The Lost Mirror traces cultural patterns in which the interpretation of learning and education was developed against the backdrop of Hebrew thought. The appreciation of learning is deeply rooted in the Hebrew way of thinking. Learning is understood as an open and history-conscious engagement of man with culture. The consciousness of history is shaped by the motif of the unavailability of the other and the difference to this other. This other is traditionally remembered as God, but may also be reflected in the motifs of the other person or the other society. The Lost Mirror reminds us of a deficit, which is that in our everyday thinking and everyday action, we usually hide, forget and partly suppress the meaning and presence of the unavailable other. The book approaches this thinking through portraits of people such as Janusz Korczak, Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, Jean-Francois Lyotard and others.

Ralf Koerrenz is Professor for Historical Education and Global Education at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena. Friederike von Horn teaches at a primary school in Berlin Tempelhof. Ralf Koerrenz ist Professor für Historische Pädagogik und Globale Bildung an der Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena. Er ist ausgewiesener Experte im Bereich der Reformpädagogik. Friederike von Horn lehrt und forscht am Institut für Bildung und Kultur der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena und ist Lehrerin an einer Grundschule in Berlin-Tempelhof.