PHILOSOPHER AND PEDAGOGUE OF CULTURE SERGEI GESSEN AND THE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This analytical study is dedicated to notable Russian philosopher in exile and theoretical pedagogue of culture Sergei Iosifovich Gessen (1887-1950), who is a somewhat forgotten personality in Czech pedagogy today. It aims to elaborate on those of Hessen's ideas which are at the heart of his concept of pedagogy and of the university as an institution, and which can provide an important frame of reference for the criticism of today’s instrumental approach to education and university reform. Gessen is presented as an ever-inspiring, timeless thinker who developed his philosophical anthropology and general theory of education on the principles of neo-Kantian critical philosophy, and as a representative of humanist educational ideals. The analysis is supplemented by a contradictory perception of Gessen's legacy in the Czech pedagogical environment, which has been negatively impacted by the social and political conflicts of the 20th century. The study employs theoretical analysis of primary and secondary sources, as well as hermeneutic-interpretive methods.