Studies in Science of Science ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (12): 2544-2551.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Evolution of Early Modern Scientific Societies and Their Impact on Universities

  

  • Received:2025-06-18 Revised:2025-08-15 Online:2025-12-15 Published:2025-12-15

近代科学学会的发展及其对大学的影响

杜今   

  1. 华中科技大学教育科学研究院
  • 通讯作者: 杜今
  • 基金资助:
    教育部哲学社会科学研究重大课题攻关项目“加快教育现代化建设教育强国实施路径研究”

Abstract: A historical examination of the institutionalization of modern science reveals deep and sustained interactions, as well as shifting balances of power, between scientific societies and universities. The seventeenth century witnessed the vigorous organizational growth of scientific societies, while traditional universities, mired in the confines of scholasticism, experienced a relative decline in their intellectual authority. In the eighteenth century, scientific societies were gradually institutionalized under state patronage and played a central role in disseminating enlightenment rationality and practical knowledge. Notably, this period also witnessed the nascent research function within universities, exemplified by the University of Halle and the University of G?ttingen, which sought to integrate critical inquiry with teaching and thereby laid the groundwork for the transformation of the university in subsequent generations. The nineteenth century marked a major turning point. On the one hand, scientific societies accelerated the process of specialization amid an unprecedented expansion of knowledge, and disciplinary boundaries became increasingly rigid; on the other hand, the locus of scientific research shifted decisively to the university, which, with its systematic system of personnel training and an increasingly pronounced research orientation, emerged as the primary driving force in the production of scientific knowledge. The impact of societies on universities can be seen in three main areas: disciplinary differentiation within universities, the organizational structure of universities, and university research activities. Scientific societies fostered the early internal structuring of scientific disciplines, thereby establishing the disciplinary framework. The development and differentiation of disciplines laid the groundwork for the lecture system in universities, while the differentiation of knowledge and the institutionalization of disciplines drove the rise of the departmental system. Furthermore, the recognition of new knowledge through journal publications, the reward mechanisms of societies, and the construction of systematically operational academic networks all effectively promoted scientific research in universities.

摘要: 回溯近代科学建制化历程,科学学会与大学之间存在着深刻的互动与力量消长。17世纪见证了科学学会的蓬勃组织化,而彼时的传统大学深陷经院哲学的窠臼,知识权威地位相对式微。进入18世纪,科学学会逐步走向国家支持的体制化,成为推动启蒙理性与实用知识传播的中坚力量。值得关注的是,正是在此时期,大学内部悄然萌发出研究职能的幼芽,以德国哈勒大学、哥廷根大学为代表,开始尝试将批判性研究与教学初步结合,为后世大学转型埋下伏笔。19世纪迎来了关键转折点。一方面,科学学会在知识爆炸背景下加速专业化进程,学科壁垒日益森严;另一方面,科学研究的重心发生了历史性转移——大学凭借其系统性人才培养体系和逐渐强化的研究导向,崛起为新的科学知识生产核心引擎。近代学会组织对大学的影响,主要体现在大学学科分化、大学组织建制以及大学研究活动三个方面。学会催生了早期科学内部学科建制即学科结构格局;学科的发展分化为大学讲座制的确立奠定基础;知识分化及学科制度化驱动学系制的兴起;以期刊出版作为认可新知识的基本途径、学会的奖励机制以及构建系统运作的学术网络都有效促进了大学的科学研究。