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‘Total Transformation’: Why Kant Did Not Give up on Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2016

Robert B. Louden
Robert B. Louden*
Affiliation:
University of Southern Maine
*
Email: Louden@Maine.edu
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Abstract

In this essay I argue that Kant remained committed to the necessity and fundamental importance of education throughout his career. Like Johann Bernhard Basedow (1724–90), Kant holds that a ‘total transformation’ of schools is necessary, and he holds this view not only in the 1770s but in his later years as well. In building my case I try to refute two recent opposing interpretations – Reinhard Brandt’s position that Kant’s early ‘education enthusiasm’ was later replaced by a politics enthusiasm, and Manfred Kuehn’s view that the increasing importance of autonomy in Kant’s mature ethics leads him to de-emphasize education.

Keywords

Kanteducationautonomydestinydispositions

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Type
Articles
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Kantian Review , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , November 2016 , pp. 393 - 413
Copyright
© Kantian Review 2016 

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