How to reconcile the needs of the individual with the needs of the community is an enduring problem in the field of educational philosophy. John Dewey, for example, proclaimed the coordination between the individual and social factors as, "the ultimate problem of all education." When evaluating the dynamics of individualism versus the common good, contemporary philosophers might turn to John Dewey, Paulo Freire, Amy Gutman, and others. Many have dismissed Ralph Waldo Emerson and Friedrich Nietzsche, regarding their focus on individualism as incompatible with democratic virtues and the common good. What contemporary philosophers overlook is how Emerson's educational ideas, further developed by Nietzsche, promote individualism as a social exercise easily provided by the public education system. By exploring the pedagogical relationship promoted by Emerson and Nietzsche in this article, David Roof finds balance between fostering individualism and promotion of the common good.