An opinion by UCU Rector Taras Dobko, PhD
On the eve of the academic year, UCU Rector Taras Dobko, PhD, reflects on the nature of reasonableness and an intelligent society, exploring why the latter cannot be built without an alliance between universities and businesses.
Why do we need reasonableness? The most immediate answer is that it increases our chances of survival. Immanuel Kant, however, disagreed, arguing that instinctual behavior would likely be far more effective for survival. So, why do we need reasonableness?
This question seems self-evident until it is asked directly. I am prompted to ask it by a symbolic occasion: the beginning of the academic year. Schools and universities are once again opening their doors to a new generation that must be initiated into an intelligent approach to life.
We do not always rely on reasonableness. We often become hostages to power, money, and passions. To achieve a desired outcome, we may exert pressure on others from a position of strength—whether in the family, the Church, business, or education. Sometimes we buy consent with bribes or privileges, or we manipulate other people’s passions, such as addiction, vanity, greed, or fear. But there is an alternative: to be guided by reasonableness in all our relationships. This is inherently an ethical choice, and therefore a choice about our way of life and how we interact with the world.
To be guided by reasonableness is to strive to live and act in truth, in accordance with reality. Putin’s Russia is trying to convince us that truth does not exist, that “reality” is woven from subjective interests and passions, and that, therefore, only one rule applies: might makes right. We, however, believe that relationships between people can be built on the foundation of truth rather than injustice, that human life has meaning, and that this meaning is transcendent—not derived from biology or human whim. We believe that individuals are capable of being guided by reason and, therefore, of living in accordance with reality as it should be: justly, honestly, and with dignity.
By design, universities are the bearers and guardians of this vision of humanity and human life. Their task is to introduce reasonableness into human relationships and social life. Studying at a university is a unique time in one’s life. It is an opportunity not only to acquire skills but also to learn how to think, argue, write, and read—to learn to understand human life and the world. This experience should make us stronger and more capable of taking action and repairing the world around us.
To establish a life grounded in truth, Ukraine needs strong, autonomous, ambitious, and self-directed universities. Currently, most institutions are too vulnerable to dare to assert their own agency. This vulnerability is a consequence of a financial model that makes them dependent on the government and the political climate. Without endowments and long-term capital, many universities feel they have neither the power, the obligation, nor the leadership capacity to shape the country’s strategic agenda around the common public good rather than private interests.
The activities of universities that recognize this responsibility and are ready to strategically align social actors resemble an underground resistance movement more than the mainstream. The reason for this is not only the war but also a lack of public demand for such a role—particularly from the business sector. Businesses must consciously utilize all formats of interaction with universities, recognizing them as communities of rational thought. It is no longer uncommon for businesses to participate in university supervisory boards, help develop educational programs and standards, and engage practicing professionals as instructors.
However, progress is more difficult when it comes to dual education, joint R&D, and investment in fundamental research—areas that require patience rather than expectations of a quick return. To achieve this, businesses must view universities as a significant public good, not merely as “human resource factories.”
Without close collaboration between businesses and universities, the outflow of talent will continue, the demographic crisis will deepen, and there is a risk of losing sovereignty in critical areas of development. We cannot afford to be importers of our own security, nor do we have the right to rely exclusively on importing highly educated professionals. We will only win the competition for talent when we create Ukrainian Stanfords and Oxfords. This is possible, but only as a collective effort, much like when the Ukrainian diaspora raised funds for the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard in the 1960s. Only then will the university become not just a means to an end for business, society, and the state—such as a source of labor or status—but a goal in itself: a source of dignity and reasonableness.
Learning to live in a world organized according to rational rules is both difficult and costly. The alternative is the “Russian world”: a world without justice, honor, or conscience; a world without freedom and dignity. That is not our world!
Source: Forbes Ukraine
