4 ms·
The original goal of the university was to bring together knowledge from disparate disciplines. It was believed that knowledge in the fullest sense would be att
by TimTheTinker 2y ago
The original goal of the university was to bring together knowledge from disparate disciplines. It was believed that knowledge in the fullest sense would be attained via achieving a unity of knowledge across diverse disciplines.
Hence the term "university" which comes from the words "unity" and "diversity". Every academic discipline has something to contribute - and a fully formed mind does best to draw from and be informed by multiple contexts at once.
If two academic disciplines or contexts contradict one another, we ought to take that as an indication of an underlying problem somewhere. In this case, the paper's authors seem not to have gotten the memo. Perhaps a simple acknowledgment of agreement with orthodoxy would suffice - otherwise the opening sentence might cause misinformation. As it is, hopefully it doesn't accidentally get quoted without sufficient clarification by the media.
- adamc 2y agoThey don't contradict each other, the contexts are different. Words have subtly different meanings according to what is being discussed. English is not a context-free language.
- TimTheTinker 2y agoContexts ought to be able to overlap and inform each other without direct contradictions -- otherwise, there's (at minimum) a lack of logical validity and hence untruth somewhere. The words we use (and their meanings) matter, because they are the substrate with which we think and act.