A challenge to self-education: The purpose and potential of a database annotating works of art for adults who are existential exemplars for children

ABSTRACT

How can an open access database annotating pictures, films, music and texts support adults as existential exemplars? This article explores the opportunities of a Norwegian database called the OE-database. Its target group is all adults who want to become better exemplars for children through encounters with art and conversations in small groups. Educational sources contain many annotations of art and literature for the education of children and youth, but material for adults’ self-education, published in databases and thus easily accessible for all, are lacking. The article invites readers to a critical conversation on the purpose and potential of the OE-database and to create similar databases in other languages. The narratives that provide the foundation of the OE-database are influenced by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Søren Kierkegaard. The article highlights Kierkegaard’s concept ‘upbuilding’ (edification) and three stages in a process that encourage adults to let themselves be ‘built up’ as exemplars.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational humanities
• existential exemplarity
• upbuilding (edification)
• Kierkegaard
• databases

An open access database in the Norwegian language uses Søren Kierkegaard’s challenging concept ‘upbuilding’ (edification) as a model for self-education of adults. The title of the database is Oppbyggelige eksempler for voksne som er nær barn¹ (Upbuilding or edifying examples for adults close to children). It contains annotations of works of art: pictures, films, music, and texts. Each of the included works in the database ‘may initiate conversations between adults who are exemplars for children’ (OE, 2013). Thus begins the home page of the OE-database, which from its start in 2013 has had around 61,000 views. The ongoing process of adding new annotations has been rather slow, and the use of the database has not yet been systematically evaluated. This article does not examine how it has been used. The database is instead studied like an artwork. It is explored for its future possibilities to interact with the reader. ‘What is convincing though impossible should always be preferred to what is possible and unconvincing’ (Aristotle, 1932, Poetics 1460a27). This article invites readers to imagine how the database can be used, to evaluate its purpose and potential, to consider how it could be improved, and eventually to envisage how similar and better databases could be created in other languages.

A challenge to self-education for all adults

Many educators and researchers have been concerned with possible improvements in the moral and character education of children and young people (K. Bohlin, 2005; D’Olimpio et al., 2023; Damon et al., 2018; Walker, 2020). Usually the focus has been on what teachers and schools can do within formal education, but a challenge to parents has been included as well (Carr & Harrison, 2015). The OE-database does not propose material and methods for the education of children and youth. It challenges adults to ‘self-education’ (sich-erziehen), a process of keeping oneself open to what is alien and other, in order ‘to become at home in it’ (Gadamer, as cited in Cleary & Hogan, 2001, p. 526). Important philosophical and literary texts can contribute to character education in universities by a dialogical approach (Brooks et al., 2022). The OE-database can be used in universities as well, but addresses not only those who are students. Some have discussed moral and character self-education of all adults (Curzer, 2002; MacIntyre, 1999). The OE-database follows this up by fleshing out one possible route for all adults who are close to children—in formal as well as informal settings. It is not the way, but it seems to be a unique and desirable supplement. So far, I have not found other databases that address what all adults can do to improve as exemplars for children through experience of, reflection on and conversation about selected works of art.

The proposed methods of study are encounters with art and conversations in small groups. However, it matters both what we study and how. The OE-database is inspired by ideas from Aristotle about the the good life, ideas from Thomas Aquinas about how Aristotelian moral virtues and moral wisdom (prudence) can be part of unconditional love (charity) (Aquinas, 2018, Part 2–2), and the track is topped by Søren Kierkegaard’s discourses on the impossible possibility of being ‘built up’ in love (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, 1847/1995). As a project in educational humanities, it has roots both in Continental Allgemeine Pädagogik (‘general pedagogic’)² and in Anglophone philosophy of education. The project is Not for profit (Nussbaum, 2010), and it encourages adults to think for themselves in a concerned way.

The older generation necessarily present a form of life to the younger generation (Mollenhauer, 1983/2014; Schleiermacher, 1826/2000, p. 9). Therefore, all adults, all who are grown up and ‘mature’ (adultus) have a responsibility for those who are growing up—‘growing towards maturity’ (adolecentem). Adults ought to be ‘exemplars’ that help adolescents to arrive at an articulate conception of what they value and want to strive towards, and help the young to ‘find realistic means (“fulfillable duties”) to that end’ (Kristjánsson, 2007, p. 102).

