Wilhelm von Humboldt

Bildung occupies a central place in the humanism that emerges from Wilhelm von Humboldt’s anthropological philosophy. It is through Bildung that individuals can develop their strength, cultivate their inner freedom, and thus forge their individuality. Bildung, as a vector for the realization of human nature, constitutes a universal process that extends to all humanity; it represents the focal point of Humboldt’s humanism, which is reflected in his idea of cosmopolitanism and in his works on politics, comparative anthropology, and linguistics. Can Humboldt’s cosmopolitanism and humanism, as well as his dialogical thought that gradually develops in these fields of study, achieving a synthesis between the speculative and the empirical, remain unchanged in the face of the radical alterity of the non-European? Can the relativism inherited from Herder withstand the extension of Bildung to peoples described as ‘savages’, as a privileged means of a conversion process? The research hypothesis suggests that an analysis of the Essai sur les langues du Nouveau Continent (1812), considered in relation to anthropological and linguistic reflection, can reveal, from within the internal economy of Humboldt’s energetic philosophy, the limits of his cosmopolitanism, the paradoxes of his humanism, the ambivalence of his relativism, and the contradictions inherent in his dialogical thought.