Education and the good life

The work argues for educational aims grounded in modern psychology and democratic principles, distinguishing character formation from intellectual instruction and stressing the special importance of early childhood. It offers practical guidance for cultivating virtues such as courage, truthfulness, sympathy, playfulness, and constructive habits, and treats sensitive topics like sexual education and punishment. It also addresses institutional questions—nursery practice, curricular priorities before and after fourteen, the last school years, and contrasts between day and boarding schools and the university—while emphasizing parents’ responsibility, social context, and the need to make education accessible, with the ultimate aim of preparing individuals to learn from life.