Friedhelm Brüggen/Roland Reichenbach
Rousseau 2012. An introduction
Andreas Brenner
The Reversal of the Inverted World of Ethics
Rousseau’s contribution to implicit ethics
Apart from Bentham’s and Mill’s utilitarianism and Kant’s ethics of principles, Rousseau, too, developed an ethics in the 18th century. However, since he – contrary to his more prominent colleagues – did not specifically mark his ethics as such, but rather presented it en passant in the guise of a novel, Rousseau’s ethics has hardly been acknowledged as such. The reading of Rousseau’s implicit ethics presented in this contribution does not only point out the weaknesses of the two better known ethics, it also reveals specific problems of enlightenment ethics, in general. Furthermore, Rousseau’s ethical approach shows that the established juxtaposition of modern vs. classical ethics is much too limited. Surprisingly, this Geneva pedagogue already carried out important exploratory work to a theory of physicality as early as the 18th century and he even formulated a critique of the new media and of the techniques of virtualization avant la lettre, so to speak.
Philippe Foray
Rousseau: Education In-Between Nature and Politics
In his contribution, the author examines the relations between the “pedagogical” and the “political” in Rousseau’s work, with special emphasis on the Émile (1762). At first, it appears as if these two practical spheres of human activity are rather independent of one another: the Émile does not constitute an application of the Social Contract onto the field of education and, vice versa, education is not an alternative to political impotence, i.e. the Émile does not constitute an educational anticipation of the Social Contract. In the second part, however, the analysis of the articulation between the “natural” and the “artificial” reveals that Rousseau applies the same mindset in the structuring of these two spheres: the mediation of the “artificial intervention” is always necessary in order to conform to the law of nature in both education and politics.
Johannes Drerup
Rousseau’s Structured Paternalism and the Idea of Well-Organized Liberty
In the history of reception on both sides of the Atlantic, there are numerous readings which, on the one hand, interpret the Émile as a plea for a totalitarian pedagogical system of surveillance and, on the other hand, as an apologia of anti-authoritarian or libertarian pedagogics. These readings, however, miss or misinterpret the issues addressed in Rousseau′s conception of education. In the following, Rousseau’s educational arrangements are reconstructed as a form of structured paternalism grounded on perfectionism which exemplifies how – through educational technologies employed with benevolent motivation – liberty can be pedagogically structured and be made possible.
Alfred Schäfer
Figurations of the Pedagogical and of the Political. Rousseau’s critique of the social immanence of symbolic representation
For Rousseau, it is the political and strategic struggle for meaning without any transcendent reference points that undermines the foundations of community and individual identity. In both the Émile and the Contrat Social, he turns against the ruinous logic of such struggles for meaning and consequently, against a representation which has become bottomless. Rousseau’s Émile treats this political issue pedagogically, through the conception of a dual approach of governmentality. With regard to (pre-social) childhood, problems of representation and social struggles for meaning are excluded. At a later stage, the Émile makes use of a privileged-normal strategy of governmentality which, at least, simultaneously relativizes the recourse to a ‘natural meaning’ and makes it seem possible. In the Contrat Social – which presupposes the loss of self of the individual – the political space is structured by a particular criterion of legitimacy: the difference between the General Will and Everyone’s Will, – a difference that cannot be resolved. So, in this context, too, one is left with the interplay of (transcendental) foundation and strategic disputes over the “true”.
Sieglinde Jornitz/Stefanie Kollmann
Pedagogical Knowledge in Pictures. On the pictorial program of the 18th-century French editions of Rousseau’s Émile
On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the first edition of Rousseau’s work “Émile, or: On Education”, this contribution is dedicated to the analysis of the book’s illustrations. The 18th-century French editions were designed with copperplate engravings by different artists. Of these, the pictorial program of the first edition, published in 1762, had still been authorized by Rousseau; this was no longer true for the posthumously published editions, which changed their pictorial program completely. These two different pictorial programs are analyzed and placed within the context of the history of their printing. Thus, it can be shown in what manner Rousseau’s major work has been illustrated.
Melanie Billich-Knapp/Josef Künsting/Frank Lipowsky
Motivation Profiles in the Selection of Courses of Study among Students Training to Become Elementary School Teachers
The authors inquire into the question whether, by following a person-centered approach and through a latent-profile-analysis (LPA), motivation profiles regarding the choice of courses of study among future elementary school teachers at the beginning of their studies can be discerned. Six scales were used to record motivation for a specific selection of study programs (cf. Pohlmann & Möller, 2010). On the basis of data collected among N = 209 elementary school teachers, three profiles could be identified which differ as to their affirmation of intrinsic and extrinsic components of the motivation for selecting a course of studies leading to a degree in education. Students of these three profiles can be characterized as user-oriented-pragmatic, motivationally balanced, and primarily pedagogically motivated students enrolled in study programs for elementary school teachers. The subsequent comparison of groups reveals further differences among these profiles regarding other motivational-affective and personality-related characteristics. Thus, the willingness to learn, for instance, or the satisfaction with the selected course of studies as well as conscientiousness were most pronounced among motivationally balanced students.
Selma Haupt
Biologism, Racism, Performance. On the debate on “integration”
Based on the debate on “integration”, which again gained in intensity during the summer of 2010 with the publication of Sarazzin’s book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” [“Germany is abolishing itself”] (2010), the author examines how the European discourse on performance develops its full effect when interlaced with a biologist-racist discourse. The analysis of the discourse of the medial debate on integration reveals that it is not Sarazzin’s central concern alone to ensure that Germany remains an important business location. The figure of the “Muslim migrant” clearly shows that, although performance is postulated as a necessary condition for integration, it does ultimately not suffice. The construction of the other as a foil for differentiation remains untouched by this and is always of much greater influence.
Peter Kauder
The issue of the doctoral theses and habilitations registered with the “Zeitschrift für Pädagogik”
The German educational science’s empirical knowledge of the doctoral theses and habilitations published in this field is improvable. Although two data pools are available – the data reports published by the DGfE (German Society for Educational Science) and the lists printed annually in the Zeitschrift für Pädagogik – errors and gaps can be detected in both of these. The contribution does not only reveal such errors and gaps – with special emphasis on the ZfPäd – it also compares the data pools for specific periods of time and makes suggestions as to how to remedy these defects.
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