Difference between NIetzche's and Hegel's views on education (bildung) - Essay Example

? Difference between Nietzche's Views on education and Hegel's Views on education May 7, Education focuses on training the future leaders of thefederal and global government. The research centers on Hegel’s Bildung concept. The research delves into Frederic Nietzche’s Bildung propositions. Education must be catered to the diverse needs of the learners. There is a difference between Hegel’s view that education (Bildung) is for everyone, and that everyone can be educated. Hegel emphasized that Bildung in the Civil Society refers to the education of the conscience to learn how to link the specific and the universal. The author reiterates that the Bildung includes giving credibility to the universal. The author goes further by stating that the Bildung education incorporates the theory that the individual members of society are private persons having their own diverse interests, wants, and needs as their objective. Since the objective goes through mediation passing through the universal, the individuals interpret the objective as the means. The individuals can attain their objective only if they determine their own diverse knowledge, volition, and action in a universal way in order to make themselves connections in the continuum chain. The above quote clearly shows that education, during Hegel’s time and during our present generation, is intertwined with many significant factors. For example, the students study engineering with the hope that they will be landing an engineering job, after graduation. The management students spend lots of time mastering their management concepts with the hope they will become future managers in the work place. In turn, the engineering companies are willing to accept new employees if they have the necessary skills, capabilities, and other relevant experiences needed to ensure the company’s goals are achieved on time and with quality. Hegel explains this process by stating that the uneducated person starts out from a perspective in which the specific interest is the objective and the universal is the means. This is the reverse of the proper relationship, in accordance with the universal is the objective and the specific is the means. Hegel explains that Bildung education is the dynamic relationship between the subjective aspects as well as the objective aspects of CRIC. To develop the subjective aspect, the full capability for holding on to the specific and universal in one firm bind, with thee objective presence of such institutions and objective precedence relations between them already in place. In addition, the subjective sense of CRIC sustains and aids the objective order. This can be explained as follows. The form of universality to where the specific had worked its way up and cultivated [heraufgebildet] itself, the comprehension [verstandigkeit], makes it happen that at the same time the specific [Besonderheit] is metamorphosed to the genuine being for itself of the individuality [Enizelheit]. Likewise, since the specific that universality accepts both the content which fills it and its infinite self-determination, specialty is itself cropping up in ethical life as free subjectivity which has infinite being for itself. The individual reaches universality. The universal reaches its content and infinite self-determination from the interest as well as actions of the individuals. In short, Hegel’s Bildung education places importance on learning through action activities, as opposed to learning through book reading activities1. Further, Hegel theorizes in his valedictory address, on its graduating 1788 class, that the Turkish State had neglected its major responsibility to educate its citizens. Hegel states that education is a great influence on Turkey’s and any other average state’s government affairs. Bildung is pegged as the foundation of the political body. Manners, the state’s primary responsibility to further the citizen’s education and learning, sciences focus on the societal elements, and the arts2. In addition, there are many loyalists to the Hegel Philosophy on Bildung (education). The loyalists include John Dewey. Another loyalist is Johann Herder. A third loyalist is Johan Goethe. Karl Marx is one of recognized followers of Hegel. Engels is another ardent believer in Hegel’s Bildung theory of education. The loyalists espouse the Hegel concept of Bildung stating it is an organic model of education. Education is viewed as focusing on the formation of the individual’s unique development potential through the introduction of actual involvement in social practices or sciences as well as institutions of the culture. The Bildung culture, conceptualized and formalized in Germany, includes those drawn from the university, family, school, civil institutions, and similar relevant sources. The loyalists’ belief in Hegel’s Bildung stating Hegel’s education philosophy borders on the infinite realization of the self, where the self is both willing and able to create unique cultural contributions through immanent criticism and creative reconstruction of the several factors. The factors include beliefs, cultural norms, and values. The factors favorably affect their consequent self-development and the education of the future leaders of our federal government. Hegel’s Bildung aided