Rousseau (1712-1778) was a famous French Enlightenment thinker, philosopher, educator, and writer. He was born in a clockmaker's family in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the ideological pioneer of the French Revolution in the 18th century and the Enlightenment Movement. One of the most outstanding representatives. In philosophy, Rousseau advocated that feeling is the source of knowledge and adhered to the "deism" point of view; he emphasized that human nature is good and faith is higher than reason. In terms of social outlook, Rousseau insisted on the social contract theory and advocated the establishment of the "kingdom of reason" of the bourgeoisie; he advocated freedom and equality and opposed large private ownership and its oppression; he proposed the "theory of natural human rights" and opposed autocracy and tyranny. In terms of education, he advocated that the purpose of education is to cultivate natural persons; he opposed feudal education that harmed and despised children, and demanded that children's status in education be improved; he advocated reforming educational content and methods to conform to children's nature and allow them to develop freely physically and mentally, which reflected The demands of the bourgeoisie and the working people to liberate themselves from feudal despotism. His major works include "On the Origin and Foundation of Human Inequality", "The Social Contract", "Emile", "Confessions", etc.

Love reading

Rousseau was born on June 29, 1712, in a family of watchmakers in Geneva, Switzerland. His father is a watchmaker with superb skills; his mother is the daughter of a pastor, quite smart, dignified and virtuous. His mother died in childbirth giving birth to him. He lost his mother's love at birth and was raised by his father and aunt. His brother, who was 7 years older than him, ran away from home and never returned, and he never had a voice. In this way, he was the only child left in the family.

When Rousseau was sensible, he knew that he had exchanged his mother's life for it. His young heart was very sad, and he felt even more loved by his father. His father had a fondness for reading, a taste which he undoubtedly passed on to him. Rousseau's mother left behind many novels, and his father often read to each other after dinner. Every time he read a volume, he would not stop until it was finished in one sitting. Sometimes he would read all night long, and when his father heard the chirping of the chaffinch in the morning, he would say with embarrassment: "Let's go to bed. I'm even more childish than you." "In this case, Rousseau read day after day, invisibly developing the habit of reading, which gradually enriched and nourished his young mind.

At the age of 7, Rousseau devoured all the books at home. He also went out to borrow books to read, such as "History of the Church and Empire" by Le Sueur, "Lectures on the General History of the World" by Bauschier, "Biography of Famous People" by Plutta, "History of Venice" by Nani, Mori He has read several of the scripts and so on. Due to the exemplary influence of these historical figures and the earnest teachings of his father, Rousseau deeply realized the value of free thought and democratic spirit. He not only has the patriotic blood of his father, but also takes these great people as role models, and even often compares himself to those historical figures in his words and deeds. One day, he was narrating the deeds of Schivara at the table. Everyone present was surprised to see Rousseau step forward, put his hand on the burning fire, and perform Schivara's heroic feat. . This manifestation of precocity and wisdom was the first manifestation of Rousseau's unique talent.

Making a living independently

Rousseau’s happy childhood soon ended. When he was 13 years old, his uncle decided to send him to Mr. Maslon to learn how to be a businessman. Lawyer secretary, I hope he can earn some living expenses. But Rousseau hated this kind of occupation that was only for making money and lacked fun. The trivial chores every day made him dizzy and unbearable. Mr. Maslon also seemed not to like Rousseau very much, often calling him lazy and stupid. Rousseau could not bear the insult and quit his job.

Soon, Rousseau changed his profession and became an apprentice under an engraver. In view of the many lessons he had learned when he was a secretary before, he followed orders in this new job without any complaints. Rousseau originally liked this kind of work, because he liked to draw, and wielding a carving knife was also fun, and engraving parts did not require superb skills, so he hoped to achieve excellence in this area. One day, Rousseau was carving knighthoods for several friends in his spare time. When his master found out, he thought he was making fake silver coins and beat him severely. In fact, Rousseau was very young at the time and had no idea about silver coins at all. He just used the shape of ancient Roman coins as a model. Due to his master's tyranny and tyranny, Rousseau felt miserable at the job he originally loved.

