Universities and Their Function大学及其功用

By Alfred North Whitehead

The justification for a university is that it preserves the connection between knowledge and the zest of life, by uniting the young and the old in the imaginative consideration of learning. The university imparts information, but it imparts it imaginatively. At least, this is the function which it should perform for society. A university which fails in this respect has no reason for existence. This atmosphere of excitement, arising from imaginative consideration, transforms knowledge. A fact is no longer a bare fact: it is invested with all its possibilities. It is no longer a burden on the memory: it is energising as the poet of our dreams, and as the architect of our purposes.

大学之所以有理由存在，就在于它使新老两代在富于想象中学习，从而使知识与生活热情之间得以彼此相连。大学是传授知识的，但它以富有想象力的方式进行传授。至少，这是它应该为社会发挥的作用。一所大学若不能如此就毫无存在的理由。人富于想象后便会感到兴奋激动，使知识得以彻底转化——事实已不再仅仅为事实，它具有了所有替在的可能。它不再是记忆的累赘，而是充满了活力，犹如能描绘我们美梦的诗人和实现我们心愿的设计师。