Abstract
The status of psychology in the eighteenth century has not been fully determined; however, the beginning of psychology as applied to education probably goes back to Locke or Basedow2 — or perhaps, more precisely, to the works of Pestalozzi before and after the turn of the eighteenth century.
A teacher in schools and universities cannot teach individuals, he can only teach mere species. This is a thought that deserves much consideration and discussion.1
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References
VS., I, pp. 220-221.
The works of Comenius and Rousseau are, of course, important in determining the roots of educational psychology. Herbart (1776–1841) is usually considered the “father of educational psychology.”
See H. Spencer: The Principles of Psychology (New York, 1895), I, Third Ed., pp. 129-42, for one of the earliest (1855) American presentations of psychology.
P. L. Harriman, Dictionary of Psychology (New York, 1947), p. 116.
Herbart Schöffler thought that it would not be unwarranted to put Lichtenberg in the category of one of the greatest German educators of the eighteenth century! See Deutscher Geist im 18. Jahrhundert (Göttingen, 1956), p. 279.
VS., I, p. 223. One may — from a negative point of view — partly deduce the eighteenth-century teacher’s knowledge of psychology as applied to education by pointing out that some of the greatest men of the century were characterized by their teachers as dull or unimaginative students. Hegel, for example, was considered especially dull in — philosophy.
Max Dessoir, Geschichte der neueren deutschen Psychologie (Berlin, 1902), p. 485, gives Lichtenberg due credit for having successfully opposed this semi-psychological trend. See also Richard Kleinebst, G. Chr. Lichtenberg in seiner Stellung zu der deutschen Literatur (Strassburg, 1915), Chapter III, for an introductory treatment of the “Physiognomiestreit” in the eighteenth-century German lands.
VS., IV, p. 20.
Lavater was, for example, a close friend of Herder and Goethe. The following quotation reflects the tenor of many a physiognomic postulation. Wrote Lavater: “Ich werde meine Prüfungen mit den eurigen fortsetzen, und in den physiognomischen Zügen will ich’s wagen, Linien und Köpfen hinzuzeichnen, die Dichter sein müssen, und von Köpfen, die nicht Dichter sein können.”, Sturm und Drang: Kritische Schriften, p. 825.
VS., V. p. 272.
Ibid., IV, p. 8.
Hermann Hettner wrote: “Den Übertreibungen der Lavater’schen Physiognomik stellte Lichtenberg sich um so heftiger entgegen, je weniger er sich den unumstösslichen physiognomischen Wahrheiten verschloss, ja dieselben schon vor Lavater und unabhängig von diesem gefunden und ausgesprochen hatte.”, Literaturgeschichte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts (Braunschweig, 1869), III, p. 412. It is noteworthy that the word aphorism is not to be found in Hettner’s discussion of Lichtenberg’s significance in German literature.
VS., IV, p. 13.
Ibid., I, p. 14.
B. an d. F., p. 122. One’s historical perspective in regard to the status of psychology in the eighteenth century may be refreshed by reference to one of the writers of that time. Says Gerstenberg: “Was ist denn Genie?... warum verlangen Sie von mir zu wissen, was ich und niemand Ihnen sagen kann, solange unsere Psychologie sich noch mit der Oberfläche der Seele beschäftigen muss? Derjenige ist gemeiniglich am bereitwilligsten, Erklärungen und deutliche Begriffe darzubieten, der die Schranken seiner Einsicht am wenigsten fühlt; und wir sind voreilig genug, aus den Phänomenen auf die Ursachen und Triebfedern zu schliessen, da wir doch über den innern Mechanismus der Seele, wenn ich mich so ausdrücken darf, in der blindesten Unwissenheit tappen;...”, Sturm und Drang: Kritische Schriften, p. 45.
VS., IV, p. 67.
Ibid., IV, p. 67.
B. an d. F., p. 215.
VS., IV, p. 34.
Ibid., VIII, p. 74.
Neumann, op. cit., p. 91, maintains that psychology was Lichtenberg’s “Spezialgebiet.”
See Boyd Henry Bode, Conflicting Psychologies of Learning (Boston, 1929).
