Abstract
Nietzsche is a ‘historical’ philosopher, who sees education as a set of practices used for different purposes at different times. On that view, the modern school has no single function or meaning. Rather, various interpretations are imposed on it by competing social forces such as the state, business, social morality and the academic profession, each wanting the school to serve its own ends. Nietzsche is very distrustful of mass education, since he thinks that public schools favour the average student and discourage the creative exceptions on whom culture depends. His views on teaching are unorthodox, although it is hard to find a clear picture of the ideal teacher in his writings. The Nietzschean teacher is a dedicated yet manipulative and devious figure. In any case, the relation between teacher and learner will involve tension and conflict. If the aim of education is the independent individual, students must resist any tendency to become mere followers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Arendt, H. (1961). Between Past and Future: Six Exercises in Political Thought. London: Faber and Faber.
Darwin, C. (1862). On the Various Contrivances by which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by Insects. London: John Murray.
Dühring, E. (1875). Cursus der Philosophie als streng wissenschaftlicher Weltanschauung und Lebensgestaltung. Leipzig: Erich Koschny.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1952). Philosophy of Right (T. M. Knox, Trans.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Lampert, L. (1989). Nietzsche’s Teaching: An Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Nehamas, A. (1985). Nietzsche: Life as Literature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1954). The Portable Nietzsche (W. Kaufmann, Ed. & Trans.). New York: The Viking Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1966). Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books.
Nietzsche, F. (1969). On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books.
Nietzsche, F. (1974). The Gay Science (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books.
Nietzsche, F. (1980). Kritische Studienausgabe: Sämtliche Werke (G. Colli & M. Montinari, Eds.). 15 vols. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Nietzsche, F. (1982). Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality (R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1983). Untimely Meditations (R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1986a). Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits (R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1986b). Kritische Studienausgabe: Sämtliche Briefe (G. Colli & M. Montinari, Eds.). 8 vols. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Nietzsche, F. (2004). On the Future of Our Educational Institutions (M. W. Grenke, Trans.). South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press.
Nietzsche, F. (2005). Prefaces to Unwritten Works (M. W. Grenke, Trans.). South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press.
Plato. (1971). Gorgias (W. Hamilton, Trans.). London: Penguin.
Plato. (1999). The Symposium (C. Gill, Trans.). London: Penguin.
Rée, P. (2003). Basic Writings (R. Small, Ed. & Trans.). Urbana-Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Small, R. (2005). Nietzsche and Rée: A Star Friendship. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sommer, A. U. (2012). Nietzsche-Kommentar: ‘Der Fall Wagner’ und ‘Götzen-Dämmerung’. Berlin-Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Small, R. (2016). Schools, Teachers and Learners. In: Friedrich Nietzsche. SpringerBriefs in Education(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29519-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29519-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29518-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29519-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)