1930–31 Volume 55 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

What Is Scholarship?(Reprinted from theWashingtonian)I HE matter of scholarship and researchseems to be one of the fundamentalquestions which ever needsnew clarification and exposition betweenuniversity communities and thegeneral public. The main concept ofeducation is bound up, in the minds ofmost collegiate teachers, with scholarshipand research. Definitions areoften in consequence desirable, in orderto bring about a proper understandingof the values and aims ofhigher education.Most education finds its highest conceptionin its indirect values. Theformulation of its aims is bound to bedifficult, not only because of a certainnecessary amount of intangibility butalso because of the varying opinionsbrought to bear upon an objective ofthis kind. The value of a vocationalwork and training should not be deniedor minimized by anyone. It isonly a truism to state how far ourpresent achievements in industry andengineering rest thereon, but the ultimateadvances into fields "of diminishingreturns" must depend in great partupon the super-scientist who worksnot for a definite goal but to ascertainthe unknown and the hitherto incomprehensiblein the field of science andknowledge.It is only through an untrammeledoutlook and through an absolutely unbiasedconception of his task that thescholar can attain the best results. Itshould be immaterial to him whetherthese results are practical or not. Heshould not be compelled to test hiswork by a definite monetary value orto feel that he must be guided in hislines of endeavor by the necessity ofBy GEORGE R. THROOP, DePauzv, '01Chancellor, IVashington University[397]quick results or practical values. Itis only in this way that a scholarshipof the highest significance can be attained.Scholarship is a reaching forthe highest of which the mind of manis capable. It is of itself a trainingin character as well as in method orcontent. The perfection of method andthe reaching of the highest known inany field are values rather than aims,apart from any results which can befound.There is, of course, no higher functionthan to transmit knowledge andno more valuable experience than toacquire it. It is only thereby that ourentire civilization can become progressiveand cumulative. The preservationof the experience and philosophyof the past is the only sure departurefor the activities of the present and thefuture.Scholarship is not necessarily research,and research need not alwaysbe scholarship, but in actual fact it ishard to think of competent researchwithout the basis of high scholarship,which after all only means the properpreparation for the work to be done.Scholarship may not lead to research,but it affords the only secure startingpoint for it. The advancement ofknowledge for its own sake is theproper function of research. The acquisitionof knowledge for its ownsake is the ideal of scholarship.It is true, of course, that researchseems to have a more practical bearingthan scholarship and that the lattercan be and often is belittled in comparison.But from scholarship shouldcome the desire and incentive for research,and the accomplishments of