Abstract
THE modern conception of a University in France dates from the Revolution, In place of the old Sorbonne, veritable Bastille of scholasticism, the new University was conceived as a kind of laboratory and clearing-house in which every form of knowledge was to be pursued or dispensed. Yet in spite of the multiplicity of the subjects, unity was to be secured by the natural connection between the different branches and the common aims and ideals of the teachers themselves. Unfortunately the Revolution failed to realise the grandiose ideas of Talleyrand and Condorcet. With the exception of the Institute, the; only establishments it created were the so-called “special schools"limited to the study of a single science or group of subjects, such as, for instance, the school of mathematics, the school of medicine, the school of Oriental languages, &c.. To these the Consulate added the schools of law and altered the title of many of these schools into that of “faculties.” It further increased the number of faculties by adding those of letters and of science. The research side of university work was ignored, the faculties were mere examination machines for turning out professipnal men. The only university was the University of France, which, though made a corporate body by Napoleon, was above all things an institution for the propagation of an official education most favourable to Imperialism. To this university all the different faculties in the different towns were subordinated. But here all connection ended. Although often existing three and four together in the same town, they were completely strangers to one another, having no unity or even relationship with one another, almost entirely devoid of the necessary resources, not merely for original investigation, but also for their ordinary work.
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Thirty Years of University Education in France . Nature 68, 323–326 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/068323a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/068323a0