La quarta notte dell’università. Un tentativo di riflessione sul rapporto tra esperti e Università dopo il periodo pandemico da Covid-19

The article examines the relationship between experts and the university in light of the epistemic crisis that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic. After reconstructing the historical foundations of the university - as an institution devoted to the production of knowledge, the validation of expertise, the universality of learning, and academic freedom - the essay shows how a long-term transformation, from early modern specialization to contemporary professionalization, has progressively eroded the university’s capacity to cultivate critical thinking. The pandemic made this fragility particularly visible: the exposure of experts in the media sphere, the blurring of roles, and the proliferation of pseudo-experts weakened both the self-understanding of academics and the public’s ability to recognize epistemic authority. From this diagnosis emerges the “fourth night of the university”: the social non-recognition of knowledge, fueled by relativism, anti-intellectualism, and a growing distrust of epistemic institutions. The article concludes by outlining possible paths of renewal, advocating a recovery of the university’s original triptych – production and validation of expertise, universality of knowledge, and academic freedom - and the reintroduction of shared formative tools such as logic, argumentation, and writing, which are essential for enabling citizens to navigate contemporary hyperknowledge societies. Only by returning to the formation of autonomous thinkers and to the pursuit of truth can the university emerge from its current night.