Waseda WeeklyWaseda Weekly

Today, when the existence of universal values to be aimed for is no longer self-evident, a contradictory situation is occurring around universities, where a single set of values is actually imposed on universities while a premise of recognizing diverse values is adopted. What the government currently expects most from universities is how much innovation they can produce to increase the competitiveness of the Japanese economy. From this perspective, universities that are expected to grow their business scale by 3% per year will be selected, designated as International Excellence Research Universities, and will receive several tens of billions of yen in subsidies per year.

Which of multiple values should be selected as universal? This is a difficult problem that requires a thoughtful discussion, but perhaps because of its difficulty, it has been reduced to a question of numbers, and the contradiction that the logic of numbers takes away diversity (Shigehiko Hasumi , "Ethics of the University," 2003, University of Tokyo Press) is succinctly expressed in the quantified requirements for applying to become a top university, such as a 3% annual growth in business scale, more than 1,000 top 10% papers, and total private-sector expenses. The competition for first and second place naturally assumes that the participants will be evaluated according to a uniform standard. This is because comparisons are impossible when there are multiple standards.

In ancient China, emperors would rank the works of painters and potters, calling them first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade, and would also recognize works that did not fall within those grades and could not be judged but were still considered good as "excellent," "exceptional," or "exceptional." These are non-mainstream, but over time it becomes difficult to tell which one is number one. It is unsophisticated to be number one when measured by the uniform, heteronomous standard of the times, so why not aim for the refinement of an exceptional work that displays individuality and shines beyond the trends of the times?

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No. 1160