Between Marxism and Romanticism: Childhood and Education in the Works of Ernst Bloch

Ernst Bloch is a 20th-century German philosopher, associated with the Frankfurt School of

critical theory. His most important philosophical works are The Principle of Hope (1959) and The

Spirit of Utopia (1918). The aim of this paper is to explore Bloch’s views on childhood and education

in the context of his own upbringing. Special attention will be paid to two important influences

on Bloch’s thought: Romanticism and Marxism. This paper will be divided into three parts: The

first part will provide a portrait of Bloch’s childhood and youth. It will trace his early inclination

toward Marxism and Romanticism and elucidate Bloch’s attitude toward conventional education

and learning. The second part will focus on the relationship between childhood, education and the

human imagination. It will contain references to the following literary texts: William Blake’s “The

School Boy”, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Frost At Midnight”, William Wordsworth’s “My Heart

Leaps Up” and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. The third part will

focus on the role of critical thinking in education. It will outline Bloch’s critique of conventional

education in capitalist society and his vision of a different kind of education. Please note that all

translations from Bloch’s Das Prinzip Hoffnung (The Principle of Hope), Pädagogica, Spuren

(Traces) and Literarische Aufsätze (Literary Essays) are my translations.