This chapter examines Hegel’s concept of Bildung, contextualizing it as a synthesis of Greek paideia and German educational ideals shaped by the evolving institutional forces of the German University. Ludwik Fleck’s theory of thought styles and thought collectives is used to explore how Hegel’s vision of Bildung—as a process of cultural and intellectual self-formation—served to position philosophy as the master discipline, distinct from mythology, religion, and poetry. Hegel’s engagement with these forms of cultural production is analysed as part of his broader project of philosophical demarcation, most notably reflected in his critique of Georg Friedrich Creuzer’s interdisciplinary methodology in the Symbolik. The chapter situates Hegel’s conceptualization of Bildung within the Humboldtian educational reforms and broader nationalist currents of the early nineteenth century. It examines how Hegel’s interpretation of Greek culture and philosophy was mediated by the institutional dynamics of the German University, which shaped his distinction between explicit philosophical thought and representational forms like mythology. Drawing on Fleck’s framework, the chapter demonstrates that Hegel’s reconstruction of Greek thought reflects both the constraints and opportunities afforded by competing academic disciplines and thought collectives, including German Idealism and neo-humanist philology. By integrating Fleckian, Foucauldian, and Bourdieusian approaches, the chapter reveals the interplay between Hegel’s thought and the institutional forces shaping it. Ultimately, Hegel’s strategic positioning of philosophy as an autonomous Wissenschaft, capable of subsuming and redefining other disciplines, emerges as a product of his engagement with the cultural, political, and academic transformations of his time.