The historical development of the scientific concept of education (Erziehungsbegriff) and the question of the disappearance of the physical body in the educational discourse 

My dissertation project is focused on the analysis of selected theoretical writings on education in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries and aims at the remarkable change in the relationship between body and education in the German educational discourse. During the late 18th century the body was an integral part in the concept of education and the pedagogical discussion, but it vanished in the late 19th century. This process can be described as disembodiment (Entkörperung), defined as the increasing marginalization of the body as a central element of educational thoughts.

The main issue of my research is the analyses of the historical conditions that led to this process of disembodiment during the genesis and formation of education as a science in modern times in Germany. In this case two groups of pedagogues are of special interest: the philanthropists (e.g. Campe, Salzmann, Trapp) and the representatives of the classical theory of education (e.g. Humboldt, Gedike, Niethammer). Both groups influenced strongly the theoretical construction of the concept of education, and the reception of their educational thoughts is still influencing the theoretical discourse in a great degree.

Campe (1785-1792): Allgemeine Revision des gesammten Schul- und Erziehungswesens. Schwarz (1802–13): Erziehungslehre. Nieymeyer (1796-1878): Grundsätze der Erziehung und des Unterrichts für Eltern etc.