John Dewey’s proposal that the individual’s self a complex use that developed through a rhythm of equilibrium -disqualibrium restoration of equilibrium , a biologically grounded version of Hegel’s dialectic on education. Hegel’s Bildung mixes the social concept of the self with the concept of immanent critique that offers individual freedom through engaging in the right relationships with other persons and the continuing remake of the cultural entities. Hegel’s Bildung education philosophy includes the concept that an individual’s identity in different in his defense of a democratic community reiterating the diverseness of socially intertwined interaction as significant to the learners’ self- realization, infinite learning, and personal freedom. Bildung started out with the focus on encouraging the devout Catholics to find cultivation, German Bildung, of their diverse personal talents in the likeness or image of God, which is innate in the learners’ souls. During the later part of the 18th century, Bildung included teachings on the spiritual and philosophical concepts, coupled with touches of political trimmings. Bildung centered on freeing the mind from the historical concepts of tradition and superstition. Bildung included the releasing of the German population from the bondage of premodern political system composed of several small feudal states. Hegel’s Bildung focused on the sense of personal transformation and the development of the citizens where it included the totality of experiences that provide a people’s coherent feeling of common destiny and unique identity3. Further, Hegel’s Bildung can be described as the development of the capability and the character to adhere to the rational standards established by the community. Consequently, education (Bildung) climbs far beyond the development of the entire person’s packaging as espoused by Beiser. Hegel’s Bildung centers on the fulfillment when the entire individual functions well as contributors to the enhancement of society. To be educated translated to becoming accepted in the ultimate social good. Hegel places importance on education as one of the key ingredients to transform a mere mortal into a complete and whole person able to function effectively and efficiently in the normal community setting. Alfred North Whitehead explains Hegel’s Bildung as “There is only one subject matter for education, and that is Life in all its manifestations”4. In addition, Hegel’s Bildung concept is ground on prior philosophers. Hegel’s Bildung concept is grounded on Hegel’s radicalization of Kant’s theoretical, not practical, philosophy. Specifically, Hegel incorporated a radicalization of Kant’s theory on Meta physics. He comprehends the systematic starting point of his matured system as part of the Philosophy of Nature and Philosophy of Spirit. Further, Hegel’s Bilduing philosophy proceeds to the Science of Logic and the Philosophy of Nature. Hegel’s theories are the offshoot of Kant’s teachings in the Critique of Pure Reason. Hegel’s serious admiration of Kant’s practical philosophy as well as the enhancement of the religion, with the inclusion of Schelling’s philosophy of the absolute, Holderlin’s Conception of love catapulted to the establishment of Hegel’s Bildung education concepts5. Further, Hegel emphasized that the parents have the moral obligation to ensure their children are educated6. Children have the moral obligation to seriously study their lessons. The education must be instituted to instill ethical principles among the students, Germany’s and the World’s future leaders. Children have the moral education to use what they have learned to improve society. On the other hand, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s views education (Bildung) should be only for the select few. Nietzsche is described as a provocative as well as radical critic of the modern society. He is known as the liberator of humanity from the clutches of the cults of the idols and superstition. Nietzsche promotes noble concepts that offer disadvantageous indictment of the present concepts of education and culture. He is a person who questions a person who delves in the scientific method of experimentation. Some quarters associate Nietzche as a person with a facist ideology. Some describe him as against democratic ideals. One reader states7 that “Lucid thought, delirium, and the conspiracy from an indissoluble whole in Nietzche – an indissolubility that would become the criterion for discerning what is of consequence or not page.” Frederic Nietzche wrote philosophical thoughts that the world ponder, scrutinize, and understand. Frederic Nietzche attacked the historical modes of thoughts. He questioned the validity of Platonism. Frederic Nietzche also argued against the teachings of Christianity. Specifically, Frederic Nietzche questioned the Christian teaching of both a real world and a spiritual world. The author also mentions that the concepts of metaphysics had led many of the people away from the truth or reality of life8. Frederic Nietzche insists that education, especially in science, must teach what forms part of the scientific interpretation and evaluation. Further, Frederic Nietzche insists that education must include delving into the empiricism that knows how to pinpoint which are noble and which are mundane ways. Further, Frederic Nietzche insists