Enlightenment and enervation: The Philanthropic program of physical training and perceptions of cultural decadence in late eighteenth century Germany.

Abstract

In the late eighteenth century there was a sudden flurry of works on physical training published by German authors. These authors all had ties to the Philanthropic movement, a progressive educational movement founded by Johann Bernhard Basedow in 1774, which criticized existing pedagogic methods and attempted to educate children in accordance with the laws of nature. There are several specific reasons why interest in physical culture heightened during the eighteenth century. There were medical breakthroughs in the areas of neurology, digestion and respiration as the human body became a greater object of scientific inquiry. Empiricism emphasized physical well-being as a prerequisite condition for mental health and there was a growth in what might be called physiological psychology. This dissertation attempts to demonstrate that a fuller appreciation of this interest in physical training requires an understanding of some of the most fundamental philosophical and cultural assumptions of the late eighteenth century as well as the recognition that it was generated primarily by the perception that the poor physical condition of Europeans was evidence of both cultural decadence and historical degeneration. Evidence for this thesis comes primarily from the works of five major Philanthropic pedagogues: Johann Bernhard Basedow, who founded the first Philanthropic school and who authored over thirty works on educational philosophy, Peter Villaume and Gerhard Ulrich Anton Vieth, who authored important works on physical training, Christian Gotthilf Salzmann, a late eighteenth century pedagogue who founded the most successful and influential of all Philanthropic institutes, and Johann Christoph Friedrich Guts Muths, who directed the program of physical training at Salzmann's school and authored numerous books on the subject. Additional sources include eighteenth century medical treatises and landmark works in educational theory as well as pedagogic journals that served as disseminators of Philanthropic educational doctrine.