Self-education as a moral rebirth

Abstract

The subject of the analysis is self-education as one of the fundamental general concepts of the contemporary pedagogy. In my research I present not only the origins and the etymological meaning of the concept of self-education, but also the relation between self-education and such the concepts as self-improvement, asceticism, self-instruction, formation of will and character, self-training, upbringing, management of self-development, self-development itself, self-control, self-determination, self-realization etc. There have been a lot of the philosophical and religious schools which have stressed the importance and the primacy of attention paid by an individual to one’s Self or to improvement of one’s psyche. Here I look closer only at these theoretical approaches to self-education which have been the inexhaustible source for the contemporary psychology and pedagogy and at the trends which originate from the Hindu and Christian philosophies. I direct my attention to various practical aspects of individual’s work on themselves and among them to two opposing theoretical approaches: one of them treats self-education as perfectio prima, where the aspiration to perfection constitutes the only motive for individual’s conduct and the goal itself, whereas the other treats self-education as perfectio secunda, where the departure of one’s Self is fundamental and constitutes achieving perfection per accidens