试论康德的教育学立场

On Kant’s Pedagogical Standpoint

阿伦特通过研究康德的《判断力批判》提出了理解康德“人是什么”一问的三种思路,即永久进步的人类总体,具有道德尊严的理性存在者(单数的人),以及生活于社会共同体之中以相互交往为目的的人(复数的人)。这三种思路也可用于研究《康德论教育》。按照这一线索,《康德论教育》既是关于人类发展其自身的全部自然禀赋的教育设想.也通向成年人的自我教育或自我启蒙,最后又落脚到旨在将成长着的一代培养为“自由行动者”的集体性的教育。

Hannah Arendt,by studying Kant’s Critique of Judgment,puts forward three ideas for understanding Kant’s concept of"mankind",namely,the permanent progress of the human species,the rational existence of moral dignity(individuality),and the people who are intended to interact with each other in social communities.These three ideas can also be used to study Kant’s On Education.With this line of thought,it is not difficult for us to get the following understanding.Firstly,On Education is an educational idea about human development of all its natural endowments.According to Kant’s viewpoints in Criticism of Teleological Judgment,the whole nature is a huge system of purposes.The human species are guided by the"plan of nature",but not passively or inactively,rather than in a permanent progress,as the concept of"the human species"signifies the whole of a series of generations going indeterminably into the infinite.The real purpose of nature is to guide human beings through the efforts of generations to advance the development of man’s nature towards its"perfection".According to Kant,man should develop his natural gifts and fulfil man’s destiny.Education makes this possible.Between the tendency towards"the good"and the tendency towards"the evil",man has"plasticity",which is the precondition of education and the foundation for man to fulfill its"mission".Secondly,On Education enlightens us a possibility of adults’ self-education or selfenlightenment.This must be related not only to Pure Rational Critique and Practical Rational Critique,but also to Kant’s points of view on enlightenment.We consider that Kant’s critique of individual rational ability objectively promotes self-enlightenment or self-education of adults.And those people,who have been enlightened,have a decisive significance for the development of education.This second line of thought,together with the first one,guides and advances the prospect of education in each era.How is adult self-enlightenment or self-education possible?It involves two factors:firstly,to recognize their own rational ability to prevent that rational ability from misguiding us;secondly,to have the courage and determination to openly use reasons or reflections on judgment.Through the critique of theoretical rationality and practical rationality,Kant completes the premise task of the public to realize their"self-enlightenment",and rational critique enables man’s ration to embark on the scientific path.But in addition to the mistakes that human rationality can make,Kant also mentions the"immaturity"of adults who cannot use their own reason because of the lack of guidance of authority.This"immature state"is"self-induced"by adults themselves.The reason is their "laziness and jealousy",thus they lack the"determination and courage"to use their rationality.How to overcome this problem?Kant believes that this requires not only "self-enlightenment",but also a public education.Public education has obvious advantages in cultivating "citizen status",which can not only convey the skills of citizens,but also cultivate the character of citizens.Public education helps to eliminate the binary opposition between"own purpose"and"mean",at the same time,it helps to establish the principle of"universal-legislation"in juvenile way of thinking.Finally,On Education also proposes the idea of collective education which aimed to cultivate the juveniles as "free actor".According to Kant,the public education for juveniles should be carried out "collectively".Collective education is aimed to train free-agents.Its contradiction focuses on such a question:"How to unite submission to the necessary restraint with the child’s capability of exercising his freewill-for restraint is necessary."In other words,it is a question about"how to develop the sense of freedom in spite of the restraint?"In conclusion,firstly,Kant’s On Education is difficult to be simply positioned as humanspecies-based or social-based theory,or a study on cultivation of moral personality.Moreover,if Kant’s Theory of Education is somewhat systematic,then our understandings about Kant’s question that "what is man"will be a prerequisite for recognizing and understanding the systematicness of his educational theory.Secondly,the Critique of Judgment is the key to understand the relationship between Kant’s "transcendental philosophy"and experiential,experimental-oriented education science.This can be understood in two ways.On the one hand,Critique of Aesthetic Judgment,the first half of the Critique of Judgment,cues a way to understand the main contradictory between "freedom"and "restraint",that is,cultivating children’s"obligations to themselves"(i.e.children don’t deny the dignity of humanity in their own personality)and"obligations to others"(i.e.children respect for human rights of others).On the other hand,between the Criticism of Aesthetic Judgment and the Critique of Teleological Judgment,Kant conceived an ideal personality,which is considered as model both of"the art of government"and"the art of education",which is"world-citizen"or"world-spectator".Generally speaking,On Education is inseparable from Kant’s historical view and political view.However,Kant’s thoughts on history and politics are extend from his natural teleology.