From Meaning to the Algorithm: The University in the Technological Age between the Marginalization of the Humanities and a Crisis of Human Understanding

Abstract

This study examines the transformations occurring within the university under the increasing dominance of technological rationality and algorithmic systems, understood as a new mode of reshaping knowledge and the function of higher education. The analysis moves beyond the instrumental dimension of technology to explore its ontological implications, particularly its impact on human understanding and the criteria by which knowledge is valued. Combining theoretical inquiry with a field-based survey of academic staff in Iraqi universities, the research investigates the causes behind students’ declining interest in the humanities. While the findings highlight labor market concerns and limited employment opportunities as major factors, the study argues that the crisis extends beyond economic explanations. It is rooted in a deeper shift in the structure of knowledge and the dominance of efficiency-driven logic. The paper concludes that restoring the status of the humanities requires affirming their formative necessity in preserving meaning and critical understanding within the university.

Keywords :Balaat al-Mutakallimin. Al-Kalam al-Nafsi. Al-Tanzih wa al-Majaz