Existential exemplars and role models

The database should help adults to improve as ‘existential exemplars’: persons who present to children ‘what it means to be a human being and to be a human being with and for others’ (Vos, 2018, p. 23). Even ordinary people living ordinary lives can be exemplars, when they point beyond themselves and humbly acknowledge their shortcomings and sins, striving ‘for the ideal self in his or her own particular existence’ (p. 25). An ‘existential exemplar’ is not the same as a ‘role model’. Here the aim is not to assist persons with the balance between one’s uniqueness (individuality) and social belonging (one’s social self), in order to find a role that can be understood ‘in terms of the person’s social context—the environment within which his or her identity unfolds or is operationalized’ (Mollenhauer, 1983/2014, p. 179, note 1). What matters here is the problems that I have with myself (and not with my roles)—the painful difference between how I am now and how I want to be. It is this discord that can activate a lifelong Bildung and edification of myself as a human being. And it is never too late. At the end of an unsuccessful life, overwhelmed by Solveig’s constant love, Peer Gynt has to ask: ‘Tell me, then—where was my real self,/Complete and true—the Peer who bore/The stamp of God upon his brow?’ (Ibsen, 1867/1921, Act V, xi, p. 240).

Unlike hegemonic trends, the project avoids a one-sided focus on performance and outward success. The novel Hard Times by Dickens (1854/1989) is, like Peer Gynt, one of the examples in the OE-database. Dickens’ text challenges us to judge how we rate ourselves against Thomas Gradgrind, who is a father and a school owner. He learns in the end that ‘the wisdom of the Head’ is not ‘all-sufficient’. ‘There is a wisdom of the Heart’ as well (p. 297).

The article explores how the database can help us adults to be built up in unconditional love, and in this way improve as existential exemplars for the children who live together with us. In the following sections, I sketch how the database has been created and edited, exemplify how it can be used, explain the point of writing in English about a Norwegian database, outline a salient feature of deliberative studies that is relevant to the development of databases that annotate works of art, refer to existing annotations of art and literature in educational sources, and give reasons for publishing such annotations in a database. The main sections study the purpose and potential of the database—the narratives that provide the foundation of it, where Kierkegaard’s concept of ‘upbuilding’ is the top criterion for the selection of works of art, and three stages provide a model for an edifying education of ourselves. Finally, I sketch how it can be used with different groups, and compare intentions behind the database with some realities.

The creation and edition of the OE-database

At NLA University College in Bergen, Norway, encounters with artworks have been part of the curriculum in Foundations of Education Studies from around 1995; examples have been films like L’enfant sauvage/The wild child (Truffaut, 1970) and Smultronstället/Wild strawberries (Bergman, 1957/1995), and texts like Davita’s harp (Potok, 1985) and ‘Winter oak’ (Nagibin, 1953/1986). The idea of annotating similar works of art in a database was launched and explained in an article, which discusses criteria for the selection of artworks and how the selected works could be studied (Wivestad, 2013). On this basis, a research group of three academic colleagues and a computer specialist began to develop the content and structure of the database. The work was done within their ordinary duties at the institution. There was no external funding, and they chose the ‘Joomla content management system’, which is free to download and use. The article mentioned above gave arguments for including pictures, films and novels. Reasons for including musical works were particularly discussed (p. 524–526). In June 2013, access to the database was opened, even if some of its categories were without content.

During the following years, the editorial board was expanded. The group of ‘gatekeepers’ or editors now consists of seven persons: one is working as an HR-advisor, six have academic positions, four as professor. The editors have research competence within education, philosophy, theology, intercultural studies, art and music. Before an annotation is included in the database, it is discussed and amended by the editors, who meet twice a year.

The establishment of the OE-database was inspired by a database created in 1993 at the New York University School of Medicine (Literature, arts and medicine database, 1993/2022). Its ultimate aim was to foster humane medical care through the study of arts and literature, and to ‘develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy, and self-reflection’ (Tomasulo, 2006). In April 2023 this database contained 178 Visual Art Annotations, 2966 Literature Annotations, and 298 Performing Art Annotations. For comparison, in April 2023, the OE-database had annotations of only 7 pictures, 21 texts, 18 films, and 10 musical works. Now, you are invited to go to oppbyggeligeeksempler.no for a short ‘guided tour’ that may exemplify how the OE-database can be used.

A possible use of the database

Imagine that you are leading a seminar group of teacher educators. Today’s topic is the relationship between the teacher and different children in a class. How do we react when we are disappointed with a child? If you want to start the seminar with some instrumental music, in the left menu you could go to Music (Musikk), and the Annotations (Beskrivelser) of music. One example could be the Adagio from Bach’s Concerto for two violins. It is tagged with the theme Dialogue (Dialog). In order to search for other relevant artworks for the seminar, you could use the search function (Søk). In the list of 38 defined Themes (Temaer), Justice (Rettferdighet) is defined as an attitude, which ‘establishes a good relation between others and yourself through just actions, where you do what you ought to do towards others.’ If you click on this theme, you’ll be directed to 10 examples in the database that are tagged with this theme. One of them is Rembrandt’s picture of two brothers and their father. If you decide to use this, you could prepare for the conversation by reading the reflections of Henri Nouwen, a book mentioned under Access and references (Tilgang og referanser). See as well under Supplementary artworks (Supplerende kunstverk), the film by Franco Zeffirelli and the reference to David Carr’s annotation of the episode in the film, where the story of the two sons is re-enacted in the house of the tax collector Matthew—with Simon Peter listening on the doorstep.

