Diogenes in the Tower of Babel: The Generation Gap and the Role of the University

Abstract

The article argues that the problem of communication, especially between generations, is aggravated rather than ameliorated by university education primarily because of the present state of the disciplines in Social Sciences. The argument , which is based on extensive interdisciplinary research, suggests that the lack of agreement on basic terms, increasing specialization, theoretical indefiniteness, scientific skepticism, and the research orientation of the social science disciplines are translated into classroom exercises which are substantively meaningless and which induce an endless search for value on the part of students.