Artikel

De universiteit van de toekomst zal het huis van de democratie moeten zijn

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Samenvatting

This paper explores how a transformation of the university might overcome the ‘knowledge-action’ gap, which is also a ‘research-application’ and a ‘science-
society’ gap. I argue that whereas scientific expertise used to be a creative and intelligent engagement with ignorance, it changed under pressure from New Public Management into the alleged capacity to provide useful answers to societal questions.

Next, I examine the relationship between science and technology, focusing on the role interfaces play in mediating between us and the world. I highlight the importance of understanding the difference between material and communicative interfaces. While modern science, through its intertwinement with technology, has helped to develop material interfaces that vastly improved our standard of living, the
epistemic division of labor inherent in modern science has hindered the development of better communicative interfaces. Our social intelligence, to borrow a term from John Dewey, does not depend on interventions that work, but on our capacity to cooperate, to truly become a “we”.

The university of the future should focus on the ambition to contribute to the development of a comprehensively inclusive “we”. She should, therefore, be the heart of the city, the political arena, the home of democracy where ethics and science are two sides of the same coin.

Hoe citeren:

Bransen, J., (2025) “De universiteit van de toekomst zal het huis van de democratie moeten zijn”, Ethiek en Maatschappij 27(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/em.99807