Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Early Life

• Born on June 28th, 1712 in Geneva
• Moved to Paris in 1742
• Early writing - man is essentially good
• - a noble savage when
  in the state of
• nature
  
• - good people are made
  unhappy and
• corrupt by their
  experiences in society
• - society is artificial
  and corrupt
• - the furthering of
  society results in the
• continued unhappiness
  of man
• - works include The
  Social Contract, Èmile and
• The Confessions

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The Social Contract

• Political theory, published in 1762
• Man is born free, and he is everywhere in
  chains
• All citizens must participate in the general
  will (the common good or public interest)
• Sovereign the grouping of all citizens
• Private ambitions should not be put first
• Liberty, equality, and fraternity products of
  the general will

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Émile

• Published in 1762 focussed on education
• Divided into five books
• Children are naturally good innocent,
  vulnerable, slow to mature, and are entitled to
  freedom and happiness
• Education must be individualized every mind
  has its own form
• Environment an important aspect in education
  the more it could be controlled, the more
  effective could be the education
• The child should remain in complete ignorance of
  those ideas which are beyond his/her grasp
• People should not rely on the authority of the
  teacher discovery learning
• John Darling, 1994 Child-Centered Education
  and its Critics- argues that the history of
  child- centred educational theory is a series of
  footnotes to Rousseau
• Controversial work - religion
  

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The Confessions

• Wanted to present a self-portrait that is in
  every way true to nature and that hides nothing
• Describes his family and recalls his childhood
  experiences
• Revelatory experience at age 11 beaten by an
  adored female nanny
• Focuses on personal trials, unrequited loves and
  sexual frustrations
• Concludes The Confessions in 1765
• Acts as a means of explaining and justifying the
  views and personality of Rousseaus adult self
• Emphasis is on the effects of childhood
  experiences on adulthood