E-Journal of Philosophy of Education:
International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 5, 2020

Theses on the Problem of the Language of Philosophy ofEducation in a Globalized World

Lothar WIGGER
TU Dortmund University

1. Wilhelm von Humboldt, the great theoretician of the Bildung tradition inGermany, assumes a close connection between language and national culture. According
to Humboldt, every language implies its own worldview and is an expression of its own
way of life. Languages are interwoven with their culture and time. Language is themedium of intermediation and interaction between human beings and the world. In thediversity of languages, the richness of the world and the diversity of its knowledge
become accessible. The linguistic expressions are not mere descriptions of a thing -- they
can also be these as well -- but in many respects they are different views of a thing.
Language therefore includes conversation and speeches, but also arguing and debates.
This shows that mutual understanding is possible, but all understanding is always also a
non-understanding (cf. Humboldt 1963: 439). The inaccuracies, differences and constantchanges in language cannot be reversed.
2. The conclusion of these thoughts for educational theory is the significance of theknowledge of foreign languages. Through the learning of foreign languages, a different
culture is also learned and an initially foreign worldview is opened up. As a result, thehabit of speaking in one’s mother tongue loses its matter of course, its claim to always
accurately depict and express the world. The naturalness of the conventional worldview,of one's own tradition and culture reveals itself to be an illusion. Education throughforeign languages thus includes the relativizing of one's own point of view and an
opening to new and different perspectives, not to mention a gain in reflexivity towards
one's native language and insight into the plurality of cultures and worldviews. And thatis precisely what education in the sense of Bildung is about: the enlargement and88

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enrichment of knowledge and feeling through the confrontation with the diversity of theworld, to which the plurality of languages and cultures belongs (cf. Koller 1999: 90ff),
and also insight into the intermediation of the world through language.
3. This also addresses the problem of monolingualism, the unshaken self-confidence
that one's own linguistic expression is generally understandable, i.e. that one depicts theworld as it is and articulates a view of things that is acceptable to all others. The unsettling
experience of translating and the experiences of not being able to express oneself are
foreign to those whose language is also spoken by speakers of other languages. The
possibility of self-reflexively relativizing one's own views, customs and cultural habits
through the work of translation remains closed to them. Liz Jackson and Naoko Saito
have already pointed this out. Their conclusion is that it is a worthwhile and welcome
goal to rethink international conferences and academic associations as "places of mutual
learning" in which the "art of translation" is cultivated (Saito 2019: 17).
4. In the tradition of German philosophy of Bildung, the learning of foreign
languages and the understanding of people from other cultures is a goal of general
education not only restricted to academics or philosophers. Jackson’s case studies showthat these are not philosophical problems and not problems only for university teachers,
but current problems of human coexistence today. If we are responsible for "thecultivation and maintenance of dispositions of openness and the tolerance of
consciousness for the 'known unknown'" (Jackson 2019: 1), then this implies the concern
for the general education of all. I see the concern for the preservation of general education
founded in the fact that the differences between the higher and the less educated, between
academics and non-academics, develop into a societal division between people whosework encourages cosmopolitan thinking through its international character and people
whose work is tied to their local cultures, especially when nationalist politicians andpopulists deepen this societal and political division with propagandistic oppositions of"we" and "the others", of "regular people" and "the elite".
5. The English language has developed into the lingua franca of science. This
reflects the economic and political dominance of the USA in history since the Second
World War and, conversely, the loss of economic and political significance of Germany,
France and Russia. We should not disregard the aspect of political and economic power
as a background for internationalization strategies and cultural-political exports and thedangers of political and economic instrumentalization, nor should we disregard theThematic Research: Globalization, Internationalization, and Universality of Philosophy of Education

