This article emphasizes that the ultimate purpose of academia is the search for truth, and that it plays an important role in human progress and cultural development in the long run, despite its disconnect from reality. It argues that even when academia seems disconnected from reality, we should reevaluate its value by considering the positive impact the pursuit of truth has on humanity.
What is the ultimate purpose of academia? If academia is useful in real life, if its pursuit brings pleasure, it is because it is all about the search for truth. It is not truth or scholarship because it is practical or because it is fun; it is useful to human life and fun because it is truth. Being useful or entertaining is secondary to scholarship, and it would be difficult to say that it is the ultimate purpose.
The purpose of academia is the search for truth itself. In other words, the purpose of scholarship is the search for truth itself. The purpose of academia as the search for truth is so far removed from real life that it is sometimes blamed for its superiority. But on the contrary, when learning seems to be favored by practical life, it often bestows its richest blessings on practical life.
The world is apt to condemn the life of study in the ivory tower as an escape from reality, but we must recognize that the ivory tower is a great blessing. Before the modern people who enjoy a life of convenience in every aspect, it was the hard work of the scholars in the ivory tower who built a wall between them and the search for truth that made such a thing possible. However, a scholar is not one who willfully walks the path of suffering for the sake of others. A scholar merely studies in order to seek the truth.
Moreover, in response to the accusation that scholarship is disconnected from reality, we need to reconsider the inherent nature of scholarship itself. The search for truth has infinite value in and of itself, and it cannot be driven by mere temporal gain or transient interest. Scholars are often driven by a desire to explore wider and deeper dimensions of truth rather than by practical benefits. As a result, their work may sometimes seem irrelevant to immediate reality, but in the long run, it has contributed significantly to the advancement of human knowledge and civilization. For example, just as scientific discoveries made centuries ago have made our lives easier today, current academic research may one day bring unexpected benefits to humanity.
In this context, academics should not just focus on the immediate results, but evaluate their value from a broader, long-term perspective. The academic path to truth may be a lonely and arduous journey, but the truth that we reach at the end of it will elevate our existence.
When a discipline is hastily brought to the forefront for purposes other than the search for truth, it loses its freedom and may even become distorted. When a discipline is abused for purposes other than the search for truth, it becomes a mirage, and while it may at first appear to be brilliant, it is not really a discipline at all.
When the search for truth is the sole purpose of scholarship, and when one strives for it, the sublime spirit of scholarship, which is not bound by anything, will cultivate the strength to overcome encounters, and it will also lead to the perfection of our character. The essence of scholarship lies in rationality and demonstrability, and the purpose of scholarship is the search for truth. The authority of a discipline, which cannot be bent by honor, nor appeased by exaltation, is not found outside of this essence and purpose.
As such, even if it does not have immediate application in the real world, it is ultimately an important cornerstone of humanity’s intellectual and cultural development. Its intrinsic value lies in the fact that it is not merely a tool to satisfy human curiosity, but a driving force for human progress.
