Rousseau Education

Vol. 4, No.
1 The Pulse 1
LOCKE AND ROUSSEAU:

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
By Jamie Gianoutsos
Both John Locke (1632-1734) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712-1778) write as early modern social contract theorists, and
both promote reason and freedom as essential components of
political societies. Yet these thinkers take many distinct, and at
times opposing, stances on education. This paper will explore John
Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s thoughts on early childhood
education, first by considering each philosopher separately, then
comparing and contrasting their views. Locke and Rousseau
principally disagree on naturalism and the use of habits and social
conventions for the education of young children. Fundamentally,
their theories of education rest on how they construe the
relationship between nurture and nature and what the role of the
educated man is in society.
John Locke
“The well educating of their children is so much the duty and
concern of parents, and the welfare and prosperity of the nation so
much depends on it, that I would have everyone lay it seriously to
heart and […] set his helping hand to promote everywhere that
way of training up youth […] which is the easiest, shortest, and
likeliest to produce virtuous, useful, and able men in their distinct
callings.”
John Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human

Understanding, defends the fundamental belief that humans are
born without innate ideas,1 and thus must derive their knowledge
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entirely from “external, sensible Objects…perceived and

reflected on by our selves” (EU: II.I, § 1, emphasis mine).2 This P P
belief in tabula rasa leads Locke to argue that “[c]hildren

commonly get not those general Ideas [of the rational Faculty],
nor learn the Names that stand for them, till having for a good
while exercised their Reason about familiar and more particular
Ideas” (EU: I.II, § 14). Yet, for Locke, a lack of innate
knowledge is not equivalent to a lack of natural faculties,
abilities, or tendencies. He distinguishes knowledge from
tendency by explaining:
I deny not, that there are natural tendencies

imprinted on the Minds of Men; and that, from the
very first instances of Sense and Perception, there
are some things, that are grateful, and others that
welcome to them; some things that they incline to,
and others that they fly: But this makes nothing for
The Undergraduate Journal of Baylor University .
Locke and Rousseau 2
innate Characters on the Mind, which are to be the

Principles of Knowledge, regulating our Practice.
[EU: I.III, § 3]
Children are born with minds as blank as slates, but they have
natural inclinations which include personalities, likes and dislikes.
For Locke, educating children, then, entails instructing their
minds and molding their natural tendencies. Education develops
the understanding, which men “universally pay a ready
submission” to, whether it is “well or ill informed” (CU: § 1).
Because children are born without a natural knowledge of virtue,
early education greatly shapes their development, where even
“little and almost insensible impressions on [their] tender
infancies have very important and lasting consequences” (TCE: §
1). Thus, Locke’s method of education is meant to be observed by
parents even from the time their child is in the cradle, long before
the teaching that comes from books.
Locke warns at the end of Some Thoughts Concerning
Education that he can only provide general views on the proper
education of a gentleman; the “various tempers, different
inclinations, and particular defaults that are to be found in
children” are so diverse that “it would require a volume” to
prescribe correct remedies for all (TCE: § 216).3 Locke P P
encourages parents to watch their children, for through

observation, parents can understand their child’s distinctive
inclinations. Specifically, they should pay particular attention to
their child “in those seasons of perfect freedom” and “mark how
[the child] spends his time” (TCE: § 125).4 Once armed with P P
such information, parents can better know how to motivate their

children towards the right and can craft their methods of
education accordingly.5 As Nathan Tarcov notes, “One studies a
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child’s nature not merely to adjust to it but to see ‘how it may be

improved.” 6
B PB P
Locke discusses individual tempers to warn parents that

some children may be more prone to falling from the path of
reason than others. A child not properly guided could become an
irrational, cruel being because “the minds of children [are] as
easily turned this or that way as water itself” (TCE: § 2). Indeed,
so many various tempers can be found that “there are possibly
scarce two children who can be conducted by exactly the same
method” (TCE: § 216). Yet, this mention of specific tempers and
characteristics in individual children does not ignore that children
share several natural tendencies as well. Locke presents us with
fundamental qualities that all children, and rational beings, share:
curiosity, pride, desire for liberty, and want of dominion. Parents,
treating their children as rational beings, can guide toward good
action rather than injustice. Locke holds that of all men, “nine
parts out of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by
their education” (TCE: § 1), for proper education brings natural
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qualities to fruition by “laying the first foundations of virtue”

(TCE: § 139). Only a handful of men may not need a great deal of
assistance, for they come from the cradle with a natural strength
or genius. Yet, whether individuals are born with a weaker or
stronger constitution, Locke stresses that both the manners and
abilities of gentlemen owe “more to their education than to
anything else” (TCE: § 32).
Of the natural qualities which children possess, curiosity
and liberty seem to guide the young pupil most. Locke describes
curiosity as motivating children toward knowledge, for nature
grants it as a great instrument to remove ignorance, and through
it, all children are led to questioning about most anything (TCE: §
118). Hence, parents should cherish curiosity in their children as
a positive appetite. Locke warns parents to answer questions
patiently and gently and never to embarrass a child for seeking
what may even seem like trivial knowledge. “Children,” he
reminds us, “are strangers to all we are acquainted with, and all
the things they meet with are at first unknown to them, as they
were to us” (TCE: § 120.3). Happy is the child who has help in
discovering this new world.
T The desire for liberty is especially important in Locke’s
idea of education. Liberty here does not mean a complete absence
of restraint, but it does entail a sense of independence in action.
Children want to show that their actions come from themselves and
that they are free (TCE: § 73). In this sense, pride has a close
connection to liberty, for men act out of liberty in the belief that
they have the capacity for freedom and a natural claim to it as
rational beings.7 Liberty also gives children satisfaction in their
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industry. Whereas some may argue that children love play-games

because they excite their imagination or desire for amusement,
Locke argues that it is “liberty alone which gives the true relish
and delight to their ordinary play-games” (TCE: § 76, my
emphasis). If children were forced to play, they would grow weary
of it in the same way that they tire of study when forced to learn.
Hence, it is not any particular action that can become irksome to a
child, but the denial of liberty and the use of force. Locke explains
that play loses its relish as soon as it becomes duty:
Let a child be but ordered to whip his top at a

T
certain time every day, whether he has or has not a

mind to it; let this be required of him as a
duty…and see whether he will not soon be weary of
any play at this rate? Is it not so with grown men?
[TCE: § 73.1]
Because of this strong desire for liberty, the wise tutor uses seasons
T
of freedom to turn children toward learning, for “the chief art is to

make all that they have to do sport and play too” (TCE: § 63).
Locke insists that the love of liberty is a beneficial asset to the
T
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reasonable man.8 This is because “everyone can more easily bear a

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denial from himself than from anybody else” (TCE: § 107). Thus,
a man with developed reason can better control his inclinations
with liberty due to self-denial.9 In grown men, such self-control is
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more desirable than outside coercion.