Rousseau's life in his master's house was very unhappy, but it made him resume his long-lost reading habit. This interest was restricted by the environment at the time and could not develop smoothly. However, the more restricted it was, the stronger the interest in learning became. There was a female bookseller nearby who ran a bookstore. Rousseau often went there and read without letting go of the book. Sometimes he even missed work hours and was scolded and corporally punished by his master. In less than a year, Rousseau had read all the books in this small shop. Under the influence of these books, he corrected many childish tempers and bad habits. At the same time, it also invisibly aroused higher emotions in his heart. He felt that the environment here was unsatisfactory, everything lacked interest and was unbearable. When he was 16 years old, he ran away from the city, believing that he could live independently and control everything freely.

Advocating nature

After Rousseau left the city, he met Mrs. Warren through the introduction of a friend. He originally thought Mrs. Warren was an old and ugly old woman, but she turned out to be a kind-faced and charming young woman.

This surprised and excited him. It was this lady who influenced his future life.

Rousseau followed Warren's advice and began his long journey. This also suited his long-established wanderlust. He felt that it was a wonderful thing to have the opportunity to climb mountains and reach the peaks of the Alps at such an age. Along the way, Rousseau was in a very happy mood and had nothing to worry about. Although this journey was short, Rousseau loved the natural scenery, and the beautiful scenery along the way was panoramic. He placed his emotions on nature. Although he was wandering, he did not feel spiritual emptiness. Everything that caught Rousseau's eyes made him feel an intoxicating enjoyment in his heart. The majesty, colorfulness and practical beauty of nature deeply influenced Rousseau's outlook on life.

After that, he went on many more trips, and he was still intoxicated by the beautiful scenery during the journey and the pastoral life in the countryside. He loves nature and respects nature. "His greatest teacher is not any kind of book, his teacher is 'nature'."

Since his adolescence, Rousseau has loved nature. This enthusiasm he has taken pains to copy and express in his works. Nature permeated his entire life. He expressed himself in some of Mrs. Warren's sober and striking qualities, and plunged him into violent emotions, which became particularly clear in his later life and distinguished him from the great mystics of the East. , showing similarities.

Getting involved in music

During the period when Rousseau lived at Mrs. Warren's house, he felt very satisfied and happy. Mrs. Warren had a soft and moving voice, and she could also play the piano. She often taught Rousseau to sing, which inspired Rousseau's interest in music. Later, Rousseau went to the seminary to study, and Mrs. Warren gave him music books. In addition to studying in the seminary, Rousseau often brought music scores and practiced singing. Mrs. Warren believed that Rousseau was interested and talented in music, and intended to let him develop in music. She often held small concerts at home and introduced Rousseau to some composers, which continuously improved his musical level. Later, he continued to study and research by himself, and came up with a simple notation method that uses numbers instead of notes, that is, He used the number 1234567 to replace the Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, and Si scales, and wrote the original book "Music Notation", hoping to revolutionize the music world. At the same time, he also wrote an "Essay on Modern Music" and took it to Paris and submitted it to the Paris Academy of Sciences and Arts, hoping to take this opportunity to become famous. At this time, Rousseau was inspired, and he wrote a novel called "The Discovery of the New World". "The opera fully demonstrated his creative talent.

Later, Rousseau took the revised manuscript to the Academy of Sciences and read his paper in public. Its concise content effectively attracted the attention of the committee members and won praise. He believed that his notation was an innovation and reform in the history of music, but the committee members did not agree with this opinion. After several discussions, they came to the conclusion that Rousseau's notation could be used for singing, but not suitable for playing. . In order to comfort Rousseau, the Academy of Art awarded him a certificate of praise in which he was praised. Although Rousseau suffered a failure, he was still unconvinced. After rearranging his manuscript, he found a publisher willing to accept the manuscript and published it under the title "Modern Music Theory". Rousseau was full of hope that this music book would cause a greater response. However, the sales were very poor, which caused Rousseau to suffer another heavy blow. Although he wholeheartedly wanted to innovate in music and hoped to inspire music lovers, the effect was not good. Except for a few scholars who praised him, it did not produce any major repercussions.

