University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1973 The teacher as liberator : an analysis of the philosophy of education of Friedrich Nietzsche. Ann Margaret Sharp University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Sharp, Ann Margaret, "The teacher as liberator : an analysis of the philosophy of education of Friedrich Nietzsche." (1973). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 2729. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/2729 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Teacher As Liberator: An Analysis of the Philosophy of Education of Friedrich Nietzsche A Dissertation Presented By ANN MARGARET SHARP Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION - June, 1973 Foundations of Education: Philosophy THE TEACHER AS LIBERATOR: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE. A Dissertation Presented BY Ann Margaret Sharp Approved as to Style ar^Content by; (Ch^rman of the Committee) (Member) Dedicated to Robert R. Wellman ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my doctoral committee for their willingness to take time out from their numerous duties to read and comment upon this dissertation. My particular gratitude goes to my advisor and Committee Chairman, Robert R. Wellman, who for the past three years has truly been my educator. Through him, I had the opportunity to experience first hand what educating is all about. I would also like to express my gratitude to S. Philip Eddy who through his excellent courses in educational philosophy encouraged me to constantly broaden my views and clarify my thoughts. Through his seminars, I was consistently led to a deeper awareness of Western thought in general and educational philosophy in particular. This dissertation would not have been possible were it not for my husband, Vincent, who in his love for my growth was willing to assume most of our household responsibilities for the past three years. In caring for our son, Brendan, and in providing me with the necessary environment and free time, he was consistently an endless source of my 0nco\_i2;‘agement and model of endurance and courage. To him, I express deepest thanks. TABLE OF COMMENTS Chapter I. Introduction A. Rationale B. Review of the Literature Chapter II. Education and Culture A. Nietzsche's Conception of Culture B. The Aristocratic Basis of Nietzsche's Conception C. Nietzsche's Tragic View of Culture D. Nietzsche's Attitude toward the State E. Knowledge in Service of Life F. Nietzsche's Theory of Truth Chapter III. Freedom Power and Freedom A. Will to and Freedom B. Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence Aim of Education and Life . Chapter IV. Liberation as the The A. How Does One Become Oneself? Stage of the Camel the Educational B. The Role of Soliude in Process in the Educational C. The Role of Sublimation Process D. The Stage of the Lion E. The Stage of the Child as Liberator Chapter V. The Teacher A. The Stage of the Camel of the Ideal Teacher B. Nietzsche's Conception Socratic? in the Educational Process C. The Role of Eros Educator D. The Lion and the Educator E. The Child and the 181 bibliography Your educators can be nothing more than your liberators. And that is the secret of education; it does not pixjvide artificial limbs, false noses - contrary what or eyeglasses on the , could provide these gifts is merely pseudo-education. Education is rather liberation, a rooting out of all weeds, rubbish and vermin from around the buds and of the plants, a radiation of light night warmth, a loving, whispering fall of of It is the imitation and adoration nature in her motherly and compassionate nature when mood; it is the consummation of pitiless attacks it prevents her cruel and it draws and turns them to the good, when of her stepmotherly a veil over the expression attitude and sad irrationality. Schopenhauer as Educator . Chapter One : Introduction Rationale This dissertation will be an exegesis of the educational thought of Friedrich Nietzsche with the central focus on his conception of the teacher as liberator. This will involve an analysis of his conception of freedom, an analysis which involves a grasp of his philosophy as a whole. Nietzsche never wrote a systematic educational philosophy. Yet, in a certain sense, education is his primary concern. "I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. .The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will says: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth. In Nietzsche's view, the conscious production of the overman, a person who is characterized by a conscious will to power, a conscious striving for self overcoming and creativity was the primary task of educators. "To educate educators! But the first ones must educate themselves! 2 And for these I write." The impending nihilism of Western Europe brought about by the question of and destruction of the old values and the recognition of the death of God and the lack of absolutes had convinced Nietzsche that man would faith have to create meaning for himself in this world. It was his sincere and tragedy •that this meaning could be found and loved, that the suffering Weltanschauung of human existence could be fo\md meaningful within a joyous 3 and, that, on one hand would "remain faithful to the earth" ^ 124-25. Thus Spoke Zarathustra . Portable , p. ^ Notes. 1875. Portable p. 50. 125. ^Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Portable , p. - 2 - on the other hand would render dignity and value to human existence. I teach: that there are higher and lower men, and that a single individual can under certain circumstances justify the existence of a whole millenia - that is, a full, rich, great, whole human being in relation to pointless incomplete frag- mentary men. Nietzsche's educational philosophy is primarily concerned with the production of these whole, free creators who my means of their creativity would be able to assume the task of leadership in society. Educators become the means by which these men must be produced; thus, in their essential role they are liberators. In Nietzsche's educational thought one finds certain key conceptions that when comprehended render a total picture of his view of the role of education in society: will to power, eternal recurrence, as sublimation, eros, creativity, innocence, solitude and the educator works, two liberator. These concepts were not developed in his early The Future of Educatxona^l of which dealt specifically with educational topics: 2 assume that one Institutions ^ and Schopenhauer as Educator. Thus to studying these two educational can grasp Nietzsche's educational thought by germ of his philosophy is treatises is incorrect. It is true that the 4 last work, Ecce Homo that there but it is not until one closes his as a whole. one can begin to grasp his educational thought Translation, p. 518. ^The Will to Power. Kaufmann The Complete Wqrte. Votae III. 2.PV., of Educational Institutions . iy09-ll. Reissued by Russe London and New York: The Macmillan Company, Russell Company, New York, 1964. Hillesheiir, and Simpson Translation.^^ ^hohonenhauer as Eduoator. Here Gateway, Henry Regnery Company, 1965. auction by Ellseo Vivas. Chicago, r as Educator. in this study cited as Schopenhaue -3- It is the pxirpose of this dissertation to exposit Nietzsche ' s view of education by examining the aforementioned key conceptions and showing how his educational thought revolves aroimd these conceptions, especially the conception of teacher as liberator. For Nietzsche, education was a process of the individual realization of self, a process of becoming free and creative. Its objective he describes in his later works as the achievement of a certain world view, what he terms a Dionyian state whih affirms life and existence in all of its tragedy and actively creates out of love a place more beautiful for human beings. While many of his views regarding curricul\jm are outdated, certain aspects of his thought have considerable relevance for the modem world. Although Nietzsche comments to some extent on methodology and curriculum in his earlier works, his comments are irrelevant and will not be discussed in this study. However, his views on education as breeding and on the necessity of a curriculum which "demands much at the proper time."^ in collaboration with an educator who out of 2 . xs love and hardness calls for a "hard discipline. .sternly demanded," important for an understanding of Nietzsche’s conception of a sound education. "demand For Nietzsche, the stress is much more on the educator, his ability to love and to the good, even the exceptional as the norm," his capacity to and freedom. create in his student a sincere love for truth, creativity Nietzsche’s educational theory is post-darwinian. Although he "Darwin overrated the influence accepted the general theory of evolution, he felt that life process is precisely the tremendous of external circumstances...Essential in the man is a man who is constantly circumstances. Although his ideal of the educated ^ Translation. p. 482. The Will to Power . Kaufmann ^ Ibid. ^Ibid. - 4 - engaged in the process of becoming, the overman who struggles to overcome his limitations, he realizes that he is a "bridge that must be overcome" -- a bridge and not an end. Niet zsche was convinced that this superior man would not come about by a natural process of evolution.