Nietzsche on Education

Though rarely listed among Nietzsche's core ideas, education was central to his thought. From his lectures on educational institutions to “Schopenhauer as Educator,” he examines culture, the formation of philosophers, artists, and saints, and distinguishes genuine education from its counterfeits.

If one were asked to name Nietzsche's primary concepts (e.g. will to power, death of God, eternal recurrence), education would likely appear near the bottom of the list. Nevertheless, Nietzsche was intensely occupied with the topic. To see how Nietzsche formulates his basic questions about the nature and aim of education, I begin with his lectures On the Future of our Educational Institutions. I then move to his third Untimely Meditation, 'Schopenhauer as Educator,' where he articulates his fundamental idea of “culture” and the educational means required to produce and sustain it. In continuous dialogue with SE and later works, I ask: Which educational practices are most apt to produce the philosopher? What is involved in aesthetic education and the production of the artist? Are there educational paths to the saint? If so, what do they look like? My conclusion probes Nietzsche's sharp distinction between real education and its counterfeits.