Johann Friedrich Herbart Quotes
Johann Friedrich Herbart was a German philosopher, psychologist, and educational theorist, and the principal opponent of post-Kantian idealism in the first half of the nineteenth century. Successor to Kant in the chair at Konigsberg and later professor at Gottingen, he developed a realist metaphysics in which reality consists of simple, qualitatively determined substances called reals, whose relations give rise to apparent change. The quotes below are attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart, organized by topic.
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Johann Friedrich Herbart on Knowledge
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Attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart:
“Pedagogy without philosophy is mere routine.”
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Attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart:
“All philosophy is the elaboration of concepts; this is its quiet but enduring task.”
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“The intention with which the educator is to approach his work, this practical reflection, provisionally detailed down to the measures which our present state of knowledge suggests we should choose, is to my mind the first half of pedagogics. But there must be a second in which the possibility of education is theoretically explained and presented with its limitations in the light of changing circumstances.”
Herbart (1982b, p. 22), as cited in: Norbert Hilgenheger, "Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)." Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny 3-4 (1999): 5-26. -
“The intention with which the educator is to approach his work, this practical reflection, provisionally detailed down to the measures which our present state of knowledge suggests we should choose, is to my mind the first half of pedagogics. But there must be a second in which the possibility of education is theoretically explained and presented with its limitations in the light of changing circum”
Herbart (1982b, p. 22), as cited in: Norbert Hilgenheger, "Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)." Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny 3-4 (1999): 5-26. -
“It is of course a familiar precept that the teacher must try to arouse the interest of his pupils in all that he teaches. However, this precept is generally meant and understood to denote the idea that learning is the end and interest the means to attain it. I wish to reverse that relationship. Learning must serve the purpose of creating interest. Learning is transient, but interest must be lifelong.”
Herbart (1982c, p. 97), as cited in: Norbert Hilgenheger, "Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)." Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny 3-4 (1999): 5-26. -
“It is of course a familiar precept that the teacher must try to arouse the interest of his pupils in all that he teaches. However, this precept is generally meant and understood to denote the idea that learning is the end and interest the means to attain it. I wish to reverse that relationship. Learning must serve the purpose of creating interest. Learning is transient, but interest must be lifelo”
Herbart (1982c, p. 97), as cited in: Norbert Hilgenheger, "Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)." Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny 3-4 (1999): 5-26.
Johann Friedrich Herbart on Mind
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Attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart:
“Mind is the interplay of presentations that struggle and combine.”
Johann Friedrich Herbart on Nature
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Attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart:
“Reality is composed of simple substances, each preserving its own quality.”
Johann Friedrich Herbart on Virtue
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Attributed to Johann Friedrich Herbart:
“The aim of education is the formation of moral character.”