Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile

The true self as the natural self

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was born in Geneva and developed many of his philosophical views in Paris. His philosophy had a profound influence on modern political and social thought, and on education. His conception of the self and authenticity made an impact on our contemporary way of thinking. In his writings he argues that social institutions and social norms distort our natural self. They cause people to wear a false social mask which is alienated from their true nature. The natural element in the person is the authentic source in us, which we should value and develop.

The following quotations are from Rousseau’s famous book, Emile. In this book he illustrates his approach to education, using an imaginary example of an educator who raises and teaches a boy called Emile. The goal of the educator is to nourish the child’s natural tendencies and help them grow, while protecting them from negative social influences. The educator is, therefore, like a gardener who cares for a small tree, protecting it from negative external influences until it grows to be strong enough. In Rousseau’s text, Emile grows up to become a man who behaves in a simple and direct way, a man who is self-sufficient and full of life, without pretense and falsity and excessive ambitions. This is a man whose behavior, thoughts and feelings come from his natural self.

From Book I: General Introduction

God makes all things good; man interferes with them and they become evil. He forces one soil to produce the products of another soil, one tree to bear the fruit of another tree. He confuses and mixes time, place, and natural conditions… He destroys and spoils all things. He loves everything that is deformed and monstrous. He is not satisfied with anything as nature made it, not even with man himself...

     Yet, things would be worse without education... Prejudice, authority, necessity, bad examples, all the social conditions into which we are thrown, would suppress nature in him and put nothing instead.  Nature would be like a small tree in the middle of the highway, bent this way and that way, and soon crushed by those who pass by.

     I ask you, you can remove this young tree from the highway and protect it from the crushing force of social conventions. Take care of it and water it, or else it would die.  One day its fruit will reward your care.

(…)

To be something, to be himself, and always at one with himself, a person must act in the same way he speaks, he must know which road he has to take, and he must follow this road with energy and persistence.

(…)

This is nature's law; why contradict it? Don’t you see that in your efforts to improve upon its work you are destroying and wasting it?

Emile cares too little about the opinions of other people to value their prejudices. And he doesn’t care whether people respect him or not until they know him. His attitude is neither shy nor arrogant, but natural and sincere. He knows nothing about constraint or concealment, and he is just the same in a group of people as when he is alone… He cannot bear to see anyone suffer. He will not give up his place to another person from mere external politeness, but he will willingly give it out of kindness… He doesn’t flatter or agree. He says his opinion without arguing with others, because he loves liberty above all things…

He says little, