Uniwersytet w czasach bezmyślności
The University in the Time of Thoughtlessness

Summary/Abstract: If, as Hannah Arendt stated in Eichmann in Jerusalem, evil is thoughtless, canthinking protect us from evil? In the first part of the article, I make a distinction betweenintellect (which follows the logic of thinking) and reason (which follows the ethics ofthinking). I put forward the thesis that if the ethics of thinking (reason) does not guidethe logic of thinking (intellect), it breeds evil and fanaticism. In the second part of thistext, I address causes of contemporary thoughtlessness, including mediocrity, pragmatism,measurability, and the dominance of the mercantile mentality. The final part of this essayemphasizes the responsibility of universities (especially in the area of the humanities)and, in broader perspective, of culture, for the education of reason.

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