that education should focus on resolving the abyss of scientific conscience. Education should center on questions of truth in the context of life, history, culture, nature, drives, and impulses. However, Frederic Nietzche questions whether everyone has been truthful in the context of educating the student with what is true and correct9. Furthermore, Frederic Nietzche believes that scientific education should pave a straight and true path of the philosopher to excel in one’s future researches. The philosopher must find solutions to the problem of values. The philosopher must learn the hierarchy of values. Persons who do not have the mental and physical capacity to pass the rigors of the related education process should shift to a course that fits their mental, physical, and emotional competence. Frederic Nietzche gay science education focuses on exposing the concept that the normal person’s intellect does not have to be “clumsy, creaking, or gloomy machine.” The author insists that people are determined in their innermost being by their childhood experiences, parental influence, and the child’s education. These prejudices are deeply rooted in each person. Consequently, they it would be very difficult to change their historical beliefs, culture by using reason or free will. The power of habit is hard to change. The need to strive for higher personal ideals and the breaking away from historical cultural traditions is an uphill battle. Frederic Nietzche insists that the breaking up of society’s historical concepts, with emphasis on questioned whether the average person had been deceived for 2,000 years by a phantom. Likewise, societal arrogance and rashness have fostered uncertain strife. Frederic Nietzche opines that aim of education is to develop new concept of self- discipline. Self discipline metamorphoses the individual or society into a way of greatness10. People hate to be alone in a quiet room because they can hear voices from the spiritual world. People need educators to who can listen to the students. In addition, Frederic Nietzche had failing health during his adult life. Throughout his life, Frederic Nietzche would suffer from migraine headaches. In addition, education proposes a form of natural education that is geared towards postponing the corruption of civilization11 (page 46). In the end, Frederic Nietzche proposes that education should focus on influencing the noble youth for the purpose of the final production of genius. In an almost frightening fashion, the educated individual has long been called the scholar. All our educational programs where the ideal theoretical man has assimilated the powers gained through education. Further, Frederic Nietzche12 insists discussing German education should focus on being the standard for all other educational institutions. Education should not gear towards surpassing the quality of education implemented in other nations. German education became a part of each German citizen’s upbringing, not by accident. Education links the present generation with the thoughts, concepts, and other teachings of philosophers, and teachers of prior generations. Education shows the living monuments to past advances in science and technology. Education is the possible estimation of the ideal spirit that created the educational system in the past, present, and future generations. To bring the educational institutions into the real world, the classroom topics are continually revised to adhere to the every need of society and the students. Analysis Based on the above comparison, both philosophers are correct. Hegel is correct in stating that all persons should be given the right to education. Each person who wants to be an engineer should be given a chance to study to be an engineer. Everyone who dreams to be a medical doctor should be given a chance to study for the medical licensure exams. A person who wishes to be an airline pilot should be given the chance to study for the pilot’s license test. No one should be banned from pursuing one’s dreams in life. Further, education should focus on improving the lives of the students. Joseph Novak13 insists that “Education, in any setting, is an enormously complex human endeavor; there are more ways to make changes that will be harmful or of little value than ways to make constructive improvements in education. A comprehensive theory of education is needed to give vision and guidance for new practices and research leading to steady improvement of education.” The quote vividly shows that education is meant to offer the future working adults more advantages in the working world. With education, the students will know how to compute the revenues generated from each sales transaction. With education, the future engineer will know how to construct a bridge, a 50-story building, or a skyscraper. With education, the nurse can take the blood pressure of the patient. With education, the doctor can prescribe the right recuperating procedures and prescribe the right amount of medicine dosage given to each patient. With education, the teachers will mold the students into future leaders of our American society, a future President Obama or a future President Bush. In addition, Serbrenia Sims14 reiterated “Several frameworks exist that have been utilized to discuss and classify human styles of learning. Some are very generic and speak