This paper questions and offers possible modifications to Hans-Christoph Koller's Theory of Transformational Education Processes, as developed by him in his study Bildung and the differend (1999). This occurs by confronting Koller's systematic reflections on the theory of Bildung with Jean-François Lyotard's philosophy of the differend which represents the backdrop to the philosophy of language in Koller's reformulation of Bildung. Proceeding from both philologically and systematically

more »

... ed reasons for the immanence of the dimensions of subjectivity, society and ethics/politics in Koller's concept of Bildung as a process, Lyotard's works: The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1979) and The Differend: Phrases in Dispute (1983) are first reconstructed along these points of view. The results of this reconstruction are then compared with Koller's reception of Lyotard in the second part of the paper. The underlying thesis behind this procedure is that the potential of linking Koller's concept of Bildung with an ethical-political definition on the one hand, and with a dimension of social criticism on the other, is not exploited to the extent it sets out to achieve and which would be quite possible by taking recourse to Lyotard's philosophy of the differend. Last but not least, due to the risk that Koller's concept of Bildung could be functionally misunderstood, an attempt is made to refer to potential benefits of re-reading Lyotard in order to develop the implications of ethics and politics, and – above all – social criticism in a Theory of Transformational Education Processes.