A plan for the seminar could be like this: Recall the theme for the seminar. Start with music without any comments. Present the picture on a screen via the link in the annotation. First, you could ask the participants to study the painting for some minutes, and in groups of two describe details in the picture to each other (light and darkness, colours, and form). The second step could be to encourage the pairs to converse about how they interpret the picture (the painted figures and their attitudes to each other). In the third step, the pairs could be asked to evaluate the picture (‘Does this mean anything to you?’) Then the whole group could converse over the picture. If the story behind the picture is unknown, it could be read aloud by one of the participants, or you could watch the episode (around 6 minutes) from Zeffireli’s film. Issues for the dialogue: What questions are posed by the painting? What does it mean ‘to come home’? Can we imagine what the people in the painting think and feel? Are we in some ways similar to them? If you come from a family with more than one child, what is your birth order? How do you react when you experience neglect, rejections, or bad manners? If someone has offended or disappointed you, how do you respond to that person? And, as the participants in the seminar group are teacher educators, how would you describe the relationship between you and your teacher students, who in their turn will establish relationships between themselves and the children? Have you experienced feelings of haughtiness, inferiority, envy, or hatred in the relationship? What can we do?

Writing in English about a database in Norwegian

Human beings are ‘necessarily exposed to language, which is to say to particular languages in particular places at particular times: we are marked by the signs of what has gone before’ (Standish, 2009, p. 41). The annotated works of art in the database belong partly to the Norwegian national tradition and partly to other traditions. This article invites people from other countries to criticise the database and eventually create similar and better databases in their own languages with examples from their respective traditions. Human culture as a collective memory and repository would be impoverished if the many national languages and cultures were neglected and forgotten (Ackermans, 2020, p. 7). Scandinavians read Norwegian, but a potential Swedish or Danish database would include other works. However, some works of art ought perhaps to be included in any similar database across the national borders, for example, Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt and Paul Dukas’ L’Apprenti sorcier (The sorcerer’s apprentice) and Disney’s brilliant use of the latter work in Fantasia (Disney, 1999).

The OE-database as a humanities project

Studies in the humanities explore ‘forms of human existence’ (‘Standards for humanities-oriented research,’ 2009, p. 481), often in an open and disciplined search for alternatives ‘which contrast with and challenge conventional educational understandings and practices’ (Burbules & Warnick, 2006, p. 497). It may be relevant to search for something valuable, unique, and different from common studies. Elliot W. Eisner, who was both a painter and an educational researcher, described the making of art as ‘a halting and exploratory effort to give form to a vision’ (Eisner, 1979, p. 135). This programme can be applied both to the creation of art and to the creation of studies of art. Such studies may be fashioned as an Aristotelian deliberation process by which ‘practical thought articulates a general good that we wish for and focuses it on a particular action it is in our power to do, thereby producing in us a desire to do this thing’ (Burnyeat, 1980, p. 82). Applied to the OE-database, the task of practical thought will be to articulate our wish that all adults close to children should improve as ‘existential exemplars’ (a general good argued for in the introduction to this article), to deliberate how studies of arts and literature could contribute to the formation of exemplars (this possible action is discussed below), and to inquire how a database could encourage (not ‘produce’!) a desire in different groups of adults to select and study relevant works.

Kathleen M. Quinlan (2021) documents a great interest within ‘medical humanities’ in preparing medical doctors for their vocation. She proposes that this should inspire a similar effort in ‘educational humanities’, underlining the importance of arts and literature studies in the education of educators: ‘An integrated educational humanities could, like the medical humanities, emphasise arts and literature in service of moral reasoning, multiculturalism, critical thinking, empathy and self-awareness’ (p. 756).

Annotations of artworks and the need for databases

Quinlan (2021, p. 766, note 2) did, however, not find much literature on ‘educational humanities’. This is surprising, as artworks have been described and discussed in educational contexts for a long time. In Anglo-American studies of education, for example, works of Charles Dickens are important (Manning, 1959/2019). A search in the Journal of Philosophy of Education identified nine articles, that give reference to the critique of utilitarian educators in Hard Times (Dickens, 1854/1989). In Journal of Moral Education there are six references to this work. Both these journals have many references to works of authors like Shakespeare and Jane Austen. David Carr’s (2005) article ‘On the contribution of literature and the arts to the educational cultivation of moral virtue, feeling and emotion’ is a programme for educational humanities.

