J. G. Fichte about university education

Abstract

The article analyzes the role of university education in the development of science and the transformation of society. The textual basis of the study relies on central points of J. G. Fichte’s project of creation of the University which is represented in his text, as yet untranslated into Russian, “Deduzierter Plan einer zu Berlin zu errichtenden höhern Lehranstalt, die in gehöriger Verbindung mit einer Akademie der Wissenschaften stehe”. For the reconstruction of Fichte’s position, the following problems are solved in the article: 1) The concept of philosophy as a Science of Knowledge is established; 2) Its influence on the understanding of the property of scientific investigation in the 19th century; 3) The changes in the form and content of university education. According to the German philosopher further social development is results from the release of science to a new level of scholarship. The latter is impossible without radical transformation of the scientific and educational life of universities. The essence of Fichte’s proposals relates to changes in the teaching of philosophy. Philosophy is addressed to students of all disciplines and should be taught in the university to a greater extent. Therefore, it is necessary to change the method of teaching philosophy. Instead of presenting historical amounts of information it is necessary to demonstrate the genesis of scientific problems and methods. Thus science, reaching clarity about its nature and tasks can become the decisive factor of social progress. The author stresses that measures proposed by the great idealist of the 19th century have a significant degree of relevance for the present stage of development of science and university education. Refs 6.