments as human knowledge
and human reason to contend against
those giants, the passion and the pride
of man.”

Knowledge, by itself, does not make men good. It makes them knowledgeable. There are many intelligent professors and students who are aware of the great books and minds of the Western Tradition but still reject it. All philosophies require certain basic assumptions. If students or professors disagree with the assumptions, they are going to disagree with the ideas. A great book on this topic is Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions.

A university is an institution teaching “universal knowledge.” This not only includes all fields of study, physics, biology, psychology, economics, history, philosophy, and so on; it also includes presenting the whole range of ideas on a topic. It means looking at Rousseau and Hegel as well as John Locke and Adam Smith. It means exposing students to the thought of Nietzsche as well as that of Richard Weaver or Russell Kirk. I think the true purpose of professors is not to teach that one set of thinkers is categorically right, but to present the strengths and weaknesses of all positions.