Because I am currently engaged in the museum education industry, I am more interested in educational books.
This book is the first Nietzsche's work that I have ever read. It is easier to understand than a pure philosophy book, because Nietzsche created a situation: two college students, an old philosopher and his disciples (young teachers), and the four of them were discussing Taoism by the Rhine. Zhou's translation and reading guidance are also wonderful, so I read it smoothly, and I think I know Nietzsche's insight into education, so I write my feelings after reading it as usual.
First of all, the main idea of this book
First, it denies two tendencies of modern education: "the tendency to expand education" and "the tendency to narrow education".
The tendency of educational expansion refers to the excessive popularization of education. He pointed out that this over-popular education is a kind of "people's livelihood organization", which aims to let people have a skill and then make as much money as possible. He believes that people's livelihood institutions and educational institutions are completely different, but now people's livelihood institutions have seriously squeezed or even replaced real education.
The tendency of narrow education means that education has become a factory of academic division of labor. He pointed out that the academic division of labor is too thin now. If a person wants to make a difference in one field, he will basically ignore other fields. Such a person can become an elite in a certain industry, but its essence is a specific and skilled screw, belonging to a specific machine (institution). Therefore, the academic division of labor only cultivated one-sided people. Nietzsche believes that this shrinking education is also destroying education. Second, education has become a tool of the country. The state controls education and has the right to monitor universities. For the benefit of the country itself, we should train as many civil servants and troops as possible with the greatest education in order to compete with other countries. This will inevitably lead to the deterioration of education.
Secondly, it expounds that humanities education must attach importance to strict language training. He believes that language art is the foundation of all arts, and teenagers must be trained strictly in their mother tongue (German) in order to cultivate a correct artistic feeling and good taste.
He mentioned a phenomenon in literature education: without good training, students blindly complete German homework (I understand poetry, articles and so on), making their works look clumsy and ridiculous. However, teachers don't think this is because they don't teach enough. Instead, it accuses students of poor works, and then stifles this originality and gives praise to the same medium-sized goods.
Thirdly, it is firmly pointed out that the mission of education is to cultivate a few people (geniuses). Nietzsche believes that due to the blind expansion of education, the number of teachers and students is too large and the quality is too poor, which makes the truly qualified teachers marginalized.
However, he also believes that the real source of genius is not education. Genius has metaphysical source and mission, which is produced by nature itself to explain its eternal intention. So genius is born and cannot be educated. The mission of education is to give attention and protection to geniuses and provide suitable soil for their growth.
Fourth, talk about the opposition between educational institutions and people's livelihood institutions. Any education with the prospect of earning a living is not real education. This over-rational and over-scientific education emphasizes competition and how to conquer nature, which stifles people's metaphysical understanding of everything in nature.
In Nietzsche's view, the unity of all things can be achieved not by logical reasoning, but by personal induction. His description of the relationship between man and nature is similar to Heidegger's concept of "poetic dwelling". Let me quote a little original text to feel it:
"If you want to guide a young man to the right education path, be careful not to hinder him from forming a simple, trusting and private relationship with nature: forests, rocks, waves, raptors, lonely flowers, butterflies, grasslands and hillsides must talk to him in their own languages, and in this process, he must re-recognize himself as in countless images and mirror images projected to each other and in the colorful whirlpool of changing phenomena; In this way, he will unconsciously feel the metaphysical unity of the great metaphor of everything and nature, and immediately rest in her eternal persistence and inevitability. "
Fifth, it puts forward three measures to measure university education: philosophical understanding, correct artistic feeling and classical humanistic accomplishment.
Philosophy begins with doubts about the world and life, and with the desire to seek the unity of all things. Universities should protect and guide students' understanding, not crowd it out and stifle it.
A correct sense of art, as mentioned above, is to strengthen the training of art, especially the training of mother tongue (German).
The cultivation of classical humanities refers to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Nietzsche made ancient Greece "the only real hometown of education", which is the source of European spirit. He hopes that universities can realize real classical education, instead of using classical literature as a tool for them to seek a comfortable job and turning classical culture into a far-fetched academic trick.
Second, my opinion.
There is always a sense of tension when reading Nietzsche's words. Unlike Mao Mu, although his satire is mediocre, there is always sympathy and introspection in satire.
Nietzsche is a genius, so he speaks for geniuses and elites. Ordinary people who are not so outstanding, at least in his argument in this book, are ignored and ignored.
Nietzsche believes that education is for a few people, elites and geniuses. Where does the money for cultivating elites come from? You should sacrifice the interests of most ordinary people.
This is selfish.
I don't think so. Of course, genius is the wealth of the world and should be respected and protected. But we should also allow the existence of ordinary people and mediocrity, respect the differences between people and respect everyone's different choices. Hegel's "state screw" may be wrong, but Nietzsche's thorough refutation of Hegel's view is undoubtedly extreme.
Nietzsche is a genius, an extreme genius. He walked too far on the same road, so he finally went crazy. He and his followers are also more extreme and extreme people, such as Hitler and Wagner.
He and his followers always remind me of tom riddle (the boy who eventually became Voldemort in Harry Potter), trampling on and sacrificing people they think are unimportant for greater benefit.
The picture above and below is the same person.
Tom riddle, who was extremely clever as a teenager, eventually tore his soul to pieces in pursuit of "greater interests" and became numerous Voldemort.
In a word, I agree with Nietzsche's description of genius and disagree with his view that ordinary people should serve genius thoroughly.
Some geniuses, such as Gauguin and Van Gogh, can spontaneously produce and grow no matter how depressed the outside world is; Some of them hurt Zhong Yong, and they will die in the middle, which may not necessarily be related to education or society.
Everyone has the right to pursue the life he wants and the right to receive education. No one has the right to ask some people what they must do for others.
His suggestions on educational institutions, university education and teachers' quality can be considered and referenced.