Along with a natural inquisitiveness and a love of liberty,
children desire to be treated rationally. Locke explains that
children “understand [reason] as early as they do language”
(TCE: § 81), though they may be limited in their rational abilities
due to their young age. To treat a child rationally is to treat him
not out of passion, but sensibly (TCE: § 81). Children themselves
may not be capable of generating abstract principles,10 but Locke
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insists that they can recognize developed rationality in others and

that they take pride in participating in the experience. By treating
children as rational creatures and recognizing their innate desire
to grow in this propensity, parents guide their children towards
reasoning abstractly and practicing reasonable actions later in life
that are “suitable to the Dignity and Excellency of a rational
Creature” (TCE: § 31).
The duty of parents, and in fact, the principal reason for
marriage is procreation and education (2T: VII.80 and 81). In
speaking of “Paternal Power” in the Two Treatises, Locke
charges that parents must “take care of their Off-spring, during
the imperfect state of Childhood” and must “inform the Mind,
and govern the Actions of their yet ignorant Nonage” (2T: VI.58).
While children are ignorant, they are to look upon their parents as
“their lords, their absolute governors” and stand in awe and
reverence of them (TCE: § 41). But there exists a limit to this
control. “Age and Reason” gradually loosen the ties of parental
power, and the nurturing process, until a man reaches his full
liberty in adulthood (2T: VI.55). This arrangement serves several
purposes within Lockean education. Since Locke contends that
children are born without a faculty to understand the law of
nature, they need parents to make their decisions. Parents also can
train children to submit their love of dominion to reason, for the
child “that is not used to submit his will to the reason of others
when he is young, will scarce hearken or submit to his own
reason when he is of age to make use of it” (TCE: § 36). Finally,
a child left uneducated risks developing vices. Although these ill
habits come “from small beginnings in pins and cherrystones,”
left unattended they will “grow up to higher frauds” which could
result in hardened dishonesty (TCE: § 110).
Since parents have such a crucial role in their child’s
development, Locke charges, “Be sure then to establish the
authority of a father as soon as he [the child] is capable of
submission and can understand in whose power he is” (TCE: §
40). In order to engender discipline, a child must be established
as an obedient subject to his father in his very earliest stages.
Locke advises the father to be “inflexibly severe in [his] carriage”
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(TCE: § 99) and argues that a “strict hand be kept over children”
(TCE: § 41). In this way the father directs his child to practices
and habits that foster virtue while acting in a consistent manner
towards the child. Parents who fail in this responsibility and over-
indulge their little ones can “cherish their [children’s] faults” and
cause perversity in them (TCE: § 34). Locke acknowledges that
parents are tempted to be indulgent and familiar with their
children when very young, but then to become distant and severe
as they grow; yet, when this occurs, children will lack discipline
and eventually become resentful of their parents (TCE: § 40).
This degree of severity and strict discipline by parents is
not meant to last indefinitely but “should be relaxed as fast as
their age” (TCE: § 95). Since the child longs to show independence
of thought and takes pride in his liberty, granting confidence and
encouraging reasonable discourse is the best method for a father to
have an effective and positive influence on his older child. Once the
child has grown, his own reason rules his actions and passions in the
place of his parents.
Parents continue to nurture their children by crafting societal
interactions, instilling their children with manners, and training them
to act correctly in social situations. From the start “children are so
often perplexed” (TCE: § 67) by rules thrown at them by maids
and governesses. Locke advises that instead of spouting rules and
precepts, parents should gently show their children what to do
before a social event; during the event, the child can practice his
new lesson in manners but should not be harassed if he makes a
mistake (TCE: § 67). Locke reminds parents that years will teach
the child as much as anything, so be patient with younger
children. The more years a child is kept in good company, the
more he can learn by example, until having good manners
becomes practically natural. The company Locke speaks of in this
case is that of adults. Parents can make certain that young
children grow to love their company by ensuring that children
“receive all their good things there and from their hands” (TCE: §
69) instead of from the hands of servants or other adults.
Another pragmatic lesson parents can teach children is the
practice of dancing. Locke praises the art of dancing because it
“gives children manly thoughts and carriage more than anything”
(TCE: § 67) and provides the parents with an easy tool to instruct
their children. As we can see in this area of manners, the child is
given some instruction before being thrown into social situations;
however, the actual development of manners comes from a
child’s hands-on experiences–throughdancing and interaction in
the company of trusted adults.
Other social habits Locke addresses concern the company
of other children. Parents must make the difficult decision of
sending their children abroad for study or having their children
stay at home with a tutor. When a child is sent off to a school of
peers, his greatest instruction is from the other boys instead of the
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teacher. Regarding the rowdy games and bold attitudes of peer

pressure, Locke identifies “malapertness, tricking, or violence
learned amongst schoolboys” as habits that are not easily
reversed (TCE: § 70) . A child taught at home runs the risk of
becoming bashful or ignorant of the world, but Locke still praises
the at-home education as superior to the education at school
because the child is only influenced by the tutor and parents.
Between the faults of learning rough, boisterous behavior or
staying sheepish and ignorant, Locke chooses ignorance because
“vice is the more stubborn as well as the more dangerous evil of
the two and therefore in the first place to be fenced against”
(TCE: § 70). Later in a child’s life, bashfulness can be cured
through conversation; a loss of virtue is seldom recovered.
Locke’s preferred form of punishment involves esteem and
disgrace, which are largely contingent on the pleasing of others
rather than the protection or fulfillment of the self. He proposes
that parents use “softer ways of shame and commendation” (TCE:
§ 86), employing the natural inclinations of children towards pride
and reason. Children are then made sensible of societal reputation:
a concept Locke believes directs the action of men and the
workings of society. He explains the importance of reputation in
one of his minor essays:
The principal spring from which the actions of men

take their rise, the rule they conduct them by, and
the end to which they direct them, seems to be
credit and reputation, and that which at any rate
they avoid, is in the great part shame and disgrace.11
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This essay is not an approbation of reputation, for Locke describes

the power of reputation in society as both positive and negative.
For instance, he discusses how esteem in some countries leads to
bloodshed, while in others it fosters just living.12 For this reason, a
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gentleman’s concern with reputation should not thwart his liberty.

