通往麦加圣地的道路——评弗莱克斯纳的《大学:美英德研究》

The Path to Academic Mecca:A Review of Abraham Flexner's Universities:American,English,German

弗莱克斯纳的《大学:美英德研究》是高等教育领域一部有价值的著作。弗莱克斯纳对20世纪初美国大学缺乏目标的统一性或组织的同质性、不假思索地极力迎合即时而短暂的社会需求、是这个国家文化令人怀疑的贡献者等角度提出了严厉的批评。坚信德国大学是当时世界上最忠实的以追求学术为目的的地方,但是他却未能认识到德国大学是如何被政治化的,没有意识到当时德国大学模式变化的程度,将其作为通往学术圣地的道路。

Abraham Flexner's Universities: American,English,German( 1930) is an important book in higher education research. In this book,Flexner harshly criticized US universities for their lack of consistent objectives as well as homogeneity in their institutional structure. He also believed that US universities were merely trying to meet short-term needs of society rather than help build a better nation in the long run. Flexner regarded German universities as kind of academic Mecca,where knowledge was pursued just for its own sake. However,the truth is that,German universities at that time had been transformed and turned into certain governmental organizations deprived of their own independence.