The Education of Humanity in History : Towards a Broader Concept of Education in German Classical Philosophy
Abstract
The author develops in his essay the thesis that the concept of education (Bildung) in German classical philosophy is understood in two senses: as cultivation of the individual, and as collective education of humanity in history. The founder of this dual conception was J.
G. Herder; Kant then developed the idea of collective education of humanity in history as a gradual perfection of human beings, i. e. as the development of culture.
Kant's conception was taken up by Schiller who criticised the society of his time for not being morally ready for revolution. But the main author of the idea of the education of humanity is Hegel who follows history as the development of the consciousness of freedom.
Hegel believed that German philosophy of morality and duty (Kant) educated man to be conscious of his autonomy and simultaneously to respect the social division of labour as well as the division of political power in the state.