Locke warns that reputation is “not the true principle and measure
of virtue” (TCE: § 61, my emphasis); rather, obeying God for
Divine acceptation and reward is more appropriate. Reputation,
then, serves to order the actions of children and to guide them until
they grow able to judge for themselves and to find what is right by
their own reason (TCE: § 61).13 P P
Since children naturally love liberty, desire to be treated

rationally, and are curious about the adult world, it makes sense
that, “earlier perhaps than we think,” they become “sensible of
praise and commendation” (TCE: § 57). Locke believes that
children naturally find pleasure in being esteemed by their
parents. Thus, the work of parents is two-fold: award esteem or
disgrace in response to a child’s action and transfer that love of
esteem towards a broader concern for others. Locke explains that
parents should “double the reward” of praise by commending
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their children in front of others (TCE: § 62). Meanwhile, he

recommends rebuking a child in private, for if a child suspects his
reputation is already blemished, he “will be the less careful to
preserve others’ good thoughts” (TCE: § 62). Locke suggests that
parents talk with the child about the action “as a strange
monstrous matter that it could not be imagined he would have
done and so shame him out of it” (TCE: § 85). The use of the rod
is confined to being a last measure and may be only used
depending on the child’s temperament. From this dichotomy of
praise and blame, a child will gain a liking and inclination
towards the right and a hatred of vice. The child will learn how
properly to interact in society, and virtue will be pleasant. Just as
a tutor should teach children without burdening them (allowing
their liberty), the instructors should teach goodness in such a way
that only wrongdoing becomes irksome.
However, though grown men might plausibly be governed
by the precepts of the law of nature (see 2T: II.6), children cannot
simply be taught by “repeated cautions and rules” (TCE: § 10).
Locke considers it a fault of the accepted method of education to
make children memorize rules and precepts “which they often do
not understand and constantly as soon forget as given” (TCE: §
64). If children are strangers in a new world, without innate ideas
and without developed rationality, how can they be expected to
understand rules for a culture they have just begun to explore?
Locke’s discussion of natural curiosity and rationality supports
this critique of rules because it holds that children, although on
the path to reasoning, cannot yet think abstractly. Curiosity
prompts children to discover the world, but it is quickly killed by
answers that are not comprehensible to them. Instead, Locke
proposes the training of children through practice, developing
healthy habits that will last throughout adulthood. In Of the
Conduct of the Understanding, Locke begins his discussion of
practice and habits by mentioning the musician and the dancer,
who come to their skill not by rules but by repetition and
exercise. In the Thoughts, he likewise describes practicing as the
gaining of skill until it becomes natural:
If it be some action you would have

done…whenever they forget or do it awkwardly,
make them do it over and over again till they are
perfect, whereby you will get these two
advantages: first, to see whether it be an action
they can do or is fit to be expected of
them…Secondly,…that by repeating the same
action, till it be grown habitual in them, the
performance will not depend on memory or
reflection, the concomitant of prudence and age
and not of childhood, but will be natural in them.
[TCE: § 64]
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The first advantage Locke describes in this passage relates to

studying a child’s natural temper. Interestingly, parents examine
their child’s temperament both before and at the time a practice is
being established. While a child is developing a habit, the parents
should observe his skill and learn what he is fit for based on how
he handles his work. Then, before beginning a new practice, the
parents are able to determine what other endeavors their child
could successfully undertake based on this previous knowledge.
In both cases, the parents are asked to make rational decisions
from observation, a trait that they are hoping to engender in their
children.
When Locke instructs parents to analyze their children’s
capabilities, he explains that “in many cases, all that we can do or
should aim at is to make the best of what nature has given” and to
“prevent the vices and faults to which such a constitution is most
inclined” (TCE: § 66). Education makes this possible but not
guaranteed, and practice is the logical means by which to attempt
this aim. Through it, children can reach a level of reason and
independence based on developing virtues and avoiding vices.
Children need both physical and mental habits to aim for this
perfection. Although outlined separately in the Thoughts through
specific examples, these habits follow similar patterns:
recognizing and considering a child’s natural inclinations; firmly
leading a child towards repeated practices; and correctly
disciplining a child so as not to damage his curiosity or
confidence.
In the end, the aim of Lockean education in the Thoughts
is to train young children to serve in society. In the dedication to
the Thoughts, Locke calls this obligation to country
“indispensable” for every man, yet the gentleman seems to play
an especially significant role.14 As Locke explains in “Some
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Thoughts Concerning Reading and Study for a Gentleman,” the

gentleman not only has a duty to the service of his country, but
such service is his “proper calling.”15 Locke provides a fuller
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picture of this calling when he explains what kinds of study are

appropriate for the gentleman. He argues that the gentleman “is
most properly concerned in moral, and political knowledge; and
thus the studies which more immediately belong to his calling,
are those which treat of virtues and vices, of civil society, and the
arts of government, and so will take in also law and history.”16 P P
The duty of a gentleman to his country, then, involves governing

and setting a moral and political example in society, even
embodying the civic roles of the nation. Their obligation also
extends to military action: “A gentleman, in any age, ought to be
so bred as to be fitted to bear arms and be a soldier” (TCE: § 15).
Because of this duty to govern and protect, Locke believes that if
gentlemen “are by their education once set right, they will
quickly bring all the rest into order” (TCE: dedication). Since
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gentlemen constitute the class from which the leaders of society

are drawn, parents have a duty to equip these individuals with the
characteristics necessary to become “virtuous, useful, and able
men” and to fulfill their governmental responsibilities (TCE:
dedication).
Rousseau
“Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the
world but degenerates once it gets into the hands of man.”17 P P
Rousseau describes an early childhood18 educational

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method with the hope of minimizing the obstacles of civilization

and bringing man as near to nature as possible, for “[e]verything is
good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the world but
degenerates once it gets into the hands of man” (EM: 11). Instead
of an educated man being guided by societal norms,19 Rousseau P P
desires for a child to have no other guide than his own reason by
the time he is educated. Unlike Locke, he does not rely on social
expectations to train children. Rousseau contends that men can
attain this freedom and independence of thought through
naturalistic education.
Rousseau does not deny that men need cultivation to
overcome feebleness and to develop intelligence and judgment. He
understands education to come from three sources: “from nature,
from men, or from things” (EM: 11). These three sources must
“coincide and lead to a common goal” if the individual is to
become well-educated (EM: 11), yet not all of the sources educate
man in the same manner. Education from nature acts independently
of man’s actions. Education from things depends on man only in a
limited extent. Only education from man is entirely in his control.
“Since the three educators must be mixed together for a perfect
result” (EM: 12), Rousseau contends that nature, which man
cannot control, must determine the course of the other two in
cultivating children. Thus, he justifies naturalism as a guide to
education.
What does education with an eye to nature entail?
Rousseau declares that natural education relies upon inclinations
rather than habits. He first argues that habits are ineffective, citing
the example of a plant being forced to grow a certain way. When
let free, the plant continues in its habituated posture; however, as
soon as the plant has any new growth, it strains towards its natural
inclination. Rousseau claims that human inclinations act in the
same manner: “So long as there is no change in conditions and
inclinations due to habits, however unnatural, remain unchanged,
but immediately the restraint is removed the habit vanishes and
nature reasserts itself” (EM: 12). Later in Emile, Rousseau
emphasizes that “the only habit which a child should…form is that
of forming none.”20 With this statement Rousseau seems to
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contradict himself. Whereas in the example with the plant,