Essay Award-winning

Rousseau began to make a living on his own after leaving Mrs. Warren, and worked as a tutor, clerk, secretary, etc. At the same time, he also made friends with people from all walks of life, especially the great philosopher Diderot. Due to the same interests, hobbies and ambitions, a deep friendship was established between them. They were both enthusiastic about academic work, and Diderot, Rousseau and others began to co-edit: an "Encyclopedia", with Rousseau responsible for the music part. This work was interrupted by Diderot's arrest. Rousseau asked friends everywhere for help, hoping to release Diderot, but with little success.

Rousseau often visited Diderot in the prison where he was imprisoned. In the summer of 1749, the weather was very hot. There was a long distance between Paris and the prison. Rousseau walked to see Diderot, often taking a book with him so that he could read when he was tired from walking. One day, he brought a copy of the "French Courier" magazine and suddenly saw the inspiration for the essay call for the Dijon Academy of Sciences: "Is the progress of science and art beneficial to the improvement of morals?" When Rousseau saw this topic, he seemed to be pierced by a thousand rays of light, and many lively thoughts emerged from his heart unconsciously. He suddenly felt suffocated, as if he had seen another universe, and he had become another person. Not only did thoughts related to the paper from the Dijon Academy of Sciences emerge in his mind, but a series of thoughts came one after another, hitting him like a big wave. . This spiritual shock showed the potential of his thoughts for insights.

Rousseau told Diderot about this. Diderot encouraged Rousseau to continue to develop his ideas and write articles to apply for the job. Rousseau actively wrote this paper. After it was written, he sent it to Diderot for review. He revised it many times and sent it to the application under the title "On Art and Science". In 1750, his paper won the first prize.

In this article, he denied the value of art and science, argued from the opposite side, revealed his distrust and hatred of Paris society, and opposed the fraud hidden in this society. He denounced science, literature, and art as being dominated by power.

Hermit writings

In 1756, the 44-year-old Rousseau accepted a gift from a friend - a small rural house with beautiful environment and began his secluded life.

Rousseau's personality was suitable for living in the countryside. He had lived in Paris for 15 years and was already tired of city life. After seclusion, he decided not to return to Paris. At this time, Rousseau was already somewhat famous and did not have to worry about living expenses. He continued to copy music scores. Although he could not make a lot of money, he was reliable and self-sufficient. He still had two thousand francs left from his opera "The Soothsayer" and other works, and other works were being sorted out so that his life would not be impoverished. His writing style and talent have made him a well-known man of letters, and as long as he is willing to combine a writer's skills with the effort of publishing good books, his works can make him live a prosperous life. However, Rousseau felt that writing for bread would soon stifle his genius and destroy his talent. His talent is not in his pen, but in his heart. It is entirely produced by a transcendent and heroic way of thinking. He always believed that the status of a writer can only be maintained when it is not an industry; when a person only thinks to make a living, it is difficult for his thoughts to be noble; in order to be able and dare to speak great truths, one must never succumb in the pursuit of success.

During his six years of seclusion, Rousseau wrote many famous works, including the famous political work "On the Civil Treaty", which is one of the famous classics in the history of world politics; his political views have influenced The subsequent French Revolution had a great impact. The educational treatise "Emile" briefly describes his unique and free educational thoughts. This is a classic work on children's education. Although Rousseau was attacked for this book when he was still alive, his unique educational thoughts have Not only did it have a profound impact on subsequent educational theories, but its ideas of democracy and freedom also became the driving force of the French Revolution. The publication of the autobiographical novel "The New Aurora" became a best-seller that everyone was eager to read. It was translated into many languages ??and became popular all over Europe.

Suffering persecution

According to French custom at the time, a book must be circulated by certain well-known people before being published. After "Emile" was circulated to the outside world, it immediately became the center of controversy. What is strange is that Rousseau's innocent, inspiring and original pedagogical work was regarded as heresy by the outside world and was banned by the French court.

