On 26 April Maarten Doorman delivered his inaugural speech at the Faculty of Humanities of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in his new position as professor by special appointment (Cultural History of Germany: Philosophy, Arts and Literature) for DIA (Germany Institute Amsterdam). The title of his speech was: Bildung in het labyrint van de romantiek (Bildung in romanticism’s labyrinth).
The speech discusses the origins of the contemporary buzzword ‘Bildung’ and shows how Bildung, also in the time of Wilhelm von Humboldt, implies not only Rousseau’s ideal of personal self-realization but also a social attitude, which can make it an inclusive concept instead of elitist interpretations.