"Emile" Righteousness

The thesis is not the discussion and criticism to the specific educationalproblems of Emile, but the retrospect of the root of Rousseau’s education inaccordance with the guidelines. Before to spend on our way to destination, wemust first have a general overview of the fuzzy contour of target, otherwise, donot look at the road, crossing the river by feeling the stones is easy to flood thedistance what we are full of expectation by the stable step. In accordance withthe internal logic of problem, this paper efforts to clarify Rousseau’s thread ofthought and the influence on later generations, especially on the modern society.First of all, before seting foot in the Emile, we should go to ask who the authorof Emile is. With the tendency to "separation of nature and humanity" and"separation of knowing and doing", there is not too much contact with the lifeand thought of western thinkers, but Rousseau is very special. Because on theone hand, Rousseau’s works and his personality is closely linked extremely, buton the other hand, tracing back to Rousseau’s childhood experience, we can alsofind the origin of contradictions. Rousseau’s disposition came from the family, atthe start of the Confessions, Rousseau described a warm love between theparents and the books he read in childhood in detail, the former shapedRousseau’s tender romance, and this is the trend of the Romantic; the lattercultured Rousseau’s proud and strong heart of justice by some heroic examples.Gentle and strong is a group of opposite temperaments, so future generations hasa split personality say of Rousseau, but, because of the misunderstanding ofcontradiction, we also misread Rousseau’s temperament. In addition to thefamily’s rear, Rousseau was also the birth of Geneva’s strict customs, which isthe Republic ideal in the early years of Rousseau. But as the disposition person,Rousseau is difficult to bear the reality of the setbacks. The failure of teachersfrom his experience and disposal of his five children who were sent to theFoundling Hospital, we will find that the fundamental defect of Romanticism:the rejection of the reality. So, Rousseau’s Confessions on the one hand is todefend his reputation, and on the other hand, it is a living educational text in ashow of the realistic education.Painted the author of Emile, the next question is what the creation of the book is. This issue explores the first thesis of Rousseau: on Science and Art. Obviously,the era of Emile is the era that was condemned by Rousseau in the book of onScience and Art. Rousseau is the first person who puts forward critique ofmodernity by the latter. Rousseau was born in the period of enlightenmentshouting "use your sense bravely", the temporal spiritual atmosphere is a kind ofoptimism unique: the advancement of knowledge will promote the improvementof customs. Enlightenment thinkers believe that the practical application ofscientific achievements should create happiness for human living. However,Rousseau not only pointed out the falsity of the progress, but also uncovered theorigin of the belief which can be traced back to the classical and religious period:the metaphysical basic of life. Shaking the traditional understanding of man,Rousseau also showed the human dignity in an unprecedented way: the dignitythat comes from the man himself rather than external things. But the dignity wascorrupted in the revival of the science and art. So, in the first, Rousseau analyzedthe nature of science. Science and art is born in the evil in humans, they disturbhuman original peaceful happiness. However, it needs to pay attention to thatRousseau is not opposed to science itself, but against the abuse of science. Thisabuse led to six kinds of corrupt: the false of scientific purposes, defiled leisurely,endless luxury, brave spirit away, moral decay and the most fatal for the humansociety: have unequal.In the face of the social corruption, the intention of Rousseau is to educate themasses by Emile. How to enlightenment? In the beginning of Emile, Rousseaubased the education on nature. What is nature? In the second paper, Rousseaudetailed the state of natural human, which is the main basis of negativeeducation adopted by Rousseau in the teaching of Emile. Before the explorationof the specific state of nature, Rousseau clarified the fallacy of human researchfirst, namely, the natural law idea. Hobbes and Montesquieu is the typicalrepresentative of the wrong concept. The former portrays the human naturalstate for all people in war, and the latter has regarded humans who have aninnate social. Rousseau saw the characteristics of these two kinds of ideas thatcontained the non-natural state of people, namely, the fundamental fallacy oftheir study manner. So Rousseau clarifies his anthropological research, whichbreaks through two