The Utopia of the University

Dobrosław KOT

Abstract

It may well be the case that the essence of the university is not defined by the permanence of its formal structure or procedures. Rather, it is inherent in its continuous transformation and its readiness to receive the Other. Owing to such openness, the university becomes a utopia (in the positive meaning of the term), a place “outside” the world and one where the universal principles of efficacy, perfection and the maximization of profit can be suspended. In describing the essence of the university, turning to philosophy for help might be worthwhile, and, ironically, philosophy does not need to be scientific. However, its presence in the academy unveils a deep structure of the university which is not made up by the disciplines it pursues; rather it is inherent in thinking as such. Academic thinking may be open to risk and error, but it is precisely in risk and in error that its dignity, conceived as “adequate recognition,” lies. The considerations presented in the paper follow the approach to the thinking about the university proposed by Karl Jaspers, Jacques Derrida, and Tadeusz Sławek, respectively.

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska