Education should be provided in a natural environment in a natural way. He believed that one who is nourished and taught in natural environments automatically becomes a natural man. (iii) The third meaning is attached to the contact with natural phenomena. Rousseau provided three-fold meaning of Nature, viz: Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Concept of Nature: The catch-words of his naturalism were freedom, growth, interest and activity which are ascribed to the modern progressive education.Įssay # 3. Therefore, his naturalism holds that the best learning comes from dealing with natural objects. Above all, he was a true love of nature: mountains, streams, sun-rise and sun-set, and panorama of the country life. Education must be in consonance with original and unspoiled human nature. His appeal is always to ‘Nature’ as against civilization and society. Besides, he wanted a fully developed man enjoying a community life who would be governed by the laws of his own nature without being swayed by the passions and prejudices of the corrupt society. He favored natural civilization, free from all forms of artificial barriers put up by the society. He rejected any form of external imposition on the child, for he is born free and endowed with native instincts, tendencies and capacities which should be allowed a free and fuller development.

His idea of “State of Nature’ was a simple farming community without evils. Leave him alone who will be unfettered by any institutions and free from the trammels of usage, tradition and tyranny. He insisted on ‘Return to Nature’ as the strong method to mend the world of troubles. He stated vociferously, “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature but everything degenerates in the hands of man.” (Opening sentence of ‘Emile’, in 1762). He thought that all the ills and miseries of the people are due to the apparent departure from the state of nature. The crux of his philosophy is ‘Naturalism’ and thus, the keynote of his philosophy was to have a ‘Natural State’, ‘a’ Natural man’ and a Natural Civilization. In the educational domain, he still remains as the fore-father of modern education characterised by freedom, nature, interest, growth “and activity of the educands.Įssay # 2. Among the literary creations, his “social contract,” “The New Heloise,” “Emile,” “Discourse of Political Economy ,” Discourse on the Sciences and Arts”, are few of them.

Jean jacques rousseau emil