shadow of britain

Chapter 536 Hastings Dean Appointed

The Germans have poor imagination and can only use systems to bind their thoughts, and Hegel is a typical representative of this kind of systematic thinking.

—Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols

In the huge auditorium, the frozen air lasted for more than ten seconds.

Before everyone realized that something seemed to be wrong, Professor Herbart was the first to break the strange silence.

"Sir, are you feeling unwell? I see your forehead is covered in sweat."

Arthur pretended to be relaxed and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "Nothing, I was just wondering what kind of problem would bother Gauss. Maybe it's a world problem?"

"That's not clear." Herbart seemed to have suddenly thought of something and said awkwardly, "Gauss is usually not willing to discuss natural philosophy with me."

When Arthur heard that Herbart had the ability to make Gauss unwilling to pay attention to him, he immediately took out the spirit of relentless pursuit and humbly asked: "Why? Is Gauss a very arrogant person?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant."

Herbart explained: "I think it may be because I praised Hegel's philosophy in front of him before. After that, Gauss no longer discussed natural philosophy in front of me. He had some prejudice against Hegel, and it was a deep one."

When the professor at the side heard this topic, he couldn't help but speculate.

"I think this is probably due to the problem in calculating the orbit of Ceres. It's been thirty years, and Gauss hasn't forgotten it yet?"

Arthur was curious when he heard this: "I know that Mr. Gauss determined the orbit of Ceres through mathematical calculations, but what does this have to do with Hegel?"

After hearing Arthur's question, even though Professor Herbart liked Hegel's philosophy very much, he still couldn't help but complain.

"It was all thanks to Hegel's big mouth. At that time, astronomers all over Europe were arguing about whether Ceres was a planet or a comet. Mathematicians took up their pens and tried to calculate the orbit of Ceres based on three days of astronomical observation data.

While all of Europe was arguing, Hegel brazenly asserted that if people paid a little attention to philosophy, they would find that according to his theory of dialectical logic, there would be no more, no less, seven planets in the sky. Therefore, Ceres must be a comet rather than a planet.

But not long after Hegel finished speaking, Gauss calculated the orbit of Ceres through mathematical calculations and confirmed that it was a planet. And astronomers also observed Ceres on December 12 of that year based on the time and area calculated by Gauss, and proved that Gauss's calculation results were completely correct. "

At this point, Herbart could not help but hold his forehead and said: "Because of this incident, Gauss has always had a prejudice against Hegel and others. And in Hegel's series of speeches later, Gauss's prejudice continued to deepen. For example, Hegel denied the Kant-Laplace nebular hypothesis, openly proposed the theory of 'philosophical chemistry', opposed the Lamarckian school's theory of use and disuse, and so on.

Of course, what annoyed Gauss the most was Hegel's criticism of Newton's gravitational system and his insistence that the earth's geological state was constant. These two areas were the areas in which Gauss spent a lot of energy. He expressed to me more than once that "Hegel is a clown" and advised me to read less of Hegel's works to avoid being led astray by him.

When other professors heard Professor Herbart's words, they also expressed their agreement.

"Gauss told me something similar before."

"When I was chatting with him a while ago, Gauss said to me worriedly: I see the same thing in contemporary philosophers such as Schelling, Hegel, Ness von Essenbeck and their followers, that is, incompetence in natural philosophy and mathematics. Don't the definitions made by such a group of people make you feel creepy?"

Some people criticize Hegel, and naturally there are also people who support Hegel.

Some professors could not sit still when they heard their colleagues criticizing Hegel's theory. They stood up and looked towards the back row.

"Although I respect Gauss very much, I think what he said is not entirely correct. In recent years, the development of natural philosophy is gradually moving away from the traditional model linked by literature and historical research, and turning to a new path to form its own school. This incomplete development is absolutely harmful to the study of natural philosophy."

"You are right. Many natural philosophers today have a very narrow vision and knowledge, which is in stark contrast to the great natural philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries."

These words immediately ignited the anger of the professors of natural philosophy. They slammed the table and pointed at the professors of philosophy, law and literature in the front row and cursed them.