At first, Rousseau did not care about the rumors from the outside world. He thought that this educational work was written for the happiness of mankind. How could it encounter opposition from intellectuals, churches and the state? How could it be Does he think he is an evil person? Under pressure from the outside world, the publisher also advised Rousseau not to publish the book under his real name, but Rousseau insisted on facing those unnecessary attacks. He thought that he had always obeyed the country's legal system, worked hard to be a loyal citizen, and abided by the country's laws like other French people, so that he would not be persecuted for loving mankind and pursuing human happiness. But bad luck happened to him, and public opinion regarded Rousseau as a criminal.

One night, Rousseau was reading the Bible in bed. Someone sent a letter saying that the court would send someone to arrest him tomorrow. The Supreme Court ruled that "Emile" should be burned and immediately issued an arrest warrant to put Rousseau in prison. Rousseau had no choice but to say goodbye to his friends and left France for Switzerland. Soon this country also ordered him to leave Swiss territory within one day, and then Rousseau moved to the area under the jurisdiction of Prussia. At the same time, letters continued to come from European readers, including ladies, young men, and young philosophers, asking Rousseau for guidance, which greatly encouraged him mentally. Later, Rousseau went to England at the invitation of the British philosopher Hume, but eventually left Britain because of the growing differences with Hume. He had no choice but to change his name and return to France to live a secluded life again. The exile and restless years did not affect Rousseau's writings. He has successively written "Confessions", "The Reveries of a Lonely Walker", "Letters from the Mountains", "Citizen's Emotions" and other works.

Return to Nature

Why is Rousseau's "Emile" so hated by the French reactionary authorities? The reason is that Rousseau caused a stir in education with his "Emile" It was a Copernican revolution. Education has always been based on the abilities and needs of adults, but Rousseau called for breaking this tradition. "Things that come from the hands of the Creator are all good, but as soon as they come into the hands of humans, they all turn bad... He doesn't want things to be as they are naturally, even with humans. He must treat humans like horses on a stable. He must be trained like a tree in a garden, twisted as he pleases." (Emile, Volume 1, page 5) This is the opening passage of "Emile", which expresses a clear meaning. The basic viewpoint of Rousseau’s naturalistic educational theory. That is, people are inherently good, and education should be "returned to nature."

Although Rousseau's "Theory of Good Nature" is not scientific, it has positive and progressive significance in history.

Because if people are regarded as innate criminals like Christianity, they will inevitably resort to harsh punishment, forcing people to blindly obey and destroy human rights; instead of emphasizing the possibility of people developing for good, it will help improve people's political status and protect people's rights. social power. Changing education that suppresses nature into education that respects nature is a huge change in education. At this turning point in history, Rousseau was a key figure.

Based on the theory of "returning to nature", Rousseau advocated that education should be implemented according to the age characteristics of the educated. He said: "Children should be treated differently depending on their age." He also said: "Among all things, human beings have the status of human beings, and in life, childhood has the status of childhood; so people must be treated as human beings, Treat children as children." He criticized feudal education for ignoring the natural development of children and obliterating the differences between children and adults, so that it did not teach children according to their characteristics and imposed education suitable for adults on children. This kind of education, in his opinion, is tantamount to making children the victims of education. Therefore, he strongly advocated stipulating educational tasks based on the physical and mental characteristics of the educated at different stages.

Rousseau's theory of "returning to nature" is reflected in the educational goals, which require the cultivation of natural people; and natural people with well-coordinated physical and mental coordination are different from aristocrats and princes, and they are also different from empty and useless scholars. This was a big step forward from the educational ideals of the past and that time. The Emile created by Rousseau has the mind of a philosopher, the skills of a laborer, and the character of a reformer. Undoubtedly, the natural man envied by Rousseau is the image of the new bourgeois man. This is where his thoughts are more advanced than feudal education, and it is also the main reason why he was persecuted.

Knowledge education

In terms of knowledge education, Rousseau advocated applying what you have learned and practicing to seek knowledge.