VS., II, pp. 132-33.
Ibid., I, p. 83. Wrote Hermann Hesse: “Wir können einander verstehen; aber deuten kann jeder nur sich selbst.”, Demian (Berlin, 1955), p. 13. Lichtenberg could hardly have agreed with Hesse on this point, because psychology is, it seems, useful (and Lichtenberg always — in pedagogical matters — stressed utility) only to the extent that “Deutung” is possible.
Lichtenberg referred to Rousseau as a genius (VS., VII, p. 183).
VS., I, p. 70.
Ibid., IV, p. 195. One of the most prominent intro-spectionists in the U.S. was Titchener. See E. Heibreder, Seven Psychologies (New York, 1933), pp. 113-51, for a brief, but pointed, resumé of Titchener’s basic structuralistic theories.
Ibid., II, p. 23. The complexity of this point is well expressed by Kant. “Education, therefore, is the greatest and hardest problem that can be proposed to man, for insight depends upon education, and education, again, depends upon insight.”, The Educational Theory of Immanuel Kant, p. 114.
Ibid., I, p. 289.
Ibid., I, p. 221.
His classroom was frequently so overcrowded that many students had to be turned away — this in spite of the fact that Lichtenberg’s lecture and demonstration hall could accommodate over a hundred students! See VS., VIII, p. 11.
Ibid., I, p. 214.
Ibid., I, p. 27.
Ibid., VI, p. 161.
Ibid., II, p. 168. On another occasion, he asserted cryptically: “Jeder Mensch ist des Tages einmal ein Prophet.”, VS., III, p. 52.
Ibid., II, p. 130.
VS., I, p. 157.
Ibid., I, p. 128. Said Lichtenberg: “Ich vergesse das Meiste was ich gelesen habe; nichts desto weniger aber trägt es zur Erhaltung meines Geistes bei.”, VS., I, p. 41.
The negative effect of too much reading was discussed in the Chapter on curriculum and pedagogy.
Ibid., VIII, p. 51.
Ibid., VII, p. 260.
Ibid., VII, p. 221.
Ibid., I, p. 176. He was uncertain as to whether or not Lessing had ever smoked.
Ibid., II, p. 169.
Ibid., VIII, p. 77. Goethe was, as is well known, against smoking in any form whatsoever.
Ibid., V, p. 346.
Ibid., V, p. 348.
Ibid., I, p. 352.
P. L. Harriman, op. cit., p. 141.
VS., I, p. 272. Plato and Bacon were firm believers in formal discipline, and mathematics seemed to them to be especially suited for this purpose.
Ibid., V, p. 94.
Ibid., I, p. 36.
Ibid., V, p. 106.
Ibid., V, p. 106.
Ibid., II, p. 105.
See, for example, E. Dale: Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching (New York, 1956), for a typical textbook in this field.
Lichtenberg was, of course, not the only one who stressed the proper use of visual aids. Comenius probably started this stress in his Orbis Sensualium Pictus.
Briefe, III, pp. 257-58.
VS., I, p. 316. Lichtenberg praised, especially, Hartley’s ideas concerning the value of foreign language study.
i. e. as expressed in the law of contiguity.
VS., I, p. 320.
Ibid., I, p. 324. Even Jefferson “misused” these two words!
Ibid., I, p. 325.
Ibid., I, p. 327.
Ibid., I, p. 318. A. Schneider, op. cit., affirms that Lichtenberg “condamne l’étude des langues vivantes,” and that “Il faut donc sacrifier les langues aux sciences et à la philosophie.”, p. 139. Schneider refers to Briefe, I, pp. 175; 271, in support of his fantastic claim. A careful reading of these pages, however, reveals that Lichtenberg expected his students to learn German real well, then Latin, French, and English. Parenthetically, it may be added that not a small number of Lichtenberg scholars have made unwarranted (certainly unsubstantiated) claims about what Lichtenberg opinioned or did not opinion. Even Schopenhauer, a great Lichtenberg admirer, erred in this respect
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© 1963 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Øksenholt, S. (1963). Psychology Applied to Education. In: Thoughts Concerning Education in the Works of Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1065-3_5
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