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Rousseau stresses that habits become ineffective with time, in this

later section, he notes that children should not develop habits due
to the constraints these practices could cause. Hence, it seems that
some habits could remain with the child through adulthood. The
justification which Rousseau provides about avoiding habit helps
relieve this tension. He explains that the child should form no
habits so as to “[p]repare him early for the enjoyment of liberty
and the exercise of his powers; leave his body its natural habits;
enable him always to be master of himself and, as soon as he
acquires a will, always to carry out its dictates.”21 The child is
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meant to follow only the natural inclinations, and thus he is

capable of observing natural habits. Unnatural habits, other than
failing when restraint is removed, do not foster a love of liberty.22 P P
Included in these natural inclinations is self-esteem, which

Rousseau deems as good and useful when related to ourselves, but
can become either good or bad “in the social application we make
of it” (EM: 40). Man’s reason can guide this esteem.
In place of habits, natural education cherishes inclination,
which Rousseau describes as being “conscious of our sensations
[so that] we are inclined to seek or to avoid the objects which
produce them” (EM: 12). Simply, they are “our nature” to which
everything else should conform (EM: 12). Although inclinations
are natural, they strengthen and extend in children as the children
grow in sense and intelligence. The child-grown-man, with
developed reason, has learned to heed his natural inclinations and
ignore the ills of society. As one scholar puts it, “Education [for
Rousseau] must…conform to nature, and must be a means of not
preparing for citizenship in any particular government, much less
for an occupation, but of developing manhood and fitting for the
duties of human life.”23 P P
Rousseau wishes to teach natural life. When nature and

society conflict with each other, one must decide between “making
a man or making a citizen” (EM: 13). In this decision, Rousseau
deems that “[f]irst and foremost, he will be a man” (EM: 15). Yet
some scholars have found this stance to be contradictory with
Rousseau’s other works. For instance, they point to the Social
Contract where Rousseau is concerned with citizenship and the
general will.24 Why would Rousseau desire for Emile to be isolated
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from the contract? Sylvia Patterson presents a possible solution by

stating, “[C]learly Rousseau did not expect his readers to take his
romantic setting literally.”25 She points to the preface where
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Rousseau explains that Emile is chiefly a model, and “conditions

may vary indefinitely” (EM: 7) when individuals try to employ this
method. Others, such as William Boyd, claim that Rousseau chose
the romantic setting of the countryside because it provided the
opportunity to present his thoughts in the first person.26 Even with
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these explanations, it seems noteworthy that Rousseau extols the

influence of the countryside from his personal experience. In
Confessions,27 he writes fondly of his years as a child living in the
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village of Bossey, outside of Geneva. He describes the country as

“such a fresh experience that I could never have enough of it” (CN:
23). Indeed, throughout his adulthood, Rousseau recalls the “happy
days” he spent at Bossey; he continually longs for the “country life
and its pleasures” (CN: 24).
Rousseau’s paradox could be resolved by the last sections
of Emile where he describes the son entering society to find a wife.
Rousseau explicitly notes that Emile is “not to become a leader” of
society, but, nonetheless, “to become acquainted with it” (EM:
122). Emile should not stay permanently in Paris, and he should
develop good “taste” in books and theater. Yet in the end, he is to
enter society, at least partially, at the completion of his education,
and thus, could still possibly enter the social contract. Marriage
“will make him a full member of the community” (EM: 129).
Rousseau is not removing the child from society for life, just for
education, which teaches how to live.
Timothy O’Hagan admits that Emile offers “an imaginary
educational experience,” but he furthers his comments by
explaining Rousseau’s position: “[S]ince public institutions of
schools and colleges were irredeemably corrupted, the only
solution was to withdraw both pupil and teacher from society, and
conduct the experiment in isolation from it.”28 With this
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explanation, we are able to shift away from recommendations for

the countryside being considered only as suggestions or a model.
Instead, we should focus on why Rousseau recommends this
setting as a backdrop to his entire experiment. For one, as O’Hagan
mentions, Rousseau considered public schools and colleges to be
unsound. In his opening pages of Emile, Rousseau describes such
institutions as “ridiculous,” teaching children to become “double-
minded, seemingly concerned for others, but really only concerned
for themselves” (EM: 13). Rousseau believes that more intimate
communities allow parents to shield their children from these
“filthy morals of the town” (EM: 42). Thus, in the Confessions,
Rousseau praises the “simplicity of this rural existence” and
explains that the country “opened [his] heart to friendship” (CN:
24). In Emile, he further recommends the rural setting because it
allows parents to be the masters of everything that surrounds their
child.29
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Rousseau’s account in Confessions of his move into the

country from the city marks a significant change in his educational
development as a child. Whereas in the city life Rousseau
voraciously read books with his father, the country life offered him
a more relaxed, childlike existence. These two activities—playing
and reading—exemplify the distinction Rousseau draws between
early childhood and late childhood. The difference between
children of varying ages lies in their ability to use, and understand,
reason.
Rousseau believes that young children are not yet capable
of reason: “It is impossible to form any idea of moral facts or
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social relations before the age of reason…[Children’s] knowledge

is all in sensation; nothing has got through to the understanding”
(EM: 47). Since children cannot yet understand or employ their
rationality, reasoning must be an end, not a means, to education.
Rousseau’s recommendations for early childhood education mirror
this observation of the child’s predicament. For one, the education
in morals should not consist in teaching virtues, but in avoiding
vices. Rousseau contends that the boy’s first lessons should be
“purely negative.” One scholar describes this education as
“intervening only to remove obstacles which would hinder the free
play of nature, or to create circumstances favorable to it.”30
P P
When it comes to shielding children from moral education,

Rousseau observes that, of course, it is impossible to bring up a
child to the recommended age of twelve without teaching him
something about human relationships and moral conduct. Until that
age, however, he recommends postponing these “necessary
notions” as long as one can, then only telling him limited
information when needed (EM: 44). The concept of “necessary
notions” is not meant to entail that a child should lack all moral
qualities until twelve, for Rousseau states that Emile will become
“hard working, temperate, patient, stable and courageous” just
from his natural education (EM: 93). The concept of “natural
education” is not meant to imply that everything the child
encounters is coming about entirely naturally. O’Hagan notes,
“During the period of negative education, the child is to be
surrounded by an environment of artificial necessity, encountering
obstacles which appear to be the inevitable outcome of his own
behaviour, rather than willed by others.”31 Yet accompanying this
P P
negative education is the notion that children should have no

verbal learning nor should they read books, for children
“remember words but ideas are reflected off” (EM: 46). Rousseau
equates “the greatest plague of childhood” with reading (EM: 51).
Although he still contends that children should learn to read, he
believes that constant reading would be a bother to children,
especially if they are compelled against their will.
Rousseau’s belief that children are incapable of rational
thinking is not meant to entail that he believes children possess no
kind of reason at all. He argues that “they think very well on
everything which bears on their present and obvious interest” (EM:
57). Therefore, Rousseau recommends educational practices which
focus the pupil’s mind “on what directly affects him,” which
chiefly means exercising his body continually (EM: 53).32 P P
Rousseau argues that children should learn through their senses,

through investigating and exploring the natural world.33 He P P
describes living through this state of childhood in the Confessions:

