Bildung Reconstructed

Abstract

This chapter argues that while Bildung provides a strong conceptual vehicle to replace and overcome the dehumanizing affects of the SP tradition, one of the dangers is that the concept retains some of the baggage of the neo-humanist tradition, which views learning as an individuated activity which is neither a communal nor an embodied act of reconstruction. To avoid this, it reconstructs the traditional notion of Bildung in four dimensions in order that it takes on the character of a process of embodied, communal, and justice-driven inquiry, rather than imagined as an individual being cognitively enculturated to the world. This reconstruction establishes the context to reframe Bildung in terms of a theory of creative action in the third chapter.