Narratives in arts and literature seem to be important in an increasing number of relatively recent studies, which discuss the upbringing and formation of human beings. An anthology from a conference in 2018, Educating character through the arts (D’Olimpio et al., 2023) can be recommended as a key to further inquiries. I will also mention some other sources: (Arcilla, 2020; Bakhurst, 2018; Gibbs, 2019; Guttesen & Kristjánsson, 2022; Kristjánsson, 2016). However, such sources may be difficult to find. For people not connected to universities, relevant sources are also expensive to access. Annotations of pictures, films, music, and texts in an open access database makes it easier for all to get an overview, and to search for works that can be relevant in a group’s conversations. Most articles and books are one-off publications, while a database is ‘an ongoing publication’ (Ackermans, 2020, p. 12). That may increase its relevance, but is at the same time demanding, as it requires many people to cooperate over a long time.

The purpose of the OE-database

There is a narrative inherent in all databases. ‘The reasons why certain works are included and others are not can be ontological, social, or practical, nevertheless they construct and perpetuate a narrative about the field of electronic literature as a whole’ (Ackermans, 2020, p. 8). The target group of the OE-database is defined as adults who want to become better exemplars for the children close to them, i.e., parents, grandparents, preservice teachers, persons working in kindergarten and schools, and leaders of children and youth in leisure activities (OE, 2013, Hvem (Who)). Either conscious of it or not, all adults have a responsibility for the form of life that they present to the new generation—by the organization of production and leisure, through media and in the culture as a whole. Mollenhauer (1983/2014, p. 9) contends: ‘the task of upbringing and Bildung always has to do with the culture as a whole, and the social structures that are part of it.’ Given this task, what characterizes a good exemplar? The answers will be open for discussion in the same way as answers to the question about what it is to live a good life. The database supports adults close to children to educate themselves by asking: How do we actually ‘ex-sist’ or ‘stand forth’ (Harper, 2022, existence) as human beings by now, and how should we exist as exemplars?

The Norwegian parliament has decided that ‘our values will remain our Christian and humanist heritage’ (Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, 1814/2022, Article 2). This can be interpreted in many ways. In the legislation for kindergarten and schools the highlighted values are ‘respect for human dignity and nature, … intellectual freedom [åndsfrihet],³ charity, forgiveness, equality and solidarity’ (Education act, 2020). The OE-database endorses these official values by tagging annotations with themes for conversation that include respect, charity (unconditional love), forgiveness, and solidarity. However, such values tend to be trumped by insistence on gaining technological knowledge, mastering skills and obtaining market success as the real guiding principles underpinning living a good life (Donskis et al., 2020). Representing a counterculture to a one-sided race for competence, the OE-database understands life as an undeserved gift, a gift we can receive, enjoy and share—living meaningful and imperfect lives here and now—as well as struggling with hindrances and keeping ourselves open to learn how a perfect life could be possible. Secular thinking criticises traditions and habits, seeking liberation from constraining bonds. That is necessary, but is it sufficient? From a ‘post-secular’ position one could ask if ‘an uncertain future, … requires acts of human commitment embodying ultimate concerns’ (Lewin, 2017, p. 4).

The Aristotelian narrative inherent in the database presupposes that the child, in order to live a good life, must choose to follow good exemplars, adults whose manner and actions are governed by moral wisdom. The adults give the children options for such a choice through their own struggle to do good and avoid evil. Children learn through mimesis, emulation, when they let ‘the other live’ in themselves (Scaramuzzo, 2016, p. 249) and express themselves in creative ways. Even if they can become good persons in spite of bad circumstances, it is our duty as adults to give them the option of choosing to emulate good things and to refrain from bad things ‘right from early youth’—hoping that they ‘find enjoyment or pain in the right things: for this is the correct education’ [paideia] (Aristotle, 1985, Nicomachean ethics 1104b12). If an adult lives earnestly, passionately, and patiently in the struggle with oneself, the adult is a good exemplar, even when the adult fails and has to ask for forgiveness. Adults also have to face situations where the child’s choice may be harmful to the child. Here the Aristotelian narrative needs a supplement.

Thomas Aquinas and Søren Kierkegaard emphasize that all our actions should be guided by unconditional love or charity. This implies loving both oneself and one’s neighbour with the same love that God has for all (Aquinas, 2018, Part 2–2, Question 25, Article 4–6 and 8). There ought to be a bond of love between adults and children, a mutual relation that remains despite discord and differences that arise between them. Such love ‘will, if possible, unite those who are most different from each other in the essential truth’ (Kierkegaard, 1848/2010, p. 455).⁴ For the child, ‘what is crucial in order for one’s desires to be transformed into those of a virtuous person … is that one love and be loved by the moral exemplar set before one’ (Herdt, 2008, p. 28). Good upbringing ought to be ‘exercised within a broader context of trust and care’ (p. 28). This is the responsibility of the adult. Children need adults who love them unconditionally and who practice this love with moral wisdom.

