Philosophy - Psychology - Pedagogy: Understanding human nature
Know thyself.
It is engraved above the entrance to the famed Delphic Oracle and this exhortation remains strikingly valid even today. Today’s 21st Century society can look back upon impressive - sometimes radical - political, religious, economic, technical and scientific developments. However, throughout the ages, mankind has consistently posed the same questions:
- Who am I?
- Where did I come from?
- Where am I going?
To truly comprehend the essence and nature of humanity, we should know the answers that have been given to these basic existential questions over the course of human history. The central focus of the combined subject Psychology-Philosophy-Pedagogy (PPP) - each P with its own unique emphasis – is the study of human beings. Philosophy, the oldest of the three disciplines, is the study of the critical and rational faculties of thinking beings. Psychology, on the other hand, puts the emotional experience, or the human psyche, in the foreground. It studies people based on the tension between the inner self and external forces. The final P, Pedagogy, focuses on the development of children into mature adults, and the people and mechanisms involved in that developmental process.
- What is justice?
- Why constitutes effective communication?
- What forces and laws governs a group of people?
- How do I motivate others and myself?
- How do I learn successfully?
- Which moral concepts are there?
The area of PPP tries to address these and other questions. In the tension and contrast created by differing views, theories and research findings, this discipline presents a complex view of humanity with historical depth and breadth. Because of its interdisciplinary nature, PPP enables students to create links between different school subjects, providing coherence to a gymnasial education. It is also a unique opportunity for the Gymnasium am Münsterplatz to reignite the ongoing dialogue between classical and modern language education and the humanist tradition.