Neitzsche, True Education, and the Three Dangers

Neitzsche is not unlike most of the other famous philosophers that people have or have not heard of. He had some groundbreaking thoughts that changed how people look at things, but also like many other philosophers, said some things that probably made people mad. One of those things may be what he said about achieving “true education.” According to Neitzsche, to achieve a true education one must confront and surmount three main obstacles or “dangers.” They are isolation, crippling doubt, and the pain of confronting one’s limitations. Uffda. Those are rough, and as most of us can relate to, they are also absolutely present in at least one of our childhood memories of school. This I could agree with Neitzsche on. Those are our biggest obstacles to really succeed at school. If we are reserved, or are not taught the skills to approach and overcome those barriers, then we will absolutely struggle or possibly not even achieve all that education has in store for us. 

The part that sets Neitzsche apart and where I draw the line at agreeing with him is the idea that follows. He stated that because of these dangers or limitations, most people lack the fortitude and vigor to face those “dangers.” If I was to fully agree with Neitzsche, I would be stating that anyone who is not inherently successful is uneducated or at least lacking a true education. Furthermore, it would be then assumed that the reason people are not fully successful and educated is because they didn’t have a good fighting spirit of courage in the face of adversity. In the brief (and I mean brief) review of what he stated, there was also not an age of discussion. In today’s education environment, I can’t believe that these statements made it very far. In fact I believe we have fought a lot in the previous years to get away from the idea that “if a student just tried harder they’d be smarter/more on track/more successful.”

Although I for the most part agree with the point that Neitzsche has regarding learning and his theory of the three dangers of isolation, crippling doubt, and the pain of confronting one’s limitations. I do not agree with him that if those things are not mastered, people can not be truly educated.