“I felt before I thought: which is the common lot of man, though
more pronounced in my case than in another’s” (CN: 19).
Replacing this education with books teaches the child not to reason
for himself, but to rely upon the reason of others, whereas the
The Pulse .
child’s education is meant to train him to think on his own. Until

he is able to do so, his education should be a joyful celebration of
childhood. Rousseau beckons parents, “Love childhood. Look with
friendly eyes on its games, its pleasures, its amiable dispositions”
(EM: 33). Rousseau asks adults to give children “well regulated
liberty” (EM: 39). By the age of twelve, then, the child may know
little by heart, but he has acquired much experience. Rousseau
envisions this “complete child” having pleasant thoughts,
eagerness, and vigor.
Because Rousseau strongly recommends this type of early
childhood education, he understands his personal development as a
child to come in reverse order. He depicts two stages of his
childhood development in connection with the towns in which he
lived: Geneva and Bossey. Rousseau spent his first days in Geneva
with his father. At an early age, he learned to read, although he
claims he does not remember how. What Rousseau does recall is
the effect these books had on his young mind. The types of books
Rousseau first read were romantic and sensational novels. “At first
it was only to give me some practice in reading,” he explains, “But
soon my interest in this entertaining literature became so strong
that we read by turns continuously, and spent whole nights so
engaged” (CN: 19-20). Rousseau describes this hunger for books
as dangerous, for it gave him a “singular insight for [his] age into
the passions” (CN: 20). Though he had not yet acquired knowledge
of the passions through his senses, and thus had no conception of
the “facts,” Rousseau claims that he became “familiar with every
feeling” (CN: 20) from the information in these books. Like
Rousseau describes in Emile, he learned the passions by relying
upon the reason of others. Since he had yet no understanding of
ideas, he “grasped nothing” yet “sensed everything” (CN: 20).
Through this experience, Rousseau claims that his reasoning
powers were not warped, for at that time he had none, yet his
passions were shaped in such a way as to give him the “strangest
and most romantic notions about human life, which neither
experience nor reflection has ever succeeded in curing me of” (CN:
20).
Later in his time with his father, Rousseau turned to his
grandfather’s library where he read works like the Parallel Lives of
Plutarch. These contributed to his sense of heroism and his love of
the republican spirit and of liberty, passions which continued to
influence him throughout his life. In his early career, he describes
“playing the anti-despot and proud Republican” in his feelings
towards France, for his “earlier reading, always confined to French
authors, nurtured [his] affection for France, and finally transformed
it into so blind a passion that nothing has been able to conquer it”
(CN: 177). Rousseau’s passion for the republic, specifically that of
the Romans, is echoed even when he is fully grown. Visiting the
Pont du Gard he is so taken aback by the Roman remains that he
passionately exclaims, “‘If only I had been born a Roman!’” (CN:
The Pulse .
243). Rousseau’s development of this romantic viewpoint and his

early love of books might be why he calls himself “a man since
birth” (CN: 169).
It was not until Rousseau moved to the small village of
Bossey at the age of ten that he began to prefer games and play as
a relaxation. He describes the simplicity of this rural setting as
bringing him invaluable benefit, such as opening him to friendship.
“Up to that time,” in his home in Geneva, Rousseau “had known
nothing but lofty and theoretical emotions” (CN: 24). From his
friendship with his cousin Bernard in Bossey, Rousseau learned
both the bonds of affection and the love of freedom. The boys were
allowed almost complete freedom at Bossey, which Rousseau
claims they never abused. They lived from pleasure to pleasure in
the outdoors, busying themselves with constructing toys like kites,
drums, cages, pipes, and even model houses. Rousseau states these
details to note that this “early education was on the right lines”
(CN: 35). Overall, he muses that “if only [Bossey] had lasted
longer it could not have failed to fix my character for ever. It was
founded on the affectionate, tender, and peaceable emotions” (CN:
25).
Nurture versus Nature, or, The Political versus the Natural

Man
When we compare and contrast the educational works of
Locke and Rousseau, we find not only differing accounts of the
natural state of children and the methods of education, but varying
emphases on end results. In this section, I will compare these two
philosophers’ views on several topics: the natural inclinations of
children, the role of parents, the proposed method of education,
and the duty of the educated man in society. Locke and Rousseau
differ chiefly on the concept of nurture versus nature and on the
role of gentlemen in relationship to politics.
Locke’s understanding of natural inclinations is not entirely
T
optimistic. Whereas parents should cherish, and even cater to, their
child’s curiosity and love of liberty, children must be taught to
subdue their natural desire for dominion. Locke’s method of
education takes these natural faculties, likes and dislikes, into
consideration. He proposes habits to break children of laziness
(TCE: § 21) and to keep them from becoming spoiled (TCE: §
106), while insisting on other actions which will encourage the
love of liberty in children, such as allowing them “seasons of
freedom” to play or work, whichever the child chooses (TCE: §
125). Locke also understands children to have the natural desire to
T
be treated rationally. He insists that children “understand it

[reason] as early as they do language” (TCE: § 81). Although
children themselves do not have the capability yet of employing
reason, they can recognize developed rationality in others, and they
take pride in participating in the experience. Because of this
natural desire to be considered rational creatures, Locke
The Pulse .
recommends that a father should not only “talk familiarly with [his
child],” but further, “ask his advice and consult with him about
those things where he has any knowledge or understanding” (TCE:
§ 95). With the goal of helping a child become a man, such familial
conversation brings the young mind into serious considerations and
reasoning, raising his mind above capricious amusements. Locke
urges: “The sooner you treat him as a man, the sooner he will begin
to be one” (TCE: § 95).34
P P
Whereas Locke emphasizes that natural qualities like self-

dominion and dominion over others should be curbed and that the
passions should be subdued by reason, Rousseau insists that
inclinations are “our nature” to which everything else should
conform (EM: 12), with our first inclination being self-esteem
(EM: 94) and our second, “the love [man] has for the people he
sees ready to help him” (EM: 97).35 For Rousseau, inclinations
P P
only strengthen and extend in children as the children grow in

