Sullo spirito dell'umanità

The text dates back to the end of that same year and represents the outline of a grand project that was to be divided into three separate works, each dedicated to a single fundamental question of philosophy. Perhaps inspired by Kant's well-known project of the three Critiques, it imagines a different arrangement of the questions and, above all, offers an original interpretation of the meaning and status of philosophical reflection. Unfortunately, Humboldt, whose life was strongly influenced by institutional political activity, was unable to remain faithful to this theoretical program throughout his life. What remains is the following text: a valuable outline which reveals – and this is decisive for us – the primacy that he gives to the theme of Bildung at the theoretical level, also with a view to a general study of man.