Immanuel Kant · 1803
Kant on Education
- Original title
- Über Pädagogik
- Language
- German
- Form
- Treatise
- Text
- Full text
- English
- No English translation · Annette Churton translation (1899)
- Source text
- archive.org
- Selected
- Ben Breen, 2026-09-29; suggested by Claude research agents, 29 Sep 2026
- Status
- Arguments unverified; quotations chosen by machine, unchecked
Q21HABIT
Can repeated obedience train a person to obey without judgment?No. early obedience prepares rational self-rule. Absolute obedience in childhood is necessary because it prepares the child to obey laws as a citizen; the youth later obeys rules of duty, which means obeying reason.
80. Above all things, obedience is an essential feature in the character of a child, especially of a school boy or girl. This obedience is twofold, including absolute obedience to his master's commands, and obedience to what he feels to be a good and reasonable will. Obedience may be the result of compulsion; it is then absolute: or it may arise out of confidence; it is then obedience of the second kind. This voluntary obedience is very important, but the former is also very necessary, for it prepares the child for the fulfilment of laws that he will have to obey later, as a citizen, even though he may not like them.
OCR corrected
§§ 80–86 · Opened Internet Archive text of Churton translation; confirmed §§ 80–86.
The memory should only be occupied with such things as are important to be retained, and which will be of service to us in real life. Novel-reading is the worst thing for children, since they can make no further use of it, and it merely affords them entertainment for the moment. Novel-reading weakens the memory. For it would be ridiculous to remember novels in order to relate them to others. Therefore all novels should be taken away from children. Whilst reading them they weave, as it were, an inner romance of their own, rearranging the circumstances for themselves; their fancy is thus imprisoned, but there is no exercise of thought.Retained as a reserve/context passage for the original question; no stronger alternative placement established.