THE PHILOSOPHER AS UNTIMELY EDUCATOR: A STUDY OF THE TASK OF THE PHILOSOPHER-EDUCATOR IN PLATO AND NIETZSCHE (GREECE, GERMANY).

摘要

To speak of the philosopher as an educator implies that philosophy is a social, pedagogical activity, which must communicate with society. As a pedagogical activity, can philosophy overcome the age-old notion that philosophy is useless, that "we cannot do anything with philosophy?" Considering philosophy as pedagogical activity reverses this notion of philosophy as useless. Perhaps philosophy can, as Heidegger has suggested in his Introduction to Metaphysics, "do something with us." But what is this "doing"? Asking this question prompts us to study the pedagogical role of the philosopher in relation to society. The purpose of the dissertation is to consider the philosopher in his attempt to communicate and interact with his fellowmen. This treatment of the philosopher as educator will be viewed as a very traditional concept, one clearly at the heart of philosophy since the time of Plato. But, we shall ask, has philosophy taken a different turn since Plato? If so, what is the root of such a turn or transformation?;But despite their differences, Plato and Nietzsche show us how philosophy is an untimely task, a process of ceaseless self-examination. An inquiry into the nature and the dynamic of this untimeliness will be at the center of the dissertation. This is of consequence for our understanding of philosophy and the role of the philosopher in relation to society.;With this question in mind, the dissertation concentrates on Plato and Nietzsche, showing how their works reflect great concern with education in philosophy. But from Plato's to Nietzsche's philosophy, it is not only the emphasis which has changed, but we can see a philosophical turning from the suprasensible to the sensible. With Nietzsche, the attempt was made not merely to overturn but to overcome what he considered to be Plato's legacy, the metaphysical concepts of the good, the true, or intelligible world. This is Nietzsche's decisive inquiry into his own heritage, the history of Platonism or what he also calls the history of nihilism, but with the intention of overcoming it. Hence, the dissertation shows that from Plato to Nietzsche, there is a turning point in the understanding of the role of the philosopher-educator: the philosopher for Nietzsche is not so much a lover of wisdom as a creator of value.