In terms of teaching content, Rousseau firmly opposed book recitation and empty text preaching, and demanded the pursuit of real and useful knowledge. He said: Falling into a book-based education that is wordy and wordy will destroy the mind. What children need to acquire is a true understanding of things, and books "only teach us to talk about things we don't understand." However, Rousseau envisioned many types of subjects for young people after the age of 12 whose rationality has begun to develop. Learning can be roughly divided into natural science knowledge during adolescence, which is mainly based on knowledge education, and social science knowledge during adolescence, which is mainly about moral education. In the past, it was said that fables, history, and classical Chinese were not necessary to learn, but now they should be learned. Because learning fables can enable people to gain lessons from them; learning history can provide insight into the past and the present; learning classical Chinese can understand the laws of language art. This shows that although Rousseau opposed the decadent teaching content of classicism, he was not opposed to learning classical knowledge. The two are not the same. The former leads young people to piles of old paper, causing them to ignore the past and ignore the present, and eat the past without changing it; the latter demands to know the ancient culture, absorb its essence, and learn from its gains and losses, so as to learn from the past and understand the present and use the past for the present.

In terms of teaching methods, Rousseau opposed dogmatism and focused on the pursuit of knowledge. He persuaded teachers to give up lengthy narrations and make more teaching penetrate into the collaborative activities of teachers and students. He believes that the most important thing in teaching is to inspire the consciousness of children and young people. For this reason, he pays special attention to the role of motivation, interest and needs in learning. Rousseau attached great importance to the intuitive teaching method. He believed that only by having direct contact and observation of things can we truly understand the principles and concepts of things. He even believed that instruments, models and other equipment that disrupted children's learning should be abandoned and direct observation of actual things was the most effective method. Rousseau also placed great emphasis on students' independent thinking and judgment, and was extremely disgusted with cramming and command-based teaching methods. In addition, Rousseau also warned teachers to choose learning content based on children's level of understanding. "Never tell things to children that they cannot understand." In order to maintain the correctness and consolidation of knowledge, he advocated the appropriate arrangement of children's learning speed, not to be eager for success, not to be greedy for more, not to be too ambitious, and not to be too ambitious. The new insights into reforming the content and methods of knowledge teaching are also enlightening for our teaching reform today.

Sexual education

Since sexual desire is a characteristic of adolescence, Rousseau paid more attention to sexual education for teenagers than any other educator in the history of education. He advocated the education of appropriate sexual ethics and sexual knowledge during the sexual maturity period of adolescents, so that adolescents would have a correct understanding of the natural development of "sex" and thus be able to "behave properly."

Rousseau opposed both asceticism and indulgence, and advocated following natural development, neither blindly suppressing nor rashly exciting. In order to prevent premature sexual development, Rousseau believed that teenagers should be kept away from improper temptations. Teachers should use appropriate work and activities to attract the attention of young people so that their energy can have a way out. When it comes to children's curiosity about sex, Rousseau emphasized that it should not be given a chance to arouse, let alone stimulate his curiosity, and issues involving sexual life should be avoided as much as possible. But if such questions are raised, the teacher "would rather keep silent to the child than accuse him of lies." This will not surprise the children, because the teacher never answers questions that he thinks are not suitable for the children to understand. If you think it is necessary to answer, then "your answer must always be serious, concise and definite; do not show hesitation. The content of the answer should be true, not to mention that."

" (Page 177 of the English version of "Emile") Rousseau criticized the past education for blindly deceiving children about sexual issues, believing that this would instead encourage children to learn improper sexual knowledge.

< p> Regarding the love between men and women, Rousseau believes that it should not be an obstacle to rational education, but should be a means of rational education. He believes that human beings must always look for appropriate tools to control nature from nature itself, and can only use the power of desire. To resist the tyranny of desire. He said: "I am not afraid to induce the love he desires in Emile's heart. I will describe love as the greatest joy in life and make him feel despicable for debauchery. I will make him a Be a lover and be a good person at the same time. "These views had a profound impact on the implementation of correct sex education in later countries.

Character 2:

Theodore Rousseau, (?tienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau, 1812 - 1867), French painter.

Character 3:

Henri Rousseau, (1844-1910), French painter.