Contradictions between the Inside and Outside of Humanism as an Educational Utopia - Focused on the Case of the German Educated Middle Class and the Debate on the Canon

This thesis focuses on two historical cases by comparing the contradiction between the ideal of humanistic education and its realization in the concept of dialectical logic to the inner and outer. The first inside and outside is the socio-political consequence of the Bildung concept, which is the German typical of modern humanist educational ideology, and the educated middle class, which has made it a group identity. The result of the neo-humanistic educational ideals and the instrumentalization of education understood by the German educated middle class shows the modern origin of class inequality in schooling, which is a drastic problem in modern capitalist society. The second contradiction is that between the inner logic of European tradition and values, and the outer logic of non-European perspectives. Humanism has regarded the power-guaranteed classics, called canon, as an absolute value transcending time and society. However, since the middle of the 20th century, the discourse of diversity driven by multiculturalism, criticism of orientalism, feminism, and political correctness debate have raised questions about the canonization itself. Humanism tried to preserve its content value as a European heritage, but from the outside, charges of Eurocentrism were accused. The contradictory attributes of humanism are related to the aporia of discord between the ideology of education and reality.