近代西方的“大学”概念: 一项历史语义学的考察

The Concept of“University”in the Modern West:A Historical Semantic Examination

作为高等教育同时也是社会文化领域的一个重要概念,“大学”在学界的理解及使用长期存在义涵和语境上的混淆。在近代西方,university、college、academy、school等除了曾承载“大学”之意,也表示过知识分子及其研究机构的功能。这些术语一方面构成了大学的“概念丛”,在不同时期和领域指代不同的法律、社会与空间组织形态。另一方面,它们的语义变迁也反映了大学从传统的师生行业协会向人文团体、科研组织、知识共同体与近代国家职能机构的转型。到了19世纪,作为集合名词的University逐渐统合了有关大学的诸多表述、实践和经验,成为一个形塑现代知识生产、学术体系与话语结构的基础性概念。对其进行历史语义学分析,既要在辨析不同术语及使用语境的基础上,厘清高等教育起源和发展的多重轨迹,也要探究概念在演变过程中所呈现的整体性社会转型与文化革命。

As a key concept in the field of higher education as well as in the field of society and culture,there is a long-standing confusion in the meaning and context of“university”and its use in the academic world.In modern West,in addition to the term university,college,academy,school,etc.,have all carried the meaning of“university”and performed the function of institutions for intellectuals and their research activities.On the one hand,these terms constitute conceptual constellations of university,referring to different juridical,social,and spatial organization in different periods and areas.On the other hand,their semantic changes reflect the transformation of the university from traditional guilds of teachers and students to humanistic associations,scientific groups,communities of knowledge,and functional institutions of the modern state.After the 19th century,University,as a collective singular noun,gradually unified all the expressions,practices and experiences about universities and became a fundamental concept that shaped the production of modern knowledge,academic system,and discourse structure.A historical semantic analysis of this concept should not only clarify the multiple trajectories of the origin and development of higher education based on the identification of different terms and contexts of use,but also attempt to explore the overall social and cultural revolution that occurred during the evolution of the concept.