HERBERT
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HERBERT
narrow prejudices and counteracts evil possessions,
but it is also an ideal worthy of all admiration in se.
Ignorance is really the main factor in vice. All action
springs out of "tlie circle of thought"; hence the
decisive influence of the matter or content of instruc-
tion in the work of character building. "Make your
instruction educative, " is the great Herbartian
maxim. Connected with the insistence on the psy-
chological agencies of apperception and interest is
the Herbartian principle of correlation and the five
formal steps of instruction. The former should, ac-
cording to the school, govern the drawing up of the
curriculum. Organize the course of studies so that
the matter of the diff'erent branches simultaneously
treated, e. g. the literature, history and geography,
may be connected with one another; and as far as
possible let the subsidiary sulijccts be arranged in
concentric circles around the chief stud}'. The five
formal steps prescribe the order and method of pro-
cedure in an ideal lesson. Prepare the mind for
the reception of the new matter by repetition of
questions which freshen the pupil's recollection of
ideas related to the subject of the coming lesson.
Next present the matter clearly, developing it in an
orderly method. Then, or jmri passu, by com-
parison or illustration associate the new ideas or facts
with those already familiar. After this generalize
the results and finally apply the knowleilge gained in
some form of practical exercise. These latter doc-
trines and other deductions from lierbart's prin-
ciples — some of them very disputable — have Iseen
elaborated in very pedantic fashion by certain of the
later Herbartians. Besides instruction, practical edu-
cation includes two other factors, — government and
discipline. Though character, according to Herliait,
is formed in very large measure by the instruction,
i. e. by the ideas apperceivetl and aljsorbed by the
mind, yet he allows something to these other agencies.
Government is mainly repressive, checking disorder
and providing the conditions for instruction. Train-
ing and discipline are of greater importance. They
look to the future building up of the will and forming
lasting habits. But as discipline is effected not merely
by the form but also Ijy the matter of the school exer-
cises, we come back once more to instruction as the
essential factor.
Criticism. — Undoubtedly there is much that is stimulating and valualile in Herbart's works on Edu- cation. His insistence on certain psychological laws established by experience; his frequent invocation of rational principles in opposition to mere empiricism in education; his accentuating the value of interest: his earnest advocacy of an ethical aim; his demand for wide culture; his faith in the potency of educa- tion, and his enthusiasm for the vocation of the teacher are all deserving of warm commendation. But there are other features in his theory to which serious objections are made. Firstly, his account of the soul, as being capable originally only of simple reactions to impressions and as being then virtually swallowed up by, or dissolved into the stream of sub- sequent presentations or ideas, is metaphysically erroneous, and in educational practice exceedingly dangerous if carried to its logical conclusions. For it implies an entirely mechanical view of the mind, as rigidly determinist as that of the English Associa- tionists, with which indeed, notwithstanding Her- bart's spiritualism, it has sundry points of similarity. It leaves no place for free-will, nor, if logically pressed, for individual responsibility. The soul seems to be conceived merely as the arena for chance experiences coming from without. Our whole mental life is solely the resultant of the collision or coalescence of the presentations flowing in upon us. Every volition is the inexorable product of the circle of thought. Yet Herbart himself, as well as the best educationists of to- day, insist much on the duty of respecting and develop-
ing the individuality of the pujMl; but where the in-
dividuality is seated, or in what it consists, is not easy
to understand in the Herbartian system. Here espe-
cially lies the strength of the rival doctrine of the
Frobelian School, which so earnestly inculcates the
importance of self-activity. Again, the ethical aim
of Herbartianism is after all the Ego. It is not God
— not an end outside of self, not even humanity — but
self-culture. Further, knowledge and intellectual
culture, however varied or refined, are not virtue.
Herbart has here fallen into the old Socratic error.
Knowledge is desirable and its attainment may be a
duty; but virtue is essentially a quality of the will,
not of the intellect. Its essence lies in self-control,
and self-denial, often in " action in the line of greatest
resistance " as Professor James well calls it. Ascet-
icism, so obnoxious to the Herbartian, is therefore
not unintelligent. Many-sided interest, toOj though
ethically helpful is not virtue. Intellectual ignorance
and narrow-mindeflness may and often are combined
with a high quality of moral fibre, whilst men of
abundantly many-sided interest, as e. g., Francis
Bacon or Goethe, may fall sadly short of being eth-
ical models.
Furthermore, although, as Catholic doctrine insists, the positive moral and religious teaching of the j'oung and the ethical quality of the ideas on which their intellects are fed exert a real influence on the will and moral disposition of the child, yet the value of mere instruction in comparison with that of discipline is exaggerated liy the Herbartian school. It is not the mere cognition of the facts of history and literature, or in general the content of the instruction in these subjects, that makes for morality, but the exercise of our faculties, our moral jutlgment, imagination, sjon- pathy, aversions etc. upon these facts. Moral sensi- bility is developed by action in harmony with the intimations and suggestions of conscience, rather than by the acquisition of moral information. Again, whilst interest is to be fostered and advantage taken of every psychological law which facilitates learning, we must not forget the educational worth of effort and the conquest of difficulties, nor the disciplinary value of stiff formal studies such as mathematics. Strenu- ousness of character will not be cultivated by a "soft" pedagogy which would eliminate all obstacles from the student's path — though this latter attempt is not the outcome of the true Herbartian spirit. The evil also of an unenlightened formalism has exhibited itself in a somewhat slavish adhesion to details of the Herbartian method by certain members of the school. Nevertheless it remains true that Herbart has given a substantial contribution of permanent value to edu- cational theory and educational method.
Theliterature of the Herbartian School even in English is voluminous and is steadily increasins- The most convenient works of Herbart himself for the English speaking student are Letters and Lectures on Education by Herbart, trans, by Fel- KiN (New York and London, 1901): The science of Education, trans, by Felkin (New York and London, 1S97): .4 Text-book in Psychology, trans, by Smith (New York, 1901). A useful introduction is The Student's Herbart (New York and London, — ) by H.wwARD, with which may i>e usefully read on the opposite side, D.arrgch's Herbart, A Criticism (New York and London, 1903). Herbart and the Herbartians by De Garmo (New York and London, 1904) gives a fair account of the school. The pleasantest volume of the whole Herbartian Uterature is
?robably Adams, Herbartian Psycholoqy (London and New ork). See also Hatward, Critics of Herbartianism (London, 1903): Ufer, Introduction to the Pedagogy of Herbart. trans, by Zinzer (Boston, 1901): Von Reins, Outlines of Pedagogics, trans, by Van Liew (New York, 1S95): Padagogische Schriften mit Herbarts Biographic, by Bartholmai and Sallwxirk (2 vols., Langensalza, 1906): Sdmmtliche Werke by Kehrb.^ch AND Flugel (2 vols., Langensalza): Willman, Didaktik als Bildungslehre, 2nd edit. (Brunswdck, 1895). A clear and con- venient treatment of Herbart's system in French is La Peda- gogic de Herbart, by Gockler (Paris, 1905).
Michael Maher.
Herbert, John Rogers, b. 2.3 January, 1810, at
Maldon, Essex, England; d. in London, 17 March,
