In the debate with Dilthey, Simmel and Cassirer, Litt developed an independent approach in cultural philosophy and philosophical anthropology, which was determined by the dialectical view of the relationship between the individual and society, man and the world, reason and life.
Litt identified with the Weimar Republic and, as rector of the University of Leipzig, came into conflict with National Socialism, was banned from lecturing in 1937 and retired early.
After the end of the Second World War, he could not come to terms with the ideology of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and therefore moved to the Universität Bonn, where he founded the Institute for pedagogy.
He then began teacher training in philosophy, history and classical philology (with one semester in Berlin) at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
In 1927, Litt addressed his pedagogical problems in his work Führen oder Wachsenlassen (Leading or Letting Grow).
His rejection of irrational, organological and romantic ideologies as well as his claim to respect for the growing and developing human being led to hostility from the National Socialists.
[2] Nevertheless, Litt is named among the signatories of the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State of 11 November 1933.
Litt nevertheless did not let this stop him from publishing the small paper Der deutsche Geist und das Christentum in 1938.
Litt found great favour among devout Christians, and the relatively large print run was immediately sold out.
Although Litt taught again in 1946, after a lecture on The Significance of Pedagogical Theory for the Training of Teachers in East Berlin he came into conflict with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and took up a professorship in philosophy and education at the Universität Bonn.
In 1962, Litt's last publication, Freiheit und Lebensordnung, was published, which again dealt with his confrontation with totalitarian types of power and their political theories.
As a philosopher, Litt was strongly influenced by the dialectical way of thinking, which was determined by his engagement with Kant and Herder on the one hand and Hegel on the other.
Like Eduard Spranger, Herman Nohl, Wilhelm Flitner and Erich Weniger, he is counted in the camp of the Geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik [de].
Jonas Cohn's book Theorie der Dialektik inspired him to examine problem areas in pedagogy dialectically.
In doing so, he proceeded rationally, contrarily as well as dialectically at the same time and conceived an extensive philosophy of culture (Individual and Community) as well as a philosophical anthropology (Mensch und Welt).
He attempted to bring together the fundamental opposition between cognition and life into an orderly whole by means of an overall view of interpretative ideas.
He defined history as the "overall cultural situation", by which is meant the totality of what people in a community have created through thought, action and production.
Without an ideal design, it aims at the self-forming of the subject in order to come to oneself, by man working his way through to his actual form of existence and thus making himself known.
No educational content may claim general validity for itself, because its relevance is measured against certain life contexts of the respective culture.
Even the most functional family could no longer provide the performance that was still conceivable in the times of Pestalozzi or Diesterweg to enable the adolescent to successfully master everyday life.
The school was constantly taking on new tasks in order to ensure and support the suitability for everyday life and the personal responsibility of the adolescent.
The school should distance itself from the general intellectual and cultural climate so as not to fall into the false belief that it has to react to political controversies.
School has a preserving character because it is able to pass on the "educational solidarity of generations" and is obliged to remain consistent even in times of change.
Understanding and respect should also be important aspects of the educational task at these schools, as these are key points in preventing blatant and massive human rights violations.
The pedagogical effect is decisive for orderly and consistent teaching, which focuses on education for objectivity, work ethic and fulfilment of duty.
In addition, Litt argues in favour of the methodical, because systematic, planned procedures leave no room for misconstructions.
In addition to methodological knowledge, pedagogical theory should be emphasised as a requirement for the teacher, even if it has nothing to do with practical implementation per se.
A good teacher can be recognised by the fact that he or she has the self-control not to take sides, but is able to confront contentious issues and central questions of life on a level of unity.
It is a mistake to deprive pupils of the opportunity to make decisions regarding their personal worldview by trying to take them in early on for that of the educating generation.
In this way, he is also better able to connect the pupils with the objective culture and to act as a mediator between the "I" and the "world", so that the educational process leads via the person to the thing.