University and Freedom

Nothing typifies our era more than the trembling and transformation of many social institutions that we have perceived within a continuum transcending the horizon of one human life. Nothing is more connected with the development and self-awareness of the Euro-American civilisation than universities. While teachers and books sometimes burned at the stakes, over time universities became islands spreading free thinking, knowledge and competences permeating the entire society, in effect turning into one of the cornerstones of the democratic culture.