To many philosophers of education who are dissatisfied with the current value-neutral goal-driven technocratic curriculum, the idea of Bildung—which I conceive here in the neo-humanist form associated with Wilhelm von Humboldt—holds great appeal. It seems to promise, on the one hand, a richer, culturally situated form of rationality, without the strong elements of cultural reproduction inherent in traditional liberal arts curricula; and on the other hand, a powerful means of critique, which makes it eminently suited to our ‘postmodern’ condition. However, much of the appeal of Bildung in its Humboldtian form only arises from its having discarded the most valuable elements in other traditions: initiation into a cultural tradition, vocational preparation and the cultivation of practical judgement. Moreover, it is destined to fail by its own standards because it has little relevance to most pupils. Bildung so conceived does not designate a universal educational ideal; rather, the outlook of a certain human type—the philosopher, scholar, artist or intellectual—whose introspective nature leads them to seek fulfilment in the life of the mind, in theoretical abstraction and aesthetic experience.

中文翻译：

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Bildung 的承诺——或“一个自己的世界”

为了教育的许多哲学家谁不满意目前的价值中立的目标驱动技术专家课程，该理念教化哪位我想象这里与威廉·冯·相关的新人文主义形式洪堡具有巨大的吸引力。一方面，它似乎承诺了一种更丰富的、文化定位的理性形式，而没有传统文科课程中固有的文化再生产的强大元素；另一方面，它是一种强有力的批评手段，使其非常适合我们的“后现代”条件。然而，Bildung 的大部分吸引力洪堡式的形式只是因为它抛弃了其他传统中最有价值的元素：进入文化传统、职业准备和实践判断力的培养。此外，按照它自己的标准，它注定要失败，因为它与大多数学生几乎没有关系。教化这样设想没有指定一个普遍的教育理想; 相反，某种人类类型的观点——哲学家、学者、艺术家或知识分子——其内省的天性引导他们在思想生活、理论抽象和审美经验中寻求满足。