Vzdělanost jako živý dialog s minulostí – Schwanitz Dietrich (2023)

Our knowledge is currently undergoing a profound transformation, and there has long been a sense of crisis in the educational system in Western culture, or a decline in classical education. Dietrich Schwanitz's work attempts to respond to this situation and redefine what is the foundation of our education. In the first part, titled Knowledge, the author outlines the contours of classical education. He presents the history of Europe as a grand narrative from antiquity through the formation of European states in the Middle Ages to modernization, revolutions, and the great catastrophes of the 20th century. He also guides us through literature, art, music, philosophy, ideologies, theories, and scientific images of the world. In the second part, titled Understanding, he deals with communication, the 'infrastructure of education,' such as language, the world of books and newspapers. Dietrich Schwanitz discusses the rules by which communication occurs among educated individuals, and especially the ways to utilize knowledge. The book is therefore not primarily conceived as a sum of education, but is driven by the effort to define and delineate education, while also defending its necessity in the new age against technical and technocratic 'information.' The author seeks to define its core, roots, and various ways to achieve education and...