Theses on the Problem of the Language of Philosophy of Education in a Globalized World89

discussion of ways of overcoming the differences between East and West, and also thedifferences between North and South.
6. Now the problem of a common English scientific language in international
contexts is different in the natural sciences, medicine and technology on the one hand andin the humanities and social sciences on the other hand. Saito rightly points to the errors
in the understanding of language that support monolingualism (Saito 2019: 10). By
referring to natural facts or technically defined objects, the first scientific group does nothave the linguistic translation problems of the humanities and the social sciences in regard
to their objects, which are historically, culturally and socially constituted objects. Theintertwining of these objects with the specific languages sets limits to a worldwide
common scientific language; the plurality of cultures and languages is presupposed andthese facts require translations. It is therefore the task of philosophy as well as thehumanities and the social sciences to articulate the problems of monolingualism in asocially audible way, to defend themselves against the dominance of economics,
technology and the natural sciences and to draw critical attention to colonial tendencies
and power structures.
7. The communication of scientists from many different countries and theinternationalization of scientific exchange are made possible by the common use of theEnglish language. This is a great gain and not to be underestimated at all, but it may not
be the end in the development of scientific internationalization. For me, the question isthat, beyond the use of the English language, multilingualism will also remain a sensible
goal, so that a "bidirectional academic exchange" of non-English-speaking scientists,
which used to exist and still exists, will also be possible in the future. Theodor W. Adorno(2003) answered to the question of why he returned to Germany after his forced
emigration to the USA during National Socialism and in view of the terror and crimes of
the Second World War, that the German language, as the language of his homeland,enabled him to express his thoughts in a differentiated and precise way. But precision anddifferentiation in philosophical or even humanistic considerations are difficult to maintainor convey when a third language has to come between author and reader.
8. Multilingual conferences, which do not only offer parallel monolingual events,
are quite possible, Switzerland with its four official languages offers examples of this. If
it is not feasible to understand several languages at the respective scientific orphilosophical level, then experts are needed who can translate, explain and bring closer
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to us the philosophy, literature or discourses of the other countries. It is undoubtedly
insufficient and critical just to talk about the others, but according to Kenichi Mishima it
is not enough to talk to the others in order to understand them, but for understanding it isimportant to hear "what the others talk to each other and also against each other"(Mishima/Schwentker 2015: 18). This translation and explanation work of experts of theforeign culture, history, and society is indispensable for an adequate and real
understanding of the others, even if more scientists will be able to understand or to talkin more than one foreign language.
9. A central problem of educational philosophy is the question of what is universal
when we recognize the diversity of cultures and languages, our particularity andattachment to our origins, and the difficulties of translation and understanding. Are there
universal principles from which we can understand each other and deal with the problems
and conflicts in the world? How can we adequately explain "what is human about us"(Jackson 2019: 6) in order to find common ground? Seyla Benhabib's interpretation ofhuman dignity is the proposal of a minimal ethic in pluralistic societies that can provide
a capable basis for a consensus of different societies: "We deserve respect not only
because we are reasonable beings capable of acting in accordance with moral law, butalso because we are vulnerable beings with a physical existence potentially exposed totorture, rape, slavery, servitude and violence and therefore to be protected. Treating aperson with dignity does not only mean treating him with respect; it also prohibits theexercise of violence and cruelty against him". (Benhabib 2016: 278) This proposal seems
to me worth considering and worth discussing (cf. Wigger 2019).

References
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Benhabib, Seyla (2016): Kosmopolitismus ohne Illusionen. Menschenrechte inunruhigen Zeiten. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Humboldt, Wilhelm von (1963): Schriften zur Sprachphilosophie. In: ders.: Werke in fünf
Bänden III (hrsg. von Andreas Flitner und Klaus Giel). Darmstadt: WBG.
Koller, Hans-Christoph (1999): Bildung und Widerstreit. Zur Struktur biographischer
Bildungsprozesse in der (Post-) Moderne. München: Fink.
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Mishima, Ken'ichi; Schwentker, Wolfgang (2015): Einleitung. In: Ken'ichi Mishima undWolfgang Schwentker (Hrsg.): Geschichtsdenken im modernen Japan. Eine
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dem Deutschen Institut für Japanstudien, 56) S. 11–28.
Wigger, Lothar (2019): Kosmopolitismus – Anmerkungen zu einem Ideal historischpolitischer Bildung. In: Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Pädagogik. H.2, 95.
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E-Journal of Philosophy of Education: International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 5, 2020