The possibility of improving as existential exemplars

Is it possible for adults to become better exemplars? Can adults with established habits change their manners in a positive direction? Aristotle was skeptical: bad habits are difficult to change. The road to moral virtue and wisdom demands a combined improvement of our feelings, actions, and reasoning, finding the correct balance between what is too much and too little. Ideally, ‘there is only one way, the medial way, to be “correct”: to be inclined to act or feel in the right way, towards the right people, at the right time. But there are a number of ways in which to be “bad”’ (Kristjánsson, 2007, p. 15). An action expressing virtue requires first that the agent knows that the action is virtuous, second, that the agent chooses the action and chooses it for its own sake (as something good in itself), and third, that the action springs from ‘a firm and unchanging state’, the agent being in a stable condition for doing good (Aristotle, 1985, 2002, Nicomachean ethics 1105a33). This is a lifelong challenge for everyone.

Unconditional love is a desire to do good things to those who most need our help, and it should be combined with moral wisdom. Literature and fine arts can open us up to engagement and sensitivity. Art and stories appeal to our feelings. Conversations with other adults after studying a picture, a film, a musical work, or a text may help us to clarify what can be reasonably good actions in specific situations—how adults should be, and how they should not be, in their relationship with children. The database helps groups of adults to choose relevant works of art and to select themes for conversation. However, this will only be a starting point for adults who want to become better exemplars. Engaged reflections are important, but one cannot ‘become morally virtuous by thinking rightly about the good—only by doing as one should’ (Rose, 2015, p. 57). And as ‘our intellectual errors are often … rooted in our moral errors’ (MacIntyre, 1999, p. 96), we will continually need specific corrections from close friends, family, or workmates. The higher our ideals are, the more we need to ask those close to us for forgiveness.

Some persons reveal virtue in a way that fills us with awe. Their exemplarity is connected to something that transcends normal expectations. Kristjánsson notices here the possibility of ‘a transcendent anchorage of morality … without the need for any god(s)’ (Kristjánsson, 2020, p. 158). He draws a parallel to Maslow’s ‘peak experiences’ and contends that in an education for flourishing, which goes beyond education for character, teachers ought to ‘expose students to examples of ideals, from great works of literature, the arts, religious and secular texts, etc., hoping that by feeding on such a diet, they will grow the relevant emotional disposition’ (p. 159). Kristjánsson is primarily concerned about the education of students (children and youth), but the recommendation of great works of art is relevant in the self-education of adults as well.

Much literature and fine art demonstrates adult-child interactions that we should learn to avoid. We can reflect on both negative and positive exemplars. Klaus Mollenhauer (1983/2014) refers to many stories in the European cultural tradition of how adults interact with children—in both good and bad ways. Narratives of the children’s Bildsamkeit, their readiness to form themselves as an answer to the call from the adults (p. 65), have a fundamental importance: ‘The entire enterprise of pedagogy is in the final analysis built on and driven by such narratives’ (p. 74). The general potential inherent in stories and examples is beautifully expressed by Iris Murdoch: Literature and art may help us to combine realistic vision with compassion, and may take us out of ourselves, enabling us to transcend “selfish and obsessive limitations of personality” (as cited in Bakhurst, 2018, p. 689).

The OE-database as gate to a garden of ‘upbuilding examples’

The OE-database can be compared to a gateway, leading into a garden of pictures, films, music, and texts. The garden can be described with the words of Jan Amos Comenius, whose vision of education was ‘a small Garden of Eden, full of delights and lovely by-ways and stage-plays and discussions’ (Comenius, 1986, Chapter V 28, p. 65). The signboard on the gate reads ‘Upbuilding examples’. The concept ‘upbuilding’ (edification) is not well known, and may provoke readers who live by a secularization narrative that ‘admits the bare possibility of the transcendent’ (Kitcher, 2014, p. 70), but who do not see the need for religious voices in the public space. What does it signal that an example can ‘build up’? In the following sections I try to clarify Kierkegaard’s concept of upbuilding, mark it off from a modern understanding of Bildung, and outline challenges to self-education related to three stages in the upbuilding.

Kierkegaard’s Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses have been assessed as ‘the keystone’ of his authorship (Perkins, 2003, p. 2) and as particularly relevant in educational contexts (Hall, 2015, p. 499). In his upbuilding or edifying or Christian writings, Kierkegaard interprets the Bible. He does this in a way that is ‘congruent with historic Christianity’, but his vision of life, with Gift, Creation and Love as salient keywords, may ‘speak to those of all faiths and none’ and invite all to a dialogue about what can ‘build us up’ (Pattison, 2010, p. xxvii) ethically and religiously.

