Orbis Sensualium Pictus by Comenius is historical evidence of the revolutionary development of language didactic in the seventeenth century. However, this book is not only a simple encyclopedic Latin study book with pictures, but a little theology work containing Christian cosmological universalism as well as a pedagogy which provides principles for educational practice and social realizations of a theological ideal in a very new and creative form of iconography. While studying Latin seems to be the main purpose of his work, (...) the authentic intention of the author lies in a panpedagogical call to a religious-educational mission for rebuilding humanity and society during and after the 30 Years War. In this article, we will show the historical and pedagogical meaning of this book through component analysis, framework analysis and iconographical interpretation. In addition, we will also approach Comenius’ concept of Pampaedia through an iconographical shortcut, highlighting a picture in “Invitatio” and “Clausula”, which is presented twice in this book. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with the practical importance of different forms of paternalism for educational theory and practice. Contrary to the traditional treatment of paternalism as a sometimes necessary and rather messy aspect of educational practices, I demonstrate that paternalism is to be regarded as an “indigenous concept” of educational theory and as the ‘indigenous model of justification’ that underlies the structure of educational practices. Based on an analysis of the intricate nexus between autonomy-oriented forms of paternalism and educational forms (...) of autonomy-based perfectionism I furthermore argue that a perfectionistically structured conception of autonomy provides a more adequate evaluative framework for justifying autonomy as an educational aim than alternative educational regimes of autonomy can deliver. Finally, I discuss some major theoretical problems of bridging the gap between general ethical principles and their application in practical fields. (shrink)