Remo la Volpe

The hedgehog and the fox are the well-known characters, dear to Ceserani, with which Berlin designates two different modes of pursuing the paths of knowledge: the first, the one of the hedgehog, is straight and guided by a universal principle, while the other one is exploratory. The fox’s curiosity and instinct drive her off the beaten track. In the present article, Berlin’s two creatures serve the purpose to illustrate the cognitive and structural rethinking that has set in within the European higher education system during the past decades, and which finds the most appropriate impact on the redefinition of the delicate interdisciplinary relationship between science and the humanities. While tracing Ceserani’s scholarly activity as a Visiting Professor at the ETH Zurich–and relating to the latest development of the chair once held by De Sanctis–the article discusses the emblematic history of an institutional transition towards interdisciplinarity, taking one of the most prestigious universities in the world as its case study. Based on Ceserani’s recent studies about the connection between scientific knowledge and narration, the analysis of the modes that disentangle from traditional disciplinarity are eventually integrated into a broader discourse about the reciprocal interaction among disciplines.