sense and intelligence. Children should learn to cherish their
natural senses and feelings, even after developing reason. For
instance, in the Confessions Rousseau praises Madame de Warens
for her pure heart and her “upright and virtuous” inclinations. In
contrast, he criticizes her for following her reason, which was false
and invented, “instead of listening to her heart which gave her
good counsel…When false principles led her astray, her true
feelings always gave them the lie” (CN: 190). Rousseau also
openly scoffs at the thought of talking to children as if they were
rational beings:
Locke’s great maxim was to reason with children;

and it is the most popular method at the present day.
Its success does not appear to recommend it; for my
own part, I have never seen anyone so silly as those
children with whom they have reasoned so much.
Of all man’s faculties, Reason, which is a
combination for the rest, is developed last and with
greatest difficulty; yet this is the faculty which we
are asked to use for the development of the earlier.
It is the climax of a good education to form a man
who is capable of reason; and we propose to
educate a young child by means of his reason! This
is beginning where we ought to end, and making of
the finished product an instrument in its own
manufacture.36 P P
Rousseau contends that the circular questioning of children can

never be answered, and one would have to threaten children to
have any sort of effect on their reason. Hence, it is best to leave the
reasoning out until children have reached the proper age of twelve
or fifteen.
The Pulse .
These differences of opinion on natural inclinations

between Locke and Rousseau lead these philosophers to varying
strategies of education, with their projects emphasizing nurture or
nature, respectively. Interestingly, both philosophers still
T
understand the role of parents to be foundational for the right

development of children. This conviction, however, is expressed
differently depending on the role of nature and nurture for each.
For Locke, parents serve as the child’s reason and craft a social
setting to guide his ideas. They practically create the society that
surrounds their child, where “no ill examples [are] set before
them,” such as the talk of the servants or other ill-ordered children
(TCE: § 76). Instead, Locke recommends that children “be in the
company of their parents and those to whose care they are
committed” (TCE: § 69). Locke makes these suggestions in order
to shield children from the infection of vices, and, as mentioned
previously, parents can begin bringing children into suitable
conversation.
T Likewise, Rousseau believes in the rural setting because it
T
enables parents to protect their children from the “filthy morals of

the town” (EM: 42), yet his emphasis on natural education places
parents in a different role than in Locke’s account.37 Rousseau
P P
insists that parents should not instruct young children through

teaching in social settings or through commands—unlike Locke’s
insistence that children learn to dance and practice sociable
manners—but parents should allow the child to grow naturally by
protecting the integrity of this state and keeping the evils of city
life out. They should allow necessary lessons to come in the child’s
way, but should not instruct the child on how to think about things.
T
Thus, while the role of parents for each of these

philosophers consists of shielding children from the vices of
others, the role differs according to the use of nature versus
nurture. For Locke, children are trained through nurturing more
than nature, using reputation and habits. The expectations of
valuable society (the child’s parents, the tutor, and trusted friends)
serve as a vehicle of learning through reputation, and habits
become a basis of training for correct actions. Through the habit of
giving, for instance, Locke understands children to learn such
virtues as liberality and generosity: “[C]hildren may…be brought
to conceive that those that are commended and in esteem for doing
well will…have all other good things as a consequence of it”
(TCE: § 58). These habits should curb the natural wants which are
problematic, such as the desire for dominion. Also, habits
guarantee that children learn virtues even from a young age.
Children may not yet understand virtues, precepts, or rules, but
they can begin practicing them.
Rousseau directly critiques Locke for teaching by habit. He
calls the child who learns liberality the Lockean way a trained
hypocrite, claiming that “Locke advises us to convince children by
The Pulse .
experience that the most liberal is always the best provided for.
This plan makes a child liberal in appearance and covetous in fact.
He adds that children will thus acquire a habit of liberality: Yes,
the liberality of a usurer, who gives a penny to get a pound.”38 P P
Unlike Locke, Rousseau understands the motives of reputation as

hypocritical, and of reputation itself corrupt altogether, as it is part
of society. Gabriel Compayre further argues, “Rousseau’s
naturalism rejects both the use of society for training and the use of
habits. On the one hand, no commands are to be given to the child;
on the other, he is to be taught nothing. Hence, no moral authority,
no material discipline in the child’s upbringing.”39
P P
Rousseau, however, describes an early childhood designed

to minimize the obstacles of civilization and bring man as near to
nature as possible. Instead of educated men being guided by
societal reputation, Rousseau desires for a child to have no other
guide than his own inclinations by the time he is partially grown.
Formal moral education does not begin until the child reaches
adolescence, and even then he only “gradually approach[es] moral
notions involving the distinction of good and evil” (EM: 71). Even
then, the training of moral education still seems to follow the
naturalist, instead of nurturing, path since Rousseau claims that
instruction in judgment and reason does not teach the child to
depart from natural tendencies: “Nature chooses her instruments,
and makes use of them not according to opinion but according to
necessity…The best way of learning to judge correctly is to
simplify our sense experiences as much as possible” (EM: 92). In
the end, Emile should cherish virtue “not merely for the love of
social order…but for the love of the Author of his being which
enters into his self-love” (EM: 117).
Finally, we find a remarkable difference between the
purpose and aim of education for both philosophers. Locke writes
his Thoughts Concerning Education specifically to train gentlemen
who will become leaders in the political and social arena,
providing for the overall project of democracy and liberalism.
Gentlemen govern society in many senses, owning businesses or
even participating in politics. As leaders, gentlemen can
perpetuate virtue in society and increase the prospects of the
lower classes. Thus, one can say that the “welfare and prosperity
of the nation…depends on [their education]” (TCE: dedication).
Although Locke does retain the hierarchy of rank or order
through the class of gentlemen, he does not perpetuate the class
structure in his philosophy. Locke does not intend for gentlemen
to disregard the lower classes or put them at a disadvantage.40 P P
Instead, Locke intends for this group to serve as a key to the

democratization and gradual leveling of society. The Lockean
gentleman is concerned with protecting life, liberty, and property
for all individuals in society. He is a new breed: instead of
continuing the inequalities of the class system, this gentleman is
self-controlled and hard-working; he respects people in all classes
The Pulse .
of society. Steven Forde describes the Lockean breeding of

gentlemen as that which “links virtue and happiness by being the
art of deriving happiness from bringing happiness to others.”41 P P
In contrast, though raised in the countryside, Rousseau’s

child is not meant to reside entirely outside of society for life. He is
instead “a savage made to inhabit cities, a street-wise adult who is
happy and autonomous.”42 Upon entering society, the young man
P P
should interact with those worthy of interaction, until eventually he

is “educated in, though not corrupted by, the ways of the world,
traveling abroad and studying politics and society.”43 Yet P P
Rousseau’s education is not meant to train the citizen. Rousseau

has been criticized for making his education “either-or: either
education for individuality, or education for community.”44 He P P
claims in La Nouvelle Heloise that man is too noble a being to

have to serve as a mere instrument for others.45 To put it in Kantian
P P
language, Rousseau believes that man should always be treated as

