From idea to code: a new perspective on the ontology of the university
B. V. May
National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
Keywords: philosophy of education, classical university, university’s ontology, idea of the university, spirit of the university, code of the university
Abstract
Introduction. Classical philosophy of education in the context of the university operates with the categories of “idea” and “spirit”, which reveal their explanatory insufficiency in the contemporary situation, since digitalization and technologization of the key processes of human’s life are forming a non-classical reality. The article sets the task of revising the ontological foundations of the university. Methodology. The research is based on a comparative analysis of two historical and philosophical strategies: the Platonic tradition of “idea” as a timeless archetype, and the German tradition of “spirit” (Geist) as an immanently unfolding program. Critical reflection on these models reveals their common limitation - the inability to account for the dynamics and the connection of the university with the external environment. Both classical categories imply either staticity or internal predetermination of development, which does not respond to the contemporary contextual reality of the university. Discussion. The concept of “code” is introduced as a working ontological model. The code does not precede the university (unlike the idea) and does not contain an immanently predetermined project (unlike the spirit). It emerges and is “written” in the very process of the historical existence of the university. The structure of the code is binary: a core - a set of stable essential characteristics, and a plastic periphery - a zone for the assimilation of external demands, values, and practices. The periphery adapts contextual meanings to the fundamental settings of the core, while the core, with the accumulation of changes, is capable of slow transformation. Such an organization allows the university to preserve its identity while simultaneously responding to the challenges of the digital economy, technological shifts, and social demands. Conclusion. The proposed “code” model makes it possible to synthesize stability and variability of the university, avoiding both the essentialism of the classical idea and the teleologism of the classical spirit. The aim of the article is to substantiate the potential of this construct for the contemporary philosophy of education.
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