"In my opinion, it is not that natural philosophy has become narrow, but that most philosophers have gone mad!"

"I have never heard of any philosopher in the 17th or 18th century who did not understand mathematics, but a guy like Hegel can now be called a master of philosophy. This is enough to show the decline of German philosophy in the 19th century!"

"Hegel's words prove even more how right we are to sweep away all philosophical influences in our work on natural philosophy! Hegel alone has proved that philosophy is not only useless, but also a harmful fantasy!"

"The difference between philosophy and natural philosophy can be seen from the Ceres incident. Hegel only needed to bring out his bullshit logic and dialectics to prove that it was a comet. But Gauss needed several days and nights and dozens of pages of calculation paper to carefully verify before he could announce that Ceres could be observed on the night of December 12 of that year."

The discussion originally revolved around Gauss and Hegel, but in a blink of an eye it escalated into a debate on the superiority of natural philosophy or philosophy.

However, from these few simple sentences, we can indeed get a glimpse of the general dissatisfaction of natural philosophy researchers towards philosophy researchers.

From a social perspective, the status of philosophers has always been nobler than that of natural philosophers.

In terms of remuneration, the salaries of natural philosophers are indeed lower than those of philosophers.

That’s not all. Germany also has philosophers like Hegel who like to make sharp comments on natural philosophy.

If Arthur were in the position of those natural philosophy researchers, he would have turned the table over long ago.

Moreover, even emotionally, Arthur was more inclined to stand on the side of natural philosophy. After all, Hegel was really annoying.

Because this guy has too many outrageous remarks, such as:
Water is not made up of oxygen and hydrogen. It is true that an electric spark can make these two things into water. But this does not mean that water is made up of these two things.

The sun's rays are indeed hot, but this heat does not belong to the sun's rays themselves, but to the rays that become hot when they hit the earth. This is because when you climb a mountain, the higher you go, the colder it gets.

If Hegel were a Greek philosopher who lived before Christ, Arthur would rank him on an equal footing with Aristotle and Socrates.

But he happened to live in the 19th century, so Arthur could only identify him as a Prussian idiot.

This famous Prussian scholar knew nothing about natural philosophy, but he tried to make all academic fields obey his Hegelian system, and was naturally spurned by all fields of natural philosophy.

When he was at the Royal Society, Arthur often heard scientists joke about Hegel: Either you can agree with Hegel's philosophical system, or you can be a researcher of natural philosophy. However, you can't have both.

From a certain perspective, this is what Hegel deserved.

After all, there are many philosophers in the world, but he is the only one who is so disliked by scientists.

Arthur saw the professors arguing so fiercely that their faces turned red. He quickly spoke up to stop them, saying, "Gentlemen, I think the debate about Hegel should not rise to the level of philosophy. For example, if I mention Mr. Kant, the gentlemen present here should not be disrespectful, right?"

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, a gray-haired old professor stood up and expressed his position: "Of course, Mr. Kant is highly respected in any university in Germany. Moreover, I think that continuing to argue over these trivial issues is really not conducive to the progress of philosophy and natural philosophy."

The old professor seemed to have considerable authority in the school. As soon as he finished speaking, the auditorium returned to silence.

Two middle-aged gentlemen sitting not far from him also stood up to express their support for the old professor and the new dean, and they even made a humorous joke.

"We also think that this kind of argument is meaningless. After all, we are here for a teaching meeting today. If you want to duel, you might as well go find Bismarck, or fight with Provost Hastings. But I would like to advise you that you are no longer young, and it is difficult to win a fight with young people, so you should just talk."

Arthur saw that there were people in the crowd supporting him, so he asked, "I have not been at school long, and I don't know many of you yet. Can I take this opportunity to ask for your names?"

The old professor smiled and said, "Friedrich Strohmayer, Professor of Chemistry. Mr. Faraday and his mentor Sir Humphry Davy and I are old acquaintances. Mr. Faraday introduced you to me in a letter before you arrived in Göttingen. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Hastings."

