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> It depends on how you define a university. I think the institution that invented the term probably gets to define it. And that is the University of Bologna
by SeanLuke 4y ago
> It depends on how you define a university.
I think the institution that invented the term probably gets to define it. And that is the University of Bologna.
- Scarblac 4y agoSo what's their definition?
- SeanLuke 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- guelo 4y agoLanguage doesn't work that way.
- Towaway69 4y agoWon't that imply that "humans" didn't exist until the term "human" was invented?
- pasquinelli 4y agoa term defined is different from a thing existing.
- will_wright 4y agois it though?! "language is the house of being"
- Towaway69 4y agoA term by any other name would still smell as sweet as ... ;)
- lovemenot 4y agoThat might in fact be true. If we define humans as having a sufficiently sophisticated language, and using a term to reference one's entire species is characteristic of that, then at a stretch we could define the first human being as the child of proto-humans who first invented this linguistic concept.
- Towaway69 4y agoPoint taken :) What if "human" would be replaced by "ape"?
- lovemenot 4y agoSure. There are several similar arguments made in this thread. Such as, before the word "run" was first used, we could only walk quickly. The logic of these arguments is fine. I just noticed a way to nit-pick your implementation of it.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago> If we define humans as having a sufficiently sophisticated language That would be hard to object to. > and using a term to reference one's entire species is characteristic of that But this is easy to object to. People can easily do without a term for the species; it's more common to use tribal names, so that a contrast is drawn between different groups of humans (as opposed to between humans and animals, or humans and gods). Terms for humans as a species come along pretty quickly, but they're not universal.
- bradchris 4y agoSo what about Bachelor and Baccalaureate both being words that have their pre-Latin roots in Arabic: Bihaqq Al-riwayatt (“the right to restate the learning to somebody else“). Or the fact that ceremonial graduation garb in the EU and US, from the robes to the caps, is also based in Arab tradition. The medieval Enlightenment and subsequent Renaissance was huge for Europe, yes, but just as important to realize today is that a lot of it was taking heavy inspiration from other cultures and regions and “Europeanizing” it and then calling it their own (I.E. a cultural exchange)
- emmelaich 4y agoThat link you gave for Bihaqq Al-riwayatt was very interesting but not conclusive imho.
- Symbiote 4y ago> Or the fact Muslims are just as capable as Christians at promoting theories with very little evidence to support their arguments. Both of your assertions are unproven theories, with the evidence against them: bachelor originally meant a young knight who followed another (though the etymology before that is uncertain), and academic robes derive from similar (European) mediaeval clerical and secular clothing.
- bnralt 4y agoThere's a scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father says that the etymology of all English words can be traced back to Greek[1]. When someone challenges him with the word "Kimono," he pauses for a second, and then concocts a semi-plausible sounding explanation about how the word evolved from a Greek word. A comedy, but I think it does reflect how a lot of people can be so impressed by their own culture that they end up spinning fictional narratives about it. For example, I was surprised to find that a common myth among Germans was that the USA almost had German become its official language, and German only lost out by a single vote. Pride in one's culture isn't a bad thing, but too much of it can definitely lead people to believe some very questionable claims. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXt0VCPKfQ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXt0VCPKfQ4