ABSTRACT
As freedom played an import role in the education of Leo Tolstoy, he has often been related to the progressive education of A. S. Neill, John Dewey and others. This chapter examines The Death of Ivan Ilyich from an existential perspective. It considers what kind of existential viewpoint might underpin a certain type of Tolstoyan pedagogy, which can be described on the basis of The Death of Ivan Ilyich. The chapter discusses the educational matters in relation to the sufferings and passion of Ivan Ilyich. The educative transition seems to start when he reflects on a syllogism written by Johann Gottfried Kiesewetter; since Julius Caesar is a man, men are mortal, and therefore Caesar is mortal. The task of education would be to awaken feelings of passion, almost pulling the person out of a blunted indifference and further into an existential state of being.
