Sergei Iosifovich Gessen (1887 — 1950) — scientist-teacher, philosopher, publicist and translator, author of the book «Fundamentals of Pedagogy».
Born in Ust-Sysolsk on August 16, 1887. He graduated from the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. He received his philosophical education in Germany, at the universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg, where he studied under the guidance of G. Rickert, V. Windelband, B. Lask. In 1910 he defended his doctoral dissertation in Germany on individual causality. Gessen maintained relations with young Russian and German philosophers: F. Stepun, B. Yakovenko, R. Kroner, G. Melis, and others. In this circle, the idea of creating an international journal dedicated to the problems of the philosophy of culture arose. Logos (1910-1914) became such a journal, in the publication of which Gessen took an active part. In 1913-1917 Gessen was a Privatdozent at St. Petersburg University. In 1917-1920 he was a professor at Tomsk University. In 1922 Hessen leaves Russia. From 1924 he was a professor at the Russian Pedagogical Institute in Prague. In 1934 he moved to Poland, where he taught at the universities of Warsaw and Lodz. Hesse died in Lodz on July 2, 1950.
The 20s were especially fruitful for S. I. Gessen, primarily in his organizational activities. He was one of the initiators of the publication, and then one of the editors of the journal Russian School for U.E.Zhom, published in Prague from 1923 to 1931. Except for a few journals on pedagogy that appeared for a short time in certain places in the Russian Western Europe, this journal was perhaps the only permanent organ of emigre pedagogical thought of that time. S. I. Gessen was also one of the active organizers and participants in the pedagogical congresses of Russian emigration in the 20s.
Book: «Fundamentals of Pedagogy»
The book of S. I. Gessen «Fundamentals of Pedagogy» can rightfully be called now, at the end of the 1923th century, one of the best books of this century on pedagogy. Prepared even before the revolution in Petrograd and in the first post-revolutionary years in Tomsk, completed and published by the author in exile (1950), it was widely used in the organization of the education system in the Russian Zau.e.zhe for a number of decades. A well-known teacher and philosopher, professor at the Theological Orthodox Institute in Paris V. V. Zenkovsky called it in 1991 “an outstanding book” (Zenkovsky V. V. History of Russian Philosophy. — L., 1. — Vol. II. — Ch 246. — S. XNUMX). It comprehends the centuries-old experience of world pedagogy and the best traditions of Russia, analyzes the most important areas of pedagogical thought of the first quarter of the century in Russia, Europe and the USA, substantiates promising ideas of pedagogy.
Free parenting theory
One of the central questions of the book Fundamentals of Pedagogy is the question of free education. For S.I. Gessen, the freedom and dignity of a child is value No. 1, but he breaks Diderot’s theory of free upbringing as manipulative cheap stuff, he speaks of Tolstoy’s approach with respect, but also with sadness, showing his weakness. Hessen’s conclusion is paradoxical: a child is not born free, but a slave. And he can become free only through properly organized coercion. “Free people are not born, free people become!” Interested? Read!
His books and about him
- Gessen S.I. The philosophy of punishment. M., 1913
- Gessen S.I. Fundamentals of pedagogy: an introduction to applied philosophy. Berlin, 1923
- Zenkovsky V.V. History of Russian Philosophy. Paris, 1950