Upbuilding and Bildung

Upbuilding can be compared with Bildung (formation), whose roots can be traced back to medieval and baroque mysticism. Wilhelm von Humboldt’s definition of it, as ‘something higher and more inward’ than culture, ‘evokes the ancient mystical tradition according to which man carries in his soul the image of God, after whom he is fashioned, and in which he must cultivate himself’ (Gadamer, 1960/1979, pp. 10‒11). In the Greek New Testament, the verb oikodomein, means to build, i.e., a house, oikos. According to Luke 6:47‒48, Jesus says that ‘everyone who … hears my words and puts them into practice’ is like‘a man building a house’, a house that is ‘well built’. Edification comes from the Latin verb aedificare. It combines a form of ‘to make’ (facere) with aedes, a ‘temple, sanctuary’ (Harper, 2022). In the tradition from Confucius, an edifying experience may be defined as an ‘opportunity to cultivate and exercise excellences and attainments conducive to a good and flourishing human life’ (Kidd, 2023, p. 126). In Works of Love, Kierkegaard endorses Paul’s opinion in 1 Cor. 8:1 that ‘knowledge puffs up, but love [agape] builds up’ (Kierkegaard, 1847/1995, p. 214). Even ‘the most insignificant word, the slightest action with love or in love is upbuilding’, and only when love is present can knowledge contribute to the upbuilding (pp. 214–215). Upbuilding is defined by the love which ‘gives itself and “never seeks its own” … To build up must therefore mean to give oneself to the other’ (Søltoft, 2000, p. 23). Kierkegaard opposed the tradition from Descartes (Kierkegaard, 1849/1980, p. 93) and the modern understanding of Bildung. According to Descartes, the thinking subject was the firm basis, the only foundation to be trusted absolutely. In this tradition ‘education focuses on the relation of the self to the self as a permanent and non-teleological ability of self-edification and self-development. … a paradoxical relation in which the self is interpellated both to affirm and to negate itself’ (Masschelein & Ricken, 2003, p. 148). Such self-edification is problematic, not only if it avoids ‘the question of our being as the question of being-together’ (p. 150). Kierkegaard acknowledges that we can be able to resist some bad propensities which we see in ourselves, but is critical to trust absolutely our own powers: is one really able to ‘overcome oneself by oneself’ (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 319)?

Kierkegaard’s foundation for self-education

For Kierkegaard, the only foundation to be trusted absolutely is unconditional love. It is therefore on the foundation of love that he thinks it is possible to let oneself be built up as a human being. Building up is different from ‘building on’, for instance, ‘building on’ a wing in the house (Kierkegaard, 1847/1995, p. 210). ‘To build up is to erect something from the ground up’ (p. 211). And in the spiritual sense ‘the ground and foundation … is love’ (p. 215). ‘Love builds up by presupposing that love is present in the ground; therefore, love also builds up where, in the human sense, love seems to be lacking’ (p. 219).

Kierkegaard contends that our life is constituted by ‘the contradiction of the temporal and the eternal’ (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 163). We live finite lives, live in time, and this self-understanding presumes the possibility of something that is not finite, something different from time: the eternal. According to Kierkegaard, a relation to the eternal is impossible to escape (Fremstedal, 2022, pp. 67–68). Therefore, in all the changing circumstances of life, we should be oriented towards the eternal, like sailors in stormy weather who by night do not find the course by gazing at the waves, but by looking up to the stars (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 19).

If you posit that God is love and that all human beings are created in the image of God, then you may presuppose unconditional love as a possibility in all persons you encounter. If the other ‘is capable of acting lovingly’, it is possible to ‘love forth’ (Søltoft, 2000, p. 26) something new and good in the other that builds on the foundation that is already there. When love lives in the heart, we listen charitably, regard the other friendly, and include the other in our fellowship and care (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, pp. 60–61). Created in the image of God, we should live in a love relationship with God and all our fellow beings. The reality, however, is that we persistently try to master everything without God—putting ourselves in the center of the world instead of God. The challenge is therefore to avoid that the latter inclination becomes the predominant one. That is not easy.

Three stages in upbuilding

In the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses, Kierkegaard (1843–1844/1990) describes in three stages the self that may be ‘built up’. These stages are related to, but not identical with the well-known aesthetic, ethical and religious stages (Pattison, 2002, p. 37). In the first stage we live naïvely, in the second we are reflecting on our situation in the world, and in the third we reflect on ourself. The stages have connection to the Hegelian triad of ‘immediacy, mediation and spirit’ (Tubbs, 2005, p. 197). Three challenges are connected to these stages: 1. Be aware of being possessed, 2. Struggle with uncertainty and false pride, 3. Be patient in the struggle with yourself.