paradigms that had previously been occupied themainstream: classical and religious. The former grades people on the basis of mind-body dualism; the latter proclaimed the equality of all living creatures, butit is stipulated the evil nature of human beforehand. Rousseau began to study bynatural attitude. In the natural state, the barbarians can meet all the needrelying on their body. So Rousseau paid special attention to physical education ofEmile, he intended to make its strong. On the one hand, he want to reduce thedependence on the outside, on the other hand, he is in order to mental health.Then, Rousseau saw the ability to adapt to the nature gradually of barbarians.He saw the human’s important property: perfectibility. But Rousseau noticed thetwo sides of the perfectibility: it not only can lead to human destruction, but alsocan retain the hope of save human. Rousseau kept the hope of the salvation ofmankind in human natural and universal emotions: pity. At the mercy of above,Rousseau established his seemingly strong moral concept. In the state of nature,everyone is free. However, with the birth of civilized society, bondage can hardlybe avoided. Civilization is a kind of enlightenment, so the birth of civilizedsociety is the birth of education. Rousseau found five key nodes of the progress ofthe civilized society: family and property arised, the birth of private rights, socialand legal appeared, strengthening of political organizations, the corruption ofgovernment. It is not difficult to see that Rousseau’s idea about the civilizedsociety changes: history in a circle.Since civilization is unavoidable to fall into a vicious spiral, the effort is toestablish a new foundation in order to change the social’s evil foundation. Thisnew social standing in Rousseau’s the Social Contract. However, the educationthoughts that contained in the Social Contract and the Emile are very different,even opposite. The former adheres firmly to the civic education, strive to makeevery person attached to this political community; the latter follows the freeeducation to cultivate the free and independent spirit of emile by making a bodyaway from the social education. These two opposing views are consistent in thedirection of the fundamental: Rousseau uses social freedom and legal equalitycondensing out of the general will instead of the natural freedom to preserveindividual freedom and equality. Rousseau also eliminated the later’s view thatthe thought of Rousseau was contradictory. But the highest wisdom that thissociety founded on is a delusion in the world, so the society is discussed just asthe Emile’s appendix. This means that another way--Emile is precious and total:Emile appears as Rousseau’s save road. This salvation achieves not by returning to the state of nature, but by the coordination that conscience inclusion ofcompassion and self love, namely that human nature is good and the evil ofhuman nature. Emil is a barbarian in a society. But this is far from the end ofRousseau’s education, only when Emil’s social life caused collapse, Rousseau’seducation was able to show. Rousseau’s education is to go through hardships.However, this ordeal results in addition to let Emile to regain Rousseau’steaching, more important, the real life is isolated. The farthest isolation is theultimate happiness of Emile: desert island, as Rousseau’s love in his old age inthe forest: lonely. At this point, the righteous cause of Emile has emerged:displaying the miserable fate of life and the weak salvation.In this way, when Rousseau treats education as human salvation, he also showsthe essence of education: comprehend a better life and concern it fearlessly. Thisis Rousseau’s fundamental problem of modern society that shows in Emile: onlyeducation can resist social evil generally. However, compared to the hot researchof Rousseau’s political thought, Emile is like a neglected foundin. The lost ofEmile shows the spirit of the age and the foundation of life: we dependenceexcessively on the politics. People lives by their understanding of life, whichmeans that, fundamentally, the lost of education is the lost of person. In otherwords, Rousseau attempted to save the dignity of the human person, and thatmeans, Rousseau is a thoroughly modern thinker fundamentally. But his plan isfar different from the contemporary thinkers’. As Rousseau opposes not thescience itself but the popularity of science, he objects not the fundamentalpurpose of modernity but the defects in others’ plans of modernity. Rousseaualso pursues the happiness of the world, but his way is not on science which is therepresentative of the progress of knowledge, but on the ancient life thatadvocates virtue which can rebuild modern life. Education is not only theovercoming of others’ modernity scheme, but also the path of Rousseau’smodernity.