“ Mankind begins its history submerged in nature—not as Man who is a creature of reason, while nature furnishes only instinct and appetite. ”
John Dewey, Democracy and Education (1916). copy citation
| Author | John Dewey |
|---|---|
| Source | Democracy and Education |
| Topic | instinct mankind |
| Date | 1916 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm |
Context
“The extent of the transformation of educational philosophy which occurred in Germany in the generation occupied by the struggle against Napoleon for national independence, may be gathered from Kant, who well expresses the earlier individual-cosmopolitan ideal. In his treatise on Pedagogics, consisting of lectures given in the later years of the eighteenth century, he defines education as the process by which man becomes man. Mankind begins its history submerged in nature—not as Man who is a creature of reason, while nature furnishes only instinct and appetite. Nature offers simply the germs which education is to develop and perfect. The peculiarity of truly human life is that man has to create himself by his own voluntary efforts; he has to make himself a truly moral, rational, and free being.”
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