The two middle-aged gentlemen next to him also spoke up. "We are brothers and librarians in the school. Jacob Green, nice to meet you."

"William Green salutes you, Mr. Superintendent."

When Arthur heard these three names, he was stunned at first, but then he reacted immediately.

He first took off his hat and saluted Strohmayer: "Mr. Faraday asked me to say hello to you."

Immediately, Arthur turned his gaze to the Brothers Grimm and asked softly, "Grimm's Fairy Tales?"

The Grimm brothers looked at each other and laughed. "I didn't expect you had read Grimm's Fairy Tales. But come to think of it, you must have been a child when we published that collection of fairy tales."

After hearing the Grimm brothers personally admit their identity, Arthur couldn't help but think of bringing Andersen to Göttingen for further studies.

If he works harder, with Arthur's current connections, maybe from now on, "The Brit" will be able to publish all the books a person will read from birth to death.

When I was a child, I read "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales" and "Grimm's Fairy Tales".
During my adolescence, I read Elder and a series of masterpieces based on Elder, such as "Robinson Crusoe", "St. George's Flag Still Flies", and "The Monkey Story".

When you are a little older, you can read fashionable novels written by Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens and others.

When they reach university, there are various academic monographs waiting for them.

This business has great potential!
When Arthur thought of this, he even forgot about meeting Gauss, and his face was full of smiles.

His good mood also made him quickly remember the words he had prepared long ago.

He knew that everyone at the University of Göttingen, from professors to students, actually supported liberal reforms in their hearts, but due to the constraints of their teaching positions, the professors did not dare to say many things openly.

The task assigned to him by His Majesty the King and the Hanoverian government was simple. Sir Arthur Hastings was the kingdom's constitutional reform adviser.

The kingdom's new constitution is a liberal constitution that is close to the British system, but freedom is freedom, but it cannot be too liberal.

Otherwise, the king would not have appointed Sir Arthur Hastings, known as the executioner by the citizens of London, from Scotland Yard to serve as a police reform consultant.

Arthur cleared his throat and said with a smile: "Although the debate about philosophy and natural philosophy is not a pleasant topic. But in general, I support the views of both philosophers and natural philosophers on the school's academic reforms."

Arthur's speech immediately made the professors frown. They all thought that the new dean was trying to smooth things over and act as a peacemaker.

But the next second, Arthur's words changed their minds.

“In general, I am a supporter of Wilhelm von Humboldt in education. Perhaps many of you know that I graduated from the University of London, which is not very old, but our educational philosophy is different from that of two traditional church universities in England.

In terms of admissions, the University of London does not consider religious beliefs, ancestry, class, nationality or race. As long as you are interested in studying at the University of London, we will accept you. In this regard, we refer to the reform measures taken by Humboldt when he was the Director of the Cultural and Educational Department of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior.

At that time, Humboldt strongly opposed the hierarchical schools and advocated the abolition of all the knight academies and samurai academies that only the children of the nobility could attend. He hoped that everyone could receive education and everyone could receive the same general education.

Based on this idea, he tried to establish a unified school system from primary education to secondary education and then to university education. However, during the reform process, Humboldt also realized that there was a huge space for the development of vocational education in society. Therefore, Humboldt finally established an education system with vocational education and general education as the main body.

You are all Germans, so you should know better than I do. Since 1797, Prussia has stipulated universal compulsory education. Primary schools in cities are more formal, with a four-year school system and teachers who have received formal education. Primary schools in rural areas generally only have grades 1-2.

Among them, the cost of primary education is borne by all residents of the city or town. Secondary education is divided into two types: vocational high school and senior high school. The former is a five-year vocational school that children enter after completing four years of primary school. There is no Greek language teaching in the curriculum, but it strengthens the training of mathematics, natural sciences and other foreign languages.

The latter is a nine-year school that children enter after finishing primary school, and can go directly to university after graduation. This kind of school received great attention from Humboldt. He demanded the abolition of the old, lifeless teaching method that focused on imitation and rote memorization, and promoted students' independent research spirit and stimulated their interest in learning..."

