Nietzsche and Bildung/Paideia

Synonyms

Bildung; Education; Individuation; Paideia; Self-cultivation; Totality

Introduction

For a philosopher who has widely been regarded as bad, or mad, or even dangerous to know, Nietzsche has a surprisingly wide and rich variety of things to say about education. In his early career as a professor of philology at the University of Basel, Nietzsche saw himself first and foremost as an educator; after retiring (on grounds of ill-health) from education after only 10 years, he pursued different strategies of education through his philosophical writings. The purpose of this entry is to trace Nietzsche’s view of education throughout his writings and, in conclusion, to link it with the German tradition of Bildung and, beyond that, to the Greek concept of paideia.

Nietzsche as Professor of Philology

On 12 February 1869, Nietzsche learned from the Cantonal Government of Basel that, 2 days earlier, the Small Council of the City of Basel has decided to appoint him as Extraordinary Professor...