1. Be aware of being possessed. In the first stage, what builds up is engaged truth led by the dictum ‘Know thyself’: understand the realities of the human condition! For the child it is easy to have an immediate relation to God—a naïve unity with the eternal. The child belongs to God as a ‘legitimate possession’ (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 167). Growing older, the human soul desires the world and its pleasures—the external, temporal and imperfect. And in our strivings to possess the world, we are possessed by the world. ‘The world can be possessed only by its possessing me … for when a person only wants to be external, secular, temporal, then are the world and temporality unconditionally more powerful than he’ (pp. 164–165). If we let ourselves be possessed by the world, we contradict the eternal possibility in the soul. Therefore, the soul, which has lost its pre-reflective unity with the eternal, finds itself in a situation of uncertainty, anxiety and doubt. We will be tempted to drown such feelings in entertainment or try to ignore the negative feelings by moving restlessly to ever new positions in our thinking. The challenge in the second stage is to

2. Struggle with uncertainty and false pride. When we reflect on our situation in the world, we must admit that the results of all our efforts are uncertain. Accepting reality implies admitting that even the best side of ourselves and our best abilities are imperfect. Even when everything in our world seems to be ‘in tune’, it may be contended metaphorically that ‘the sun is eclipsed by the moon’ (Waters, 1982). If life is a gift from above, we are challenged to struggle with ourselves against idolization of our own potential and accomplishments. False pride occurs when the person himself wants to be something, instead of gaining everything as a gift of God—‘there is truly only one eternal object of wonder—that is God—and only one possible hindrance to wonder—and that is a person when he himself wants to be something’ (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 226). Doubt in oneself and one’s own doubt is necessary to resist false pride (p. 137), to keep oneself open to engagement with the existential questions, and to see that only the Creator can give us the condition for receiving the perfect gift of love. ‘Since human fallibility is a core problem, from Kierkegaard’s approach any virtue ethics needs a theological basis that marks the human being’s dependency on God and His forgiveness’ (Vos, 2016, p. 320). Kierkegaard contends that the highest that the human being ‘is able to will … is rarely achieved in this world, because the highest is this: that a person is fully convinced that he himself is capable of nothing, nothing at all’ (Kierkegaard, 1843–1844/1990, p. 307). This is not pessimism. Leonard Cohen (1992) expresses a similar conviction in his Anthem: ‘There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.’ Upbuilding is a lifelong project. The challenge in the third stage is to

3. Be patient in the struggle with yourself. Patience implies a struggle to stay in the loving relationship with God and one’s fellow beings, letting oneself be built up in love as a gift from above and sharing this gift with others—without conditions. This is not without risks in a world of ‘selfishness, greed, nepotism, xenophobia, tribalism and paranoia’ (Ebert, 2000).

Criteria for the selection of artworks to the database

The three stages can be used as a model for self-education, and function also as criteria for the ‘gatekeepers’ (the editors of the database) when they select upbuilding works of art. First, the point of an upbuilding example is to be a ‘mirror’ that helps us to get a true, realistic understanding of ourselves and our situation in the world. Second, an upbuilding example should help us to avoid false pride and to keep us open for receiving life as a good and undeserved gift of love. Third, an upbuilding example should help us to pass on to others the love that we have received—pass it on without conditions or expectations of getting something in return—it should help us to face the risks and to regard others without hatred, envy, and egoistic calculation.

As supplements to the upbuilding criteria, other criteria can also help us to select good works of art. Following John Dewey, we should look for a work’s potential to let the audience feel ‘joy and uplift’ (Kitcher, 2022, p. 260) and to its epistemic capacity to ‘unsettle habitual ways of thinking’ (p. 262). For the education of the heart, Karen Bohlin recommends a selection or works that are ‘moving’, ‘meaningful’, and ‘memorable’—and works that have the ability to ‘evoke awe or wonder’ (K. E. Bohlin, 2023, p. 143). In addition, the database should be open to include classical works from all ages as well as works with a broad popular appeal.

Using the database with different groups

Examples can of course be studied individually, but conversations with other adults in a small group may bring about fruitful exchanges of personal experiences and reflections connected to the selected work of art. This has worked well in informal reading groups for many years (Long, 2004). The database may therefore be used by reading groups, film screening groups and art groups. The reading of annotations will help the participants in a group to propose works of art that they want to study. And the open database also facilitates that leadership functions can be taken on by turns.

In teacher education, the class may be divided into several small groups. Each group could be asked to choose a work from the database, study it and present some of their observations and reflections to the class. This could also be done in courses for parents who bring a child to baptism, in parenting classes at health centers, and in courses for leaders of children and youth within sports, congregations and other voluntary organizations. In groups where it is possible to define compulsory tasks, systematic individual log writing after conversations in the groups could be the primary source for writing a reflection paper at the end of the teaching (Borgen & Reindal, 2020, pp. 179‒180).