to a broad range of learning behaviors and dimensions. Other frameworks are more focused and highlight certain dimensions. A model suggests that learning styles is a generic term under which three general levels of learning behavior are subsumed. These levels are as follows: cognitive personality style: the individual's approach to adapting and assimilating information; information processing style: the intellectual procedures used by individuals in assimilating information; and instructional preference: the individual's preference for learning environments and activities.” The quote clearly shows that different students have different learning capacities. Some students are more adept at math topics when compared to the other students in the same classroom. The students who are good in math can take up engineering, accounting, and other math- involved college courses. Some students are better in drawing, or sketching compared to other students. These students are better of taking architecture during the college days. Some students are good in music. These students are better advised to take up music –related courses in their college years. Some can become world famous violinists. Others can become popularly pianists. Some students are good in helping people. Students with helping skills can take up hospitality management, hotel and restaurant management, tourism, nursing, and other related courses during their college days. Further, Myron Dembo15 insists “Many of my students frequently state in class or in written assignments: "I have no motivation" Actually, everyone is motivated. Educational researchers have found that many different patterns of beliefs and behaviors can limit academic success. Therefore, many different types of motivational problems can be identified in any group of students.” The quote clearly shows that students are human beings. Some are bored by subject if the teacher is too fast. In this case, the teacher should ask the class if they have any questions. The questions will help the teachers determine if they have to slow down their teaching itineraries. The questions will show the teachers that they have to give more examples in order to remove the cloud of vagueness among the slow learning and confused students. The teacher can ask questions as a guide to continue to the next topic or to continue with the present topic. Further, the teacher can use different teaching strategies to get the subject’s concepts into the minds of the students in crystal-clear manner. The teacher can show a powerpoint presentation or a slide to increase the students’ understanding of the subject matter being discussed. The teacher can show movies or videos inside the classroom in order to increase the transfer of information from the teacher to the open-minded students. The teacher can add more practice examples to expand on the math subjects in order to make the slow learners catch up with the other members of the class. The cooking instructor can demonstrate and let the students cook to make the learning process more meaningful. Likewise, Frederic Nietzche is also correct. The state should regulate who should be educated and who should banned from being educated. For example, a person who is weak in math should not be allowed to enter the engineering courses because he or she cannot cope with the standards of the engineering curriculum. The engineering board exams will determine who will practice as licensed engineers and who should not practice because their mental capacity cannot cope with the rigors of engineering education. The state should interfere and choose who should enter the medical doctor program. In reality, all school, especially the United States institute entrance tests such as the SAT and other entrance tests to weed out student applicants who should not pursue their dreams to be future engineers, medical doctors, accountants, and nurses. Based on the above discussion, education focuses on molding the future leaders of the federal and global government. The Hegel’s Bildung concept is viable. The Frederic Nietzche Bildung proposition is realistic. Indeed, education must be formulated to fill the diverse needs of the learners. WORKS CITED Avineri, Shlomo. Hegel’s Theory of the Modern State. New York: University Press, 1974. Print Dembo, Myron. Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success. Mahwah. Lawrence Erlbaum Press. Print. Fairfield, Paul. John Dewey and Continental Philosophy. New York: SIU Press, 2010. Print. Hegel, Georg. Outlines of the Philosophy of Right. New York: University Press, 2008. Print Houlgate, Stephen. The Hegel Reader, New York: Blackwell Publishers. 1998. Print. Karvakou, Vasiliki. Hegel’s Idea of Moral Education and Modern Pluralism. Philosophical Inquiry. Thessaloniki. 28(2006): 77-93. Print. Lambert, Carole. Doing Good, Departing from Evil. New York: Peter Lang Press. Print. Nietzche, Frederic. On The Future of Our Educational Institutions, New York: Gutenberg Press. 2009. Print. Novak, Joseph. Learning, Creating, and Using Knowledge: Concept Maps as Facilitative Tools in Schools and Corporations, Mahwah, Lawrence Erlbaum Press. 1998. Print. Pearson, K., Lange, D., The Nietzche Reader, New York: Blackwell Publishers. 2006. Print. Sims, Serbrenia. The Importance of Learning Styles. Westport. Greenwood Press. 1995. Print. Read More