Arthur paused when he said this, and he found that the professors in the audience seemed to be looking at him differently.

From the initial doubt, to the sudden surprise, to slowly accepting and listening carefully to his speech.

This shows that putting in the effort to do research can indeed win the respect of professionals.

Arthur went on to say: "Although in the short term, Prussia's education system has not yet achieved sufficiently impressive results. Thirty years have passed, but Prussia is still not comparable to Britain and France in terms of industry and economy.

However, we must also note that if we make a longitudinal comparison, we can find that compared with thirty years ago, most of the Prussian officials and politicians have received a higher level of education, and their scholars have made astonishing progress in the academic field. This also indirectly shows that Humboldt's educational reform was correct.

Humboldt's educational reform at the university level mainly focused on "academic freedom" and "combining education with research". Compared with secondary education, which trains professional workers and junior clerks, the goal of university education is not to create a screw in the social machine. It is not to train people who are dedicated to a certain profession, but to train a real "person".

In this regard, the University of Göttingen has always done a good job and was the benchmark of German universities in Humboldt's eyes at the time. In the more than a week since I came to Germany, I have fully witnessed the diversity of Göttingen students. Among them are the Austrian Prime Minister who proposed to strengthen control over universities at the Confederation Congress, the junior students who opposed the seniors' decisions in the beer hall, and the centrist representatives who are indifferent to all this and only like to walk their dogs..."

When the professors heard this, they couldn't help laughing: "We do focus on cultivating students to become complete people, but what exactly they will become is beyond our control."

Arthur also smiled and nodded, "It is absolutely necessary to maintain species diversity on campus, because this shows that the ecological environment of the University of Göttingen is very good."

Jacob Green quipped: "How does that compare to the University of London?"

Arthur paused for a moment, then answered thoughtfully, "Although I don't want to say this about my alma mater, the ecological environment of the University of London may be too good, so much so that bananas are growing on the ground."

William Green smiled and asked, "So, are you planning to change us to be like the University of London?"

"No, I don't want Göttingen to become a place where monkeys run around."

Arthur joked: "But I think: the truth will definitely be discovered, and the task of teaching is to enable students to have the ability to discover the truth and encourage them to complete this mission. Therefore, to a certain extent, as educators, we only need to point them in the right direction and should not impose too many constraints on students. What I want to emphasize today is Humboldt's statement on "academic freedom".

Academic freedom includes: university autonomy, teaching freedom and learning freedom. University autonomy means that the state should let university leaders manage it. The state should not act like a master and interfere with universities just because it provides money and materials. This will go against the development law of the university itself.

Teaching freedom means that university leaders should let professors teach and research freely, allowing scholars to work freely in the university without being influenced by any political or religious factions or bound by teaching syllabuses. Administrative regulations should not appear in the teaching of university teachers.

Freedom of learning means that professors should let students freely choose what and how they want to learn in school. They should not study the knowledge taught by professors, but study it. They are no longer children, but mature and independent people, and their minds and bodies are free.

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he was immediately cheered by the professors.

They had indeed imagined that the new school director would be an open-minded person, but Arthur's openness was still far beyond their best expectations.

When Professor Herbart heard this, his face turned pale with shock. He quickly stood up to stop him and said, "But, isn't this going against the amendment to the Carlsbad Resolution? This is what they are against."

Arthur just smiled and shook his head when he heard this: "Professor, do you remember what the amendment said?"

Professor Herbart replied in a serious tone: "The duties and obligations of the special representatives of the state are to supervise university students and professors, remove teachers with inappropriate radical ideas, strictly supervise student associations, and ban all suspicious university club activities."

"That's right."

Arthur said, "Based on my close supervision over the past week, I believe that all professors at the University of Göttingen are fulfilling their duties and do not have any inappropriate radical ideas. The students' activities and demands are also within a reasonable range. Therefore, I, Arthur Hastings, the special national representative and university supervisor of the University of Göttingen, announce that from now on, the activities of the University of Göttingen Student Union will be restarted, and the election of student leaders of the University Student Union will be held before the end of next week."

(End of this chapter)