The University According to Humboldt

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. The University Before Humboldt and After

   • Jürgen Backhaus

   Pages 1-3

3. The University According to Humboldt and the Alternatives

   • Jürgen Backhaus

   Pages 5-10

4. The Lexicographical Utility Function of Fertility Decisions and Humboldt’s Political Principles of the State

   • Gerhard Scheuerer

   Pages 11-37

5. What Remains of Humboldt at Times of the Bologna Reform?

   • Hans A. Frambach

   Pages 39-51

6. University Studies at Hardenberg’s and Humboldt’s Time and the Professionalization of University Studies Today

   • Karl-Heinz Schmidt

   Pages 53-65

7. The University: Idea and Practice

   • Gerrit Meijer

   Pages 67-73

8. Democracy and Education: A History from Ancient Athens

   • Nicholas C. Kyriazis, Emmanouil Marios L. Economou

   Pages 75-84

This book discusses the philosophy and educational reforms initiated by Wilhelm von Humboldt as well as their legacy in the modern university system. It begins with a discussion of the history of the university from antiquity and the Middle Ages through the era of Humboldt’s reforms and its remnants in and implications for the present day. The authors then delve into policy, outlining the key conflicts that have informed the development of university educational policy, such as the clash between academia and professional education, the coordination of public administration and educational institutions, and the perennial issue of funding. Humboldt’s ideas are then discussed within an economic context, using his principals of the state to analyze the relationship between current models of household and family economics and German economic and social policy. The book is rounded off by a philosophical analysis of the institution of the university and concludes with an update of the remains Humboldt’s reforms within the current university system. With its multidisciplinary approach to the study of higher education reform in Europe and its key players, this book will appeal to scholars of economic history, educational policy, and public administration as well as administrators and policy makers in higher education.  ​

• Heilbronn Symposium
• Wilhelm von Humboldt
• educational policy
• higher education
• reform
• university system

• Krupp Foundation Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany

  Jürgen Georg Backhaus

Policies and ethics