In Chile, higher education is characterised by a constellation of features that make ‘public’ a multiplicitous idea. In the present study, academics in two public universities are seen to hold strong views in favour of public universities playing public roles and they identify several public goods that they value. These academics also hold ambivalent perceptions of the relationships between the state and the market. On the one hand, the market and the state’s role in it are accorded a limited legitimacy. On the other hand, it is felt that the state does not sufficiently enable its public universities to realise their potential. The paper proceeds to argue that in this ambivalence can be detected four juxtapositions. It is suggested that these juxtapositions together open a space for a new settlement between the state and its public universities such that Chilean public universities might more fully realise their public possibilities.

在智利，高等教育的特点是具有一系列特征，这些特征使“公共”成为一个多元化的概念。在本研究中，两所公立大学的学者被认为持有强烈的观点，支持公立大学扮演公共角色，他们确定了他们重视的几种公共产品。这些学者对国家与市场之间的关系也持有矛盾的看法。一方面，市场和国家在其中的作用被赋予了有限的合法性。另一方面，人们认为国家没有充分发挥公立大学的潜力。本文继续论证，在这种矛盾心理中可以检测到四个并列. 建议这些并置在一起为国家与其公立大学之间的新解决方案开辟了空间，以便智利公立大学可以更充分地实现其公共可能性。