an end in and to himself and never as a means to the community at
large.
However, when Rousseau considers education in light of
politics, his emphasis on personal worth largely disappears.
Rousseau’s concern with the well-being of the community is
expressed through the General Will principle of the Social
Contract, which provides “the total alienation of each associate,
together with all of his rights, to the entire community” (SC: 1.6).
When men enter contractually, they must sacrifice all of their
rights to the whole. The community itself becomes the embodied
rights, and each man has equally forfeited and holds an equal,
separate association. Therefore, Rousseau argues that man in this
state “by himself is a perfect and solitary whole,” yet by giving in
to the community alters his “constitution in order to strengthen it”
(SC: 2.7). He gives himself to all, yet actually gives himself to no
one (SC: 1.6).
Rousseau’s education of Emile cannot seem to fit with this
interaction with society. What, then, does Rousseau mean when he
claims that Emile will become “a member of society and must
fulfill its obligations” (EM: 120) or a savage in the streets? Even
with this contradiction, we can at least see that Rousseau
recommends that a well-educated man’s presence in society be
minimal, in that he should live close to nature, eat and live simply,
and leave Paris.46 We find such an emphasis in the Confessions
P P
when Rousseau praises the countryside and his escape from the ills
of Parisian life. He comments that his education was not achieved
until he moved again to a life that “was as simple as it was
pleasant,” in the countryside with Mme de Warrens (CN: 173).
Thus, the educational methods of Locke and Rousseau
emphasize either nurture or nature, based on differing views of
inclinations and on varying aims for the future of the educated
child. Locke’s child is trained to become an individual of action in
society, while Rousseau’s child is trained to lead the simple,
The Pulse .
natural life of beauty and simplicity slightly outside of society.

These distinct goals provide the theoretical basis of their different
educational philosophies. The reader’s respective valuations of the
two philosophers are likely to be related to his or her sense of
whether education trains people for citizenship in particular or for
life in general.
NOTES
1
TPLocke defines innate ideas in the Essay Concerning Human Understanding as
PT
“some primary Notions…Characters…stamped upon the Mind of Man, which

the Soul receives in its very first Being; and brings into the World with it” (II.1).
2
TPThis section about John Locke is largely drawn from my senior honors thesis,
PT
“Education for a Liberal Polity: John Locke’s Teaching on Fashioning Citizens

and Statemen.” Hereafter, all citations will be noted in the body of the text. The
following editions and abbreviations shall be used: Locke, Some Thoughts
Concerning Education [TCE] and Of the Conduct of Understanding [CU];
Locke, Two Treatises of Government [2T]; Locke, An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding [EU].
3
TP PTIn this same passage, Locke stresses the variety of natural tempers even further
by adding, “There are possibly scarce two children who can be conducted by
exactly the same method.” The array of temperaments includes the following
list: stout, timorous, confident, modest, tractable, obstinate, curious, careless,
quick, or slow (TCE: § 101). See also TCE: §§ 66 and 102.
4
TP PTDuring these free moments, the child will act of his natural temperament and
inclinations. In the presence of others, the child may not act as naturally. This is
because children, “earlier perhaps than we think,” are “sensible of praise and
commendation” (TCE: § 57).
5
“For as these are different in him, so are your methods to be different, and your
TP PT
authority must hence take measures to apply itself different ways to him” (TCE:
§ 102).
6
TPTarcov, Locke’s Education for Liberty, 109. Tarcov also concludes that
PT
Locke’s statement in TCE: § 101 in which he claims that original tempers

cannot be mended by rules “does not mean they are not to be cured at all.
Instead of by rules or a direct contest, it is ‘with Art they may be much mended
and turned to good purposes’” (TCE: § 102), Tarcov, 130.
7
TP PTThis sentiment echoes Locke’s description of the political necessity of
equality.
8
TP PT For the reasonable man should not be ruled by passions.
9
TP PT Because of this, self-denial serves as the foundation for virtue. See TCE: § 33.
10
TP PT There are several sections throughout the Thoughts where Locke mentions
P
that children cannot yet understand precepts, rules, and principles. One example
is his explanation that children must learn from habit rather than rules (TCE: §§
10, 64-66). A second example can be found in his discussion of justice. Locke
explains, “[C]hildren cannot well comprehend what injustice is till they
understand property and how particular persons come by it…[A]s their
capacities enlarge, other rules and cases of justice and rights concerning meum
and tuum may be proposed and inculcated” (TCE: § 110).
11
TP PT P Locke, Locke: Political Essays, 271.
The Pulse .
12
P Ibid., 272. “He therefore that would govern the world well, had need consider
P
rather what fashion he makes, than what laws; and to bring anything into use he
need only to give it reputation.”
13
TP Interestingly, in the essay “Reputation,” and in the Second Treatise, Locke
PT P
holds Divine reward and punishment as a significant motivator for virtuous

action. However, in the Thoughts he relies very little on Divine ordination for
teaching children virtue. See Tarcov, Locke’s Education for Liberty, 106.
14
TP PT Locke’s concept of “gentlemen” refers mostly to the aristocracy and middle
P
classes of England. He writes his letters on education, which became the

Thoughts, as advice to his dear friend, and fellow Whig party member, Edward
Clarke, who was a lawyer. Locke, considered a doctor, also fit into the
gentleman class.
15
TP PT P Locke, Locke: Political Essays, 350.
16
TP PT P Ibid., 350.
17
PTRousseau, Emile, 11. Compare this statement to the opening of his Social
T P
Contract: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Basic Political

Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau,141. Hereafter, all Rousseau quotations will
be cited as follows: Rousseau, The Emile of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, [EM];
Rousseau, The Confessions, [CN]; the Social Contract [SC], from the Basic
Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
18
TP PT For Rousseau, early childhood ends at the age of twelve when the child passes
P
from boyhood into the approach of adolescence. Rousseau divides Emile into
five sections: infancy, boyhood, approach of adolescence, adolescence,
marriage. My enquiry will focus on infancy and boyhood.
19
PT T “Dependence on things being non-moral is not prejudicial to freedom and
P
engenders no vices; dependence on men being capricious engenders them all.

