Classical Humanism and the Challenge of Modernity

1

For a good discussion of the gradual displacement of Latin by the modern languages, see Leonhardt (2009: 221 – 244).

2

For a general survey of the prominence of classical education in 19^th century Europe, see Mayer (1981: 253 – 73).

3

In this book, I use the term ‘modern’ to refer to late 18^th and 19^th century developments that have decisively influenced current ways of thinking. The secularised, 19^th-century Gymnasium I call ‘modern’ because in nearly all Western European countries, education is nowadays largely independent of Church supervision. The rise of the Bürgerschule I describe as a modern development because it was intimately connected to the professional differentiation and industrialisation that have decisively influenced the ...