Stiftung und Wissenschaft. Historische Argumente für eine Wahlverwandtschaft

According to Max Weber there is an elective affinity between university and foundation. The basic idea of the universitas is the free alliance between teachers and pupils for the purpose of academic studies, and is opposed to any access by sovereign powers; also the foundation is free in that it is only subject to the original will as formulated by the founder and cannot be dominated by anyone else, particularly later generations. The freedom of both is based on the unlimited period of time ascribed to them. Foundations are dedicated to a never-ending specific purpose and academic studies were considered to be selfpropagating and a permanent fixture of society in much the same way as the church or a municipality. The foundation also has an elective affinity with science in its modern understanding as research. Moreover science, as it has been understood since the eighteenth century, is a continuing process of enlightenment which from the temporal perspective directly corresponds to the concept of the foundation in that it provides tangible commodities for permanent use. However, where the term “science” is separated from the concept of infinite progress, as it is in the New Philosophy of Science (P. K. Feyerabend a. o.), the Maecenas can take the place of the founder for whom every successful work of art and post-modern science is of equal value.