Intentions and realities

In the left menu of the OE-database there are categories for Pictures (Bilder), Films (Filmer), etc. One category that could have been added here is games. Online games engage many in the young adult generation; and games, like films, can give insight into the human condition and help us to understand what is going on in the human soul (Rusch, 2009). Gaming can also function as practice in making moral decisions (Cawston & Wildman, 2023). An example is This war of mine (Włosek, 2014), where the characters in a besieged fictional city have to make difficult decisions in order to survive everyday dangers. An article in Journal of Moral Education presents a broad overview of and annotations of video games that can be relevant in a moral education curriculum (Schrier, 2015, pp. 408‒416).

Within the categories, the Annotations (Beskrivelser) are ordered alphabetically after the surname of the painters, directors etc. Searching for a film, it is easier to remember the title than the director. There is no option for browsing titles, but in the free Search (Søk) option it is possible to look for titles of artworks and everything else in the database. In the search option, a list of 38 defined Themes (Temaer) for conversation are used in the tagging of all the annotations. Are all these themes relevant? Should the list have been longer? A study from 2014 within 75 nations found that ‘the most highly endorsed character traits across nationalities’ were ‘honesty, fairness, kindness, judgment and curiosity’ (Kristjánsson, 2015, p. 69). The database menu News (NYHETER), identifies the most frequently used annotation tags as Kindness (Godhet) and Charity (Ubetinget kjærlighet). Fairness (Rettferdighet) and judgment (Moralsk visdom) are used as well, but curiosity is lacking. Perhaps Wonder, Righteous indignation and Honesty should be added to the list of themes.

Concluding remarks

The OE-database is a starting point for adults who want to improve as existential exemplars for children and embark on a process that opens for being built up as a human being. I have tried to show the potential of this database within ‘educational humanities’, and have encouraged the establishment of similar databases. For some, the focus may be on secular moral and political education, but artworks that challenge us to wonder and awe can lead to ‘post-secular’ (Lewin, 2017) existential moments as well. In order to be useful in formal as well as informal settings, an open access database is needed with specified criteria for the inclusion of artworks. The OE-database selects works that may contribute to an upbuilding or edification in unconditional love and moral wisdom. Other criteria have a supplementary function. The project can still be improved and expanded, and hopefully be more used in the future by groups of adults who want to educate themselves as existential exemplars. However, ‘attempts at virtue development would be futile if they did not issue in some explicit changes in conduct’ (Kristjánsson, 2015, p. 76). Each tree is known by its own fruit (Luke 6:44). I think it is important to study how the database is actually used by different types of groups, but a focus on outcomes can contradict the idea of upbuilding in love and wisdom. It is easy to become obsessed by the chase for honor and power that dominates modern market-oriented academia. The database ‘scatters seed on the ground’, and one may trust that ‘the seed sprouts and grows’ even while the sower is sleeping (Mark 4:26‒28).

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge that this study has been supported by the research group Education and existence at NLA University College. I have got encouragement and corrections from Paweł Sikora, Lars Gaute Jøssang, Jostein Sæther, Sissel Gerritsen, Anna Bokedal, Eivind Larsen, Jane Kershaw, Roe Fremstedal, Brian Gates and the anonymous JME referees. Thank you very much!

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stein M. Wivestad

Stein M. Wivestad is professor at NLA University College in Norway. His research interests are general pedagogic (Allgemeine Pädagogik), history of educational ideas and education through the arts. He has published articles on education as e-duction and pro-duction, on becoming better human beings, on conditions for upbuilding according to Kierkegaard and on Thomas Aquinas and education. He has also co-authored an article on transhumanist values in light of education.

Notes

1. The database can be accessed by typing oppbyggeligeeksempler.no into any browser. It is referred to here as the OE-database. The left menu has links to Annotations (Beskrivelser) of pictures, films, music, and texts plus a search function (Søk). The top menu has information about Editors (REDAKSJON), Authors/contributors (MEDARBEIDERE) and News (NYHETER). For Google Chrome users with non-Norwegian languages the web page can be automatically translated in some form, probably with misunderstandings.

2. ‘Pedagogic,’ a short form of paidagogike techne, combines three elements: practical abilities in, normative principles for and theoretical studies of paideia, i.e., upbringing and Bildung. ‘Pädagogik ist und bleibt … bis heute Kollektivsingular für das ganze Spektrum der praktischen und theoretischen Beschäftigung mit Erziehung’ (Hügli, 1989, p. 4), whereas the concept of ‘pedagogy’ tends to skip the theoretical element.

3. A better translation of ‘åndsfrihet’ is ‘spiritual freedom’ (ånd = spirit).

4. ‘Kjerlighed, vil … om muligt forene de meest Forskjellige i den væsentlige Sandhed.’