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Philosophy of Education:

WORKSHOP XV - Emile (Books iii-iv)

By Don Finkel

Divide up into groups of 4. Each of the 4 should be from a different seminar group insofar as possible. Select a scribe to record your conclusions and to keep track of time.

I. (15 minutes)

1. Rousseau is a developmentalist, perhaps the first. He urges the tutor to alter his approach as the child moves from one stage of development to the next. Each of the 4 books we are looking at corresponds to a different stage. Therefore his advice at any moment must be viewed in the context of that stage.

Thus, for stage 2 (ages 2-12), which (along with stage 1) Rousseau calls 'the most dangerous period of human life, (p. 93) Rousseau urges us 'not to gain time but to lose it. (p. 93). Yet in stage 3 (ages 12-15), Rousseau changes his tune:

During the first age time was long. We sought only to waste it for fear of making bad use of it. Now it is exactly the opposite, and we do not have enough time to do everything which would be useful. ... The peaceful age of intelligence is so short, it passes so rapidly, it has so many other necessary uses ... (p. 172)

From Rousseau's point of view, what makes these two stages so different? What do you think of his contrasting advice about the use of time during these two stages? (5 minutes)

2. During this stage Rousseau shifts from making necessity the great teacher of Emile, to making utility the teacher. The favorite question becomes 'What is that good for?' (p. 179) 'Up to now we have known no law other than that of necessity. Now we are dealing with what is useful. We shall soon get to what is suitable and good.' (p. 167) Rousseau thus presents us with a developmental/pedagogical sequence: the necessary, the useful, the good.

What is it about this third stage that makes utility such a good instructor? Why is utility preceded by necessity in the sequence? Why is it succeeded by goodness? (10 minutes)

II. (55 Minutes)

Your group will be randomly assigned one of the following 4 'lessons' from Book III to work on for this section: astronomy (p. 169 ff.), encounter with the magician (p. 172 bottom and ff.), 'lost in the woods' (p. 180 ff.), and the bent stick (p. 205 ff.).

Before proceeding, however, consider the following:

3. Rousseau says to you, 'The reader does not expect me to despise him so much as to give him an example for every kind of study' (p. 182)

Again, in a footnote, he says, 'But, on the other hand, how many times have I declared that I did not write for people who have to be told everything?' (p. 487, footnote 6)

And again: 'If you have to be told everything, do not read me.' (p. 137)

Aside from the issue of expediency or natural preference of the author in the writing of the book, there is a deeper principle here for those who aspire to be teachers. What is it? Do you agree with it? (10 minutes)

4. Now, as a group, study the 'lesson' that has been assigned to you carefully, and extract the general principles Rousseau is using the example to illustrate. Give a detailed look, and don't stop with just the obvious ones. After the magician example, Rousseau says, 'Each detail of this example is more important than it seems. How many lessons in one' Adopt this spirit for whichever of the cases you are studying. (20 minutes)

5. Now using the principles you have extracted in 4., construct a totally new learning experience for a student in this age range (12-15). Your example should be in the field of economics and be about the topic of money. (Never mind whether Rousseau would consider this a suitable subject.) But it should, as closely as possible, follow all the principles you have outlined above. (25 minutes)

(Everyone should keep a good record of your group's work on this question and the preceding one, for likely discussion in seminar this afternoon.)

BREAK - 15 minutes

III. (1 hour)

We now enter Book IV and stage 4 (ages 15 to 20.).

6 There are three interconnected concepts we need to understand to see the great perils of this stage. They are: weakness, passion, and imagination. Here are some quotes:

'All wickedness comes from weakness. The child is wicked only because he is weak. Make him strong; he will be good.' (p. 67)

'From where does man' s weakness come? From the inequality between his strength and his desires. It is our passions that make us weak, because to satisfy them we would need more strength than nature gives us.' (p. 165, emphasis added).

'Our passions are the principal instruments of our preservation. It is, therefore, an enterprise as vain as it is ridiculous to want to destroy them--it is to control nature, it is to reform the work of God.' (p. 212)

'Our natural passions are very limited. They are the instruments of our freedoms ...' (p. 212)

'... for only by the fire of the imagination are the passions kindled.' (p. 135)

'Nature's instruction is late and slow; men's is almost alway3s premature. In the former case the senses wake the imagination, in the latter the imagination wakes the senses; it gives them a precocious activity which cannot fail to enervate and weaken individuals first and in the long run the species itself.' (p. 215)

Work out the interconnected meanings and relationships for these three concepts. (15 minutes)

7. To understand Rousseau's ideas regarding this stage, and, in fact, the entire education of Emile, we need to get clear on the tricky and subtle distinction between 'amour de soi' and 'amour-propre.' Both of these French phrases translate as 'self-love,' but Bloom translates only the former as 'self- love' and always leaves the latter untranslated, using the French phrase itself.

Some of the passages in the text where Rousseau discusses these two ideas and their relationship can be found on the following pages:

p. 92 bottom and ff.--see also the useful footnote 17 on p. 483-4.

p. 212 bottom to top of 213.

p. 213 bottom to top of 214.

p. 252 bottom to top of 253.

See also the helpful discussion by Bloom in the Intro Section.

Using these passages in the text, clarify the two terms and work out the difference and the connection Rousseau sees between them. In the course of doing this work, try to pull in concrete examples of both kinds of self-love from your own personal experience. (20 minutes)

8. As a result of the new challenges heralded by the onset of the passions (puberty) during this stage, Rousseau announces, 'It is therefore time to change method.' (p. 215)

How does Rousseau change method? (15 minutes)

9. Have someone read aloud the final paragraph in quotes on p. 186. Rousseau calls these words 'the specious maxims which guide the false prudence of fathers ...' (p. 187) He concludes: 'To get to know man, how many things must be known before him. Man is the last study of the wise, and you claim to make it a child's first' (p. 187)

Why does Rousseau make this surprising claim? Do you agree? (10 minutes)

CV. (20 minutes)

The whole group will reconvene to discuss and share conclusions from selected parts of the workshop.

2 hours and 45 minutes including break