Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Emile
Unavailable
Emile
Unavailable
Emile
Ebook788 pages23 hours

Emile

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

Emile is a treatise on the nature of education and on the nature of man written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who considered it to be the "best and most important of all my writings". Due to a section of the book entitled "Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar," Emile was banned in Paris and Geneva and was publicly burned in 1762, the year of its first publication. During the French Revolution, Emile served as the inspiration for what became a new national system of education.

The work tackles fundamental political and philosophical questions about the relationship between the individual and society— how, in particular, the individual might retain what Rousseau saw as innate human goodness while remaining part of a corrupting collectivity. Its opening sentence: "Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man."

Rousseau seeks to describe a system of education that would enable the natural man he identifies in The Social Contract to survive corrupt society He employs the novelistic device of Emile and his tutor to illustrate how such an ideal citizen might be educated. Emile is scarcely a detailed parenting guide but it does contain some specific advice on raising children.[5] It is regarded by some as the first philosophy of education in Western culture to have a serious claim to completeness
LanguageEnglish
PublisherBookRix
Release dateJun 14, 2019
ISBN9783736804722
Unavailable
Emile
Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was one of the leading figures of the French Enlightenment. The author of popular novels such as Emile, or On Education (1762), he achieved immortality with the publication of philosophical treatises such as The Social Contract (1762) and A Discourse on Inequality (1754). His ideas would serve as the bedrock for leaders of both the American and French Revolutions.

Read more from Jean Jacques Rousseau

Related to Emile

Related ebooks

Philosophy For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Emile

Rating: 3.484496201550388 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

129 ratings7 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    En este libro se aprecian varios estilos literarios, desde el sermón preconciliar a la novelita rosa, pero destaca sobre todo la matraca de tu cuñado soltero que te dice como tienes que educar a tus hijos. Si aún fuese breve, podría hasta tener su gracia, pero es un ladrillo de un centón de páginas en las que el famoso filósofo, pilar de la civilización occidental, nos demuestra por qué le echaban de cada ciudad en que vivía: por pesado. Un auténtico plasta que he leído por pura fuerza de voluntad. Solo se salva la parte central, la famosa (y, por supuesto hipervalorada) "Profesión de fe del vicario saboyano". Yo creo que esta parte mejora porque no es una ficción literaria, como se suele creer, sino que de verdad es un texto que no ha escrito nuestro inefable padre de la democracia. En fin, entre tanta palabrería de vez en cuando se cuelan algunas gotas de sentido común que evitan que el libro acabe en la papelera.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rosseau really did think that Nature could do anything (capitalisation his not mine) up to and including showing how males and females should grow and be educated. Certainly an understandable desire considering the time he lived. The education of Sophie, Emile's wife, was only a small part of the book and I am thankful as this was my least favourite section and showed its age the most.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tough sledding but worth it. Rousseau is grandfather or even father of historicism, a true revolutionary. Now human history is us making ourselves, we think. My take is in my book Five Paradigms.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Huge "Thought Experiment"

    Rousseau wants to reform the state of the decadent human institutions of his time. And what best place to start with than by educating people to be good citizens? So the philosopher conceives of a thought experiment where he plays the role of a tutor for more than 20 years of a young scholar named Emile. It's through this experience that we start to grasp the scope of his criticisms, and the way he wants to prepare people for the coming of a new order.

    Throughout the text, readers are instilled to think on their own, to come to terms with a new way of thinking Man[kind] from its most profound roots, and how a child must be raised in conformity to nature (his/her nature, as Rousseau conceives it). So the child must be raised free, equal to all others around him/her, and connected to all through bonds of natural fraternity. As Emile grows, the goal starts to become more and more clear, as grows the scope of criticisms and reform proposals.

    Rousseau shows himself as a very passionate writer, one who's not afraid in taking stances about a wide range of issues. The downside of this is that there are some portions of this book (specially Book IV) that are heavily outdated; nonetheless, with a sober hermeneutical attitude, one can somehow overcome these deficiencies to grasp a higher order of meaning underlying the whole of it (including the heavily time/place-specific context).

    With so much to gain from it, this book is must-read, specially if one is interested in philosophy.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The work tackles fundamental political and philosophical questions about the relationship between the individual and society. It discusses how, in particular, the individual might retain what Rousseau saw as innate human goodness while remaining part of a corrupting collectivity. Its opening sentence: “Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man.”Rousseau seeks to describe a system of education that would enable the natural man he identifies in The Social Contract to survive corrupt society. He employs the story of Emile and his tutor to illustrate how such an ideal citizen might be educated. Emile is scarcely a detailed parenting guide but it does contain some specific advice on raising children. It is regarded by some as the first philosophy of education in Western culture to have a serious claim to completeness, as well as being one of the first examples of a Bildungsroman, having preceded Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by more than thirty years.This educational romance by Rousseau describes the up-bringing of the boy, Emile, according to what Rousseau calls the principles of nature. These principles are so extreme as to denigrate the value of civilization, to the detriment of Emile and all who follow Rousseau's principles. This approach does not seem appropriate for modern education.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Eerder losse verzameling van gedachten over alles en nog wat, maar wel met als rode draad de opvoeding van een denkbeeldige jongeling. Zeer verschillend van niveau: soms ronduit traditioneel (vooral in man-vrouwverhouding), preuts (sexuele opvoeding), maar ook vooruitstrevend (zeer kindgericht, opvoeden tot vrijheid, natuurlijkheid en vooral individualiteit). Bij wijlen zeer saai.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book covering Rousseau's educational views. I don't know if I can support everything he suggests. Following his advice could conceivably either result in a genius or someone incapable of the simplest tasks. Some of what he suggests is extreme, some seems like common sense now, it can be hard to realize how radical some of his advice was given the time the book was written in.