The Philosophy Of Higher Education In "The Idea Of University"

Karl Jaspers(1883-1969)is a famous German philosopher,psychiatrist and educator in the 20 th century.Based on his view of human beings in his philosophy of existence and his years of experience in teaching universities,Jaspers pays special attention to university education.The Idea of University is just such a book which reflects the philosophical summary of universities for many years.Which contains rich philosophical thoughts of higher education can be used for the development of our current higher education.Based on the background of the Idea of University and Jaspers' philosophy of existence,this paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the philosophical thoughts of higher education in the Idea of University by using historical analysis and documentary method,so as to provide enlightenment for contemporary higher education in China.It mainly includes the essence of higher education philosophy: what is university? "What is a university" is the starting point of the philosophy of higher education and the basic question that many scholars engaged in higher education research should answer.With his philosophy of existence,Jaspers went deep into the interiorof higher education,explored the intrinsic value and value standard in the process of higher education,and made a deep and metaphysical analysis of the question of "what is university" : university is the community of pursuing truth,the community is the existence of the "state" of the country.The university is a special group that belongs to a nation and transcends the established nation at the same time.Secondly,the purpose of higher education is to cultivate "the whole man".Jaspers integrates the viewpoint of human in his philosophy of existence into higher education.He believes that the purpose of university is to shape the whole person and to cultivate a real individual with overall significance who can develop in all aspects of human being,not only a real person,but also an ideal person,and a transcendent person,in order to achieve a broad sense of education.Thirdly,it is the core of higher education: spiritual communication.According to Jaspers,the general spiritual life is directed at science and academia,and the special feature of university spiritual life is that it is communicative.Communication is an important way for people to realize themselves and the basic way of human existence.The university is a special existence with truth as its ultimate goal,and the truth can only gradually manifest itself inspiritual communication,then spiritual communication becomes the core of philosophy of higher education.Jaspers highly recognized the Socratic interactions.He believed that the Socratic interactions were the ideal form of spiritual communication in universities.Finally,the Enlightenment of the philosophy of higher education in The Idea of University to the reform and development of higher education in China.Jaspers' Idea of University embodies more a philosophy of higher education based on spiritual life.The reform of university education should reiterate that human is the purpose,realize that human value is the foundation of university,and the return of human is the real condition of education reform.Universities should recognize the important value of the Humanities and focus on developing students' philosophical abilities.In addition,the university should also pay attention to the development of spiritual communication within the community and promote the communication between teachers and students to highlight the true nature of university education.