Download the knowledge of man

Teodora Shek Brnardić, Croatian Institute of History
The Science of Man in Bohemia
Graz, 29th July 2011
Menschenkenntnis or “the knowledge of man” in the works
of Count Franz Joseph Kinsky
„To be in charge of men – to lead
them according to planned purposes
assumes the knowledge of man; and this
in turn assumes the self-knowledge. The
one who is too sluggish, too absentminded, too ignorant to study his
own basic desires, aptitudes,
inclinations, passions – in short
himself – is he going to develop the
human heart among the troops?“
(Für Weltrekruten, 1783)
COUNT FRANZ JOSEPH KINSKY (1739-1805)
BOHEMIAN PEDAGOGUE, GEOLOGIST AND AUSTRIAN GENERAL
Major pedagogical and military works
1773 – Erinnerung über einen wichtigen
Gegenstand von einem Böhmen (Prague)
1776 – Über die Hofmeister (Prague)
1781 – Für Weltrekruten (Vienna)
1785-88 – Des Grafen Franz Kinsky
gesamlete Scriften (6 volumes) (Vienna)
-reviews in Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek,
Der Teutsche Merkur, Litteratur des
katholischen Deutschland, Ephemeriden der
Menschheit, Neues militärisches Journal,
Braunschweigisches Journal, Berlinische
Sammlungen
-translations in Italian, Polish
The Contexts of Kinsky’s works
The context of treatises on private education
1771 – the last great famine in Bohemia, half a million people
died (12 % of total population)
1775 – the greatest peasant uprising in Bohemia in the
eighteenth century:
JOSEPH II STEERING THE PLOUGH IN
SLAVIKOVICE, 1769
The Contexts of Kinsky’s works
The context of treatises on military education
1779 – appointed as the Localdirektor of the Theresian Military
Academy in Wiener Neustadt
1785 – appointed as the Oberdirektor of the Theresian Military
Academy (till the death in 1805)
THE THERESIAN MILITARY ACADEMY TODAY
THE STATUE OF COUNT KINSKY
The Education of Man
MAN
SOUL
BODY
MORAL EDUCATION
NATURAL (PHYSICAL)
EDUCATION
INSTRUCTION IN
MORALITY
INSTRUCTION IN
THE ARTS AND SCIENCES
RELIGION
DUTIES
TOWARDS OURSELVES
SOCIAL DUTIES
(TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOURS)
„All true morality is
grounded in RELIGION
and flows from its
principles“. (Erinnerung,
1773)
The Sensualist Psychology
• the Lockean epistemology and psychology
with the basis in SENSATION:
EXTERNAL
OBJECTS
JOHN LOCKE together with
Francis Bacon one
of Kinsky’s most
favourite authors
SENSES
MIND
EXPERIENCE – the
source of all
knowledge
The Education of the Heart and the
Primacy of Sentiments
• the education of the heart,
that is, moral education is
more important than learning
• the importance of fostering
love, compassion and
gratitude in social relations
CHARLES BONNET –
recommended for
reading by Kinsky
The Moral Bible
Kinsky:
• EGOISM and PRIDE –
detrimental
• HOLY SCRIPTURE –
unmistakable guideline for
preaching virtue
ADAM AND EVE
EXPELLED FROM THE
GARDEN OF EDEN
The Best for Society – Christian vs.
Philosophical Knowledge of Man
Franz Joseph Kinsky – “Religion obliges everybody on the
basis of the true quality of man to serve the common good
(gemeinnützig zu sein) according to his powers and
circumstances.” (Report on the Stuttgart Military Academy, 1778)
Frederick the Great – “The powerful motive which we are
seeking is self-love, - this guaranty of self-preservation, this
founder of our happiness, this inexahaustible source of
our vices and virtues, this secret spring of all human
action.” (Essay on Self-Love, 1770)