Session Information
17 SES 09, Rousseau and the First Builders of a New Science of the Child. Claimed and Controversial Lineages end 19th – beginning 20th Century
Symposium
Contribution
We have shown in the book De Darwin à Piaget (2009) that if Jean-Jacques Rousseau was until now considered the inventor or the precursor of modern education, the status of godfather was not conferred to him without misunderstanding. His autobiographical works, political, and especially Emile contain contradictions. This is why Jean Starobinski said that "transparency" and "obstacle" coexisted in the work of Rousseau. At the same time, the philosopher clarifies complex issues such as education, and it shows that their solution is impossible. The melancholy is part of that thought. It is surprising that many educators have ignored this pessimism, ignoring crossing the "barrier" of Rousseau and by the Copernicus of education. We would like to take an interest in the "other" Rousseau. Many commentators felt that his writings on education contained a power of destruction. Without considering Emile as a "mystification prolonged" in the words of Alfred Espinas, one can, for example, examine the doubts expressed by the authors of the Dictionnaire de pédagogie et d’instruction primaire (1883, 1911), to understand why, if Emile is essential to think of education, his message is not unequivocal.
Method
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.