The only cure for this evil in society would be to put the law in place of the
individual, and to arm the general will with a real power that made it superior to
every individual will” (EM: 35).
20
TP PT P Rousseau, Emile, Julie and Other Writings, 80.
21
TP PT P Ibid., 80.
22
TP PTRousseau furthers this thought by describing the accomplishments of Emile at
P
age 12: “Habit, routine, and custom mean nothing to him. What he did yesterday
has no effect on what he does today. He never follows a fixed rule and never
accepts authority or example. He only does or says what seems good to himself”
(EM: 67).
23
TP PT P Graves, Great Educators of Three Centuries, 87.
24
TP PT P Patterson, Rousseau’s Emile and Early Children’s Literature, 13.
25
TP PT P Ibid., 13.
26
TP PT P Quoted in Patterson, Rousseau’s Emile and Early Children’s Literature, 13.
27
TP At times, Confessions and Emile do contradict each other about early
PT P
childhood education and the practices thereof. Whereas Emile carries a visionary
structure which Rousseau may not be basing on experience from his actual life,
the Confessions portrays the autobiography of Rousseau: what has happened,
not what should happen, or should have happened. However, throughout the
Confessions, Rousseau often analyzes, reflects upon, and even judges his past
experiences as positive, negative, helpful, harmful, etc. These comments provide
the best point of comparison.
Whereas Rousseau writes in detail about his life, thoughts, and happenings for
the world to know, Locke was modest about sharing his personal life, telling
The Pulse .
these sorts of thoughts and confessions only with the dearest of his friends
through private letters. Locke published his Two Treatises of Government
anonymously, even placing them under “A” in his alphabetized home library.
28
TP PT P O’Hagan, “Jean-Jacques Rousseau,” 56.
29
TP PTSee Rousseau, Emile, Julie, and Other Writings, 42. Because a father or tutor
P
must be a “man” himself before teaching his son how to live, Rousseau calls on
adults to also check their own way of living, to “make [themselves] worthy of
the respect and love of everybody, so that all will seek to please [them].”
30
TP PTCompayre, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Education from Nature. See Emile 41:
P
“[T]he first education should be purely negative. It consists not in teaching

virtue and truth, but in preserving the heart from vice and the mind from error.”
31
32
TP PT Also see (EM: 42): “Exercise body, senses, powers, but keep the mind
P
inactive as long as possible. Let childhood ripen in children.”

33
TP PT Rousseau contends that this education is best for children on the basis of
P
empiricism: “Since everything that enters into the human understanding comes
through the senses, the first reason of man is a reason of the senses. On this the
intellectual reason is based. Our first masters of philosophy are our feet, our
hands and our eyes” (EM: 54).
34
TP PTOf course, such conversations must be in proper perspective to a child’s age and
P
ability. Locke does not advocate a three- or seven-year old-arguing treatises (TCE:
§ 81). However, with cultivation proper to these considerations, the father and son
will obtain the greater consequence of friendship.
35
TP PTIn this comment, Rousseau seems to agree with Locke about the fundamental
P
law of nature being self-preservation (2T: II.6), and the second law being to
preserve others as one preserves the self. However, Rousseau’s explicit
observation that we love those who help us seems to differ from Locke. Locke
nowhere specifies that we love those who help us, but simply that we love those
who do not harm us. Thus, Locke’s notion can be considered a “no harm”
principle, while Rousseau’s requires more of the fellow humans.
36
37
TP PT Rousseau emphasizes the place of parents, although his mother’s death at his
P
birth and his father’s eventual abandonment show that Rousseau himself lacked
much parental guidance.
38
39
TP PT P Compayre, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Education from Nature, 25.
40
TP This commitment to the lower level of society reflects Locke’s political
PT P
affiliation as a Whig. On eighteenth-century political parties and socioeconomic

status, see Kearney, History of Education Quarterly, 111 and Bradley,
Eighteenth-Century Studies, 6.
41
TP PT P Forde, “The Moral and Rational Requirements of Locke’s Liberalism,” 27.
42
43
TP PT Ibid., 58. In Emile, Rousseau comments that travel is not for everyone because
P
it can corrupt some: “It is only good for the few people who are strong enough
in themselves to listen to the voice of error and not let themselves be seduced,
and see examples of vice and not be led astray. Travel develops the natural bent
and makes a man either good or bad” (EM: 161).
44
TP PT P William Boyd, editor’s epilogue of The Emile of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 197.
45
TP PT P Ibid., 196.
The Pulse .
46
TP PT P Patterson, Emile and Early Children’s Literature, 30.
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Graves, Frank Pierrepont. Great Educators of Three Centuries.

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Kearney, Hugh. “Locke and the Politics of Education.” History of

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Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Edited

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The Pulse .

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Vol. 4, No.

LOCKE AND ROUSSEAU:

Both John Locke (1632-1734) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

John Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human

entirely from “external, sensible Objects…perceived and

belief in tabula rasa leads Locke to argue that “[c]hildren

I deny not, that there are natural tendencies

innate Characters on the Mind, which are to be the

encourages parents to watch their children, for through

such information, parents can better know how to motivate their

child’s nature not merely to adjust to it but to see ‘how it may be

Locke discusses individual tempers to warn parents that

qualities to fruition by “laying the first foundations of virtue”

industry. Whereas some may argue that children love play-games

Let a child be but ordered to whip his top at a

certain time every day, whether he has or has not a

of freedom to turn children toward learning, for “the chief art is to

reasonable man.8 This is because “everyone can more easily bear a

more desirable than outside coercion.

insists that they can recognize developed rationality in others and

teacher. Regarding the rowdy games and bold attitudes of peer

The principal spring from which the actions of men

This essay is not an approbation of reputation, for Locke describes

gentleman’s concern with reputation should not thwart his liberty.

Since children naturally love liberty, desire to be treated

their children in front of others (TCE: § 62). Meanwhile, he

If it be some action you would have

The first advantage Locke describes in this passage relates to

Thoughts Concerning Reading and Study for a Gentleman,” the

picture of this calling when he explains what kinds of study are

The duty of a gentleman to his country, then, involves governing

gentlemen constitute the class from which the leaders of society

Rousseau describes an early childhood18 educational

method with the hope of minimizing the obstacles of civilization

contradict himself. Whereas in the example with the plant,

Rousseau stresses that habits become ineffective with time, in this

meant to follow only the natural inclinations, and thus he is

Included in these natural inclinations is self-esteem, which

Rousseau wishes to teach natural life. When nature and

from the contract? Sylvia Patterson presents a possible solution by

Rousseau explains that Emile is chiefly a model, and “conditions

these explanations, it seems noteworthy that Rousseau extols the

village of Bossey, outside of Geneva. He describes the country as

explanation, we are able to shift away from recommendations for

Rousseau’s account in Confessions of his move into the

social relations before the age of reason…[Children’s] knowledge

When it comes to shielding children from moral education,

negative education is the notion that children should have no

Rousseau argues that children should learn through their senses,

describes living through this state of childhood in the Confessions:

child’s education is meant to train him to think on his own. Until

243). Rousseau’s development of this romantic viewpoint and his

Nurture versus Nature, or, The Political versus the Natural

be treated rationally. He insists that children “understand it

Whereas Locke emphasizes that natural qualities like self-

only strengthen and extend in children as the children grow in

Locke’s great maxim was to reason with children;

Rousseau contends that the circular questioning of children can

These differences of opinion on natural inclinations

understand the role of parents to be foundational for the right