The formation of man in Rousseau's Émile

Abstract

Initially approached as a chapter for a Master's Thesis, the theme of this article concerns the human dimension which Rousseau's educational project seeks to develop. While aiming at the formation of the citizen (an argument developed in the thesis), Rousseau's political and pedagogical plan attempts to include the development of natural talents as proper to the human nature. The article has as its basic source the Geneva-born philosopher's Émile: or, on Education. Also based on his other works compiled under his Oeuvres Complètes, the text seeks to recover the current importance of this theme for education, as well as the relevance of Rousseau's thought for the discussion of the objectives of the formation of modern man and of the principles underlying the formation processes. It emphasizes that the humanization project present in Rousseau's work is of a political nature and, therefore, that it contributes to rethink in our days the educational process and the modes of insertion and participation of man in the social sphere. However, the political action, as well as the pedagogical, must be carried out with the purpose of redimensioning man's natural potentials so that the human nature is not degenerated, ignored, or even "thingified". In this sense, to construct meanings for human existence and to think the best way of participation in the social sphere should be the main concerns of each and every political-educational project.