Great review! This: "in deciding that Dartmouth College was self-governing rather than subject to control by the elected representatives of New Hampshire, Marshall invented a solution that worked to promote the creation and continuation of institutions of higher learning for two hundred years."
Thanks, Hollis! In the fantasy world where all the current turmoil gets resolved by the better angels of our nature, the Roberts court somehow produces a ruling that gives us another 200 years. Like Marshall's ruling, it will work through unintended consequences.
Lovely review. The obvious question is when will courts be asked to adjudicate on the question of legal personhood for AIs. Incidentally, the first universities werenβt set-up in the Mediterranean world, but in the Buddhist world, though they arenβt the ancestors of todayβs institutions. The greatest of them, Nalanda, lasted about 750 years - from the 5th to the 13th centuries CE during which time it was the premier institution of higher learning anywhere in the world.
Thank you! Yes, the provincialism of my focus on North America and the Northern Atlantic world is a steady source of embarrassment for me. In this case, it was also born of my current inner turmoil over the word "modern."
Until earlier edits this week, my draft had included the modifier "modern" as in what I thought was a funny line: "The modern university is a technology first invented during the Middle Ages." I am currently struggling with whether to talk about the university as it came to exist in Europe starting with Bologna as a modern technology, or to jettison the term "modern" and more precisely define my terms.
My confusion, along with my blinders, led me to ignore the fact, as you point out, institutions of higher learning are found throughout the "pre-modern" world. Next time, I'll write it as "the university was invented nearly 1500 years ago in what is now eastern India."
So, maybe I should think of Nalanda as a nonmodern institiution, which is a useful thought. If I bring back the term modern in my writing, it will be to highlight non-modern and off-modern forms of social organization and learning.
Very much appreciate the comment, as I see Buddhist and Vedic writing as a source for the ideas of William James who figures large in my writing. My ignorance is a real handicap is exploring those connections.
I very much like 'nonmodern' as a superior alternative to 'premodern.' William James and his fellow pragmatists, C.S. Peirce and John Dewey, are major inspirations - I believe they had some of the best ideas on how democracy should respond to rapid technical and social change. I have often thought about writing a 'The Varieties of Artificial Experience' as a riff on James' book.
Great review! This: "in deciding that Dartmouth College was self-governing rather than subject to control by the elected representatives of New Hampshire, Marshall invented a solution that worked to promote the creation and continuation of institutions of higher learning for two hundred years."
Thanks, Hollis! In the fantasy world where all the current turmoil gets resolved by the better angels of our nature, the Roberts court somehow produces a ruling that gives us another 200 years. Like Marshall's ruling, it will work through unintended consequences.
Nice Faulkner shout out too
Lovely review. The obvious question is when will courts be asked to adjudicate on the question of legal personhood for AIs. Incidentally, the first universities werenβt set-up in the Mediterranean world, but in the Buddhist world, though they arenβt the ancestors of todayβs institutions. The greatest of them, Nalanda, lasted about 750 years - from the 5th to the 13th centuries CE during which time it was the premier institution of higher learning anywhere in the world.
Thank you! Yes, the provincialism of my focus on North America and the Northern Atlantic world is a steady source of embarrassment for me. In this case, it was also born of my current inner turmoil over the word "modern."
Until earlier edits this week, my draft had included the modifier "modern" as in what I thought was a funny line: "The modern university is a technology first invented during the Middle Ages." I am currently struggling with whether to talk about the university as it came to exist in Europe starting with Bologna as a modern technology, or to jettison the term "modern" and more precisely define my terms.
My confusion, along with my blinders, led me to ignore the fact, as you point out, institutions of higher learning are found throughout the "pre-modern" world. Next time, I'll write it as "the university was invented nearly 1500 years ago in what is now eastern India."
So, maybe I should think of Nalanda as a nonmodern institiution, which is a useful thought. If I bring back the term modern in my writing, it will be to highlight non-modern and off-modern forms of social organization and learning.
Very much appreciate the comment, as I see Buddhist and Vedic writing as a source for the ideas of William James who figures large in my writing. My ignorance is a real handicap is exploring those connections.
I very much like 'nonmodern' as a superior alternative to 'premodern.' William James and his fellow pragmatists, C.S. Peirce and John Dewey, are major inspirations - I believe they had some of the best ideas on how democracy should respond to rapid technical and social change. I have often thought about writing a 'The Varieties of Artificial Experience' as a riff on James' book.
That is a great title!