FRIEDERICH SCHLEIERMACHER'S UNIVERSITY PROJECT. THE POINT OF VIEW OF UNITY

Abstract

Friedrich Schleiermacher’s reflection on university is focused on the difficulties he observed to overcome the halt of German education during the beginning of the 19th century and, in this regard, he establishes two different levels: on one hand, the overwhelming bureaucratization of university life, which removes what is vital and meaningful for universities; and, on the other hand, from the very perspective of the professor, the impossibility to grow the talent of the students because of tedious classes in which it is repeated what is already found in books and in which memory is the only measurement for knowledge. Most professors find themselves in this situation because knowledge is learned in a fragmented manner and, therefore, is transmitted without the sense of its profound unity. The purpose of the Faculty of Philosophy is to lead the path towards the unity of knowledge and provide the grounds for the profound sense of university life. Thus, the grounds of modern university rest on professors who research and transmit in the classes the pathos of such an assignment. They rest on the students as well, because they are the ones who should be encouraged to realize the dimension of their talent and, from that point, undertake the assignment of self-education.