The formation of personhood in the educational theories of Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm and Martinus Jan Langeveld

This study shows how the educational theory of Kohnstamm is based on his elaboration of the philosophy of personalism. It follows that personhood formation should be understood as the becoming of a personality. This implies an educational process that, in addition to developing uniqueness and individuality, is also aimed at learning to make moral choices. From this study it ensues that personhood formation can likewise be understood as educating a child to listen to the voice of its conscience. In Kohnstamm’s understanding, this can be regarded as the voice of God. The family is the primary place of personhood formation in his theory, yet he also stressed that personhood formation is mainly self-formation. It is a process of discovering one’s own unique convictions. Another important idea in the process of personhood formation is learning to bear responsibility. As a child grows, so does this responsibility. Again, parents play the most important role in this process, but the contact between a child and a teacher or youth leader is also personhood-forming. Didactic forms of education can also contribute to this, as can subjects such as visual education, literature, drama and movement education. It is important for the educational modality to ensure that a child is formed into an individual in community. In the theory of Langeveld, personhood formation means becoming a ‘self-responsible self-determining personality’. Hereby Langeveld envisaged an education that allows for the child (the person) to discover who they are and understand why they make certain choices (self-determination). This comprises a process of formation in which both freedom and bearing responsibility increase. The role of the child as co-determinant subject in the process of personhood formation is stressed in Langeveld’s theory. An important (second) aim of Langeveld’s theory is that personhood formation also means the child is not only formed into an autonomous individual, but also learns to bear responsibility for the community. Further, this study evidences that, also in Langeveld’s theory, personhood formation can be equated with conscience formation. This comprises a process of learning to listen to the voice of one’s inner moral authority. The forming would take place primarily as part of the parent-child relationship. Next, this dissertation presents five insights that follow from this historical-educational research while contributing to contemporary discussions on personhood formation

Self-Responsible Self-Determination:The Educational Theory of Martinus Jan Langeveld (1905–1989), Its Origins and Sources

Martinus Jan Langeveld (1905–1989) was a key figure in Dutch academic educational studies after the Second World War. This article investigates the origins and sources of Langeveld’s theory by examining his prior publications and the main references in conjunction with the intellectual movements of his time. This research shows, first, that Langeveld built his educational theory upon a variety of sources: the German-American psychologist William Stern (1871–1938), the Dutch educationalist Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm (1875–1951), the German philosopher Theodor Litt (1880–1962), and Edmund Husserl’s (1859–1938) philosophy of phenomenology. Further, Langeveld borrowed a phrase from the medieval theology of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) as the key idea of his theory. Last, Langeveld’s theory incorporates the important topics of the first decades of the twentieth century. In particular, the coinciding philosophies of personalism and phenomenology in the context of anti-positivist movements shed new light on Langeveld’s theory.</p

Een kind als geschenk of als handelswaar? Commercieel draagmoederschap en (het gevaar van) commodificatie

Commercieel draagmoederschap is één van de reproductietechnieken die het voor echtparen met vruchtbaarheidsproblemen mogelijk maakt hun kinderwens in vervulling te zien gaan. Deze techniek is echter niet zonder gevolgen voor het kind. Er kan commodificatie optreden, zowel in smalle zin: het kind wordt een product dat gekocht wordt, als in brede zin: het beeld van het kind als geschenk dat niet gemaakt wordt naar de wensen van ouders lijkt te worden uitgesloten. De vraag die daarbij kan worden gesteld is of commodificatie van het kind ethisch te aanvaarden is. Naar een ethische rechtvaardiging van commodificatie kan worden gezocht middels het reflectief equilibrium. Commodificatie en commercieel draagmoederschap zijn alleen gerechtvaardigd wanneer het kind als goed in zichzelf wordt beschouwd

Een kind als geschenk of als handelswaar? Commercieel draagmoederschap en (het gevaar van) commodificatie

Commercieel draagmoederschap is één van de reproductietechnieken die het voor echtparen met vruchtbaarheidsproblemen mogelijk maakt hun kinderwens in vervulling te zien gaan. Deze techniek is echter niet zonder gevolgen voor het kind. Er kan commodificatie optreden, zowel in smalle zin: het kind wordt een product dat gekocht wordt, als in brede zin: het beeld van het kind als geschenk dat niet gemaakt wordt naar de wensen van ouders lijkt te worden uitgesloten. De vraag die daarbij kan worden gesteld is of commodificatie van het kind ethisch te aanvaarden is. Naar een ethische rechtvaardiging van commodificatie kan worden gezocht middels het reflectief equilibrium. Commodificatie en commercieel draagmoederschap zijn alleen gerechtvaardigd wanneer het kind als goed in zichzelf wordt beschouwd

A Dutch example of New Education: Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm (1875-1951) and his ideas about the New School

Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm (1875–1951) was one of the founders of Dutch educational science and a key figure in the New Education movement in the Netherlands. This article has three aims: first, to depict Kohnstamm as an insightful example in the process of sharing and adopting ideas around New Education and the implementation of these ideas in the Dutch context. Second, to demonstrate that the New School ideas Kohnstamm embraced − such as the Dalton Plan (of Helen Parkhurst, 1887−1952) and the Gary Plan (of William Wirt, 1874–1938) − fitted in with his philosophy of personalism; this philosophy also explains why he did not choose Montessori education, which was very popular in the Netherlands during his time. Third, that this philosophy at the same time partly explains the initial limited impact Kohnstamm had on Dutch education

"Educating children to follow the voice of their conscience" - a comparative study of the Dutch educationalists Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm (1875-1951) and Martinus Jan Langeveld (1905-1989) within the context of early twentieth-century Europe

Two of the greatest Dutch educationalists of the twentieth century, Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm (1875–1951) and Martinus Jan Langeveld (1905–1989), believed that education meant, above all, the formation of a conscience. They developed their ideas in a time full of developments within Europe: the rise of fascism, two world wars, and pioneering theories on human development by Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), among others. Kohnstamm’s and Langeveld’s educational theories were also influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, by optimistic ideas about the spontaneous development of the child and the unique personality of humankind, as expressed in movements such as New Education, New Psychology, and the philosophy of Henri Bergson (1859–1941). This article aims to compare these two Dutch educationalists on conscience formation to contextualise their differences and similarities and subsequently understand them within European developments, such as New Psychology, and specifically the Dutch context of the twentieth century