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„Wie kommts, daß es mit den Philanthropinen so gar nicht fort will?“: Die Kritik an den Erziehungsmethoden der Philanthropen in fiktionalen Texten der Aufklarung

Rossini, Sara
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1437650020

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Germanic Languages and Literatures.
This dissertation explores the critique formulated in works by the two German 18th-century novelists Johann Gottlieb Schummel und Karl Philipp Moritz, of the contemporaneous pedagogical reform movement initiated by the Philanthropists, especially of its founder Johann Bernhard Basedow and his school in Dessau. In my first chapter, I present an overview of the social and political changes in Germany during the Enlightenment Era, as well as the different kinds of schools of that time. I also consider Locke and Rousseau, the two most influential philosophers for the philanthropic movement, and their pedagogical thoughts. My second chapter investigates Badedow’s educational philosophy and its realization at the Dessauer Philanthropin. The philanthropism was a revolutionary movement that tried to reform the educational system of that time. Traditionally, it has been attacked for aiming at a utilitarian education; focusing on the child’s later integration into the absolutist society as a useful citizen, instead of the cultivation of the child’s capabilities as a human being. I present a treatise and eight letters that were anonymously published during the years, in which Basedow’s school was active. These writings expose the impracticability of Basedow’s pedagogy in everyday school life due to his exaggerated expectations and unrealistic theories. In my third chapter, I examine Schummel’s Spitzbart (1779). The author satirizes the above mentioned impracticability of Basedow’s pedagogical theories as well as his unrealistic expectations, and his critique shows many similarities with the one formulated in the anonymous treatise. Schummel also offers his own ideas about a successful education, which seem to take over almost literally parts of Locke’s pedagogical work Some Thoughts about Education (1693). Schummel also stresses the indispensable function of the educator like Locke. My fourth chapter is dedicated to Moritz’ Anton Reiser (1785-90). In this novel, Moritz does not address or critique Basedow’s educational ideals directly, however he describes ex negativo how an ideal education should be. The failure of Anton’s education is to be ascribed to the pedagogical incapability of his educators. My fifth chapter explores Moritz’s Andreas Hartknopf (1786), which sharply attacks Basedow and his followers, expressing thoughts similar to those found in the treatise and in the letters. Like Schummel, Moritz also presents his own concepts of an ideal education, and the proposed pedagogical methods correspond to those of Rousseau in Emile ou l’education (1762). The success of Andreas’ education is to be ascribed to the pedagogical capability of his educators. In the last chapter, I present Christian Gotthilf Salzmann’s successful adaptation of philantropist ideals. Thanks to an attentive analysis of Basedow’s failures, he formulated educational theories that were both realistic and practical. Similarly to Schummel and Moritz, he underlines the importance of the educator. This aspect differentiates Salzmann as well as the two novelists from Basedow, who emphasized the importance of his schoolbook Elementarwerk (1774), rather than the educator. Salzmann seemed to have managed to balance the education of the child as a human being and as a citizen. Salzmann’s institute in Schnepfenthal founded in 1784 is still in existence today.
Bernd Fischer (Advisor)
Anna Grotans (Committee Member)
May Mergenthaler (Committee Member)
262 p.
Educational Theory; Germanic Literature
Philanthropismus, Basedow, Schummel, Moritz, Salzmann

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rossini, S. (2015). „Wie kommts, daß es mit den Philanthropinen so gar nicht fort will?“: Die Kritik an den Erziehungsmethoden der Philanthropen in fiktionalen Texten der Aufklarung [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1437650020

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rossini, Sara. „Wie kommts, daß es mit den Philanthropinen so gar nicht fort will?“: Die Kritik an den Erziehungsmethoden der Philanthropen in fiktionalen Texten der Aufklarung . 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1437650020.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rossini, Sara. "„Wie kommts, daß es mit den Philanthropinen so gar nicht fort will?“: Die Kritik an den Erziehungsmethoden der Philanthropen in fiktionalen Texten der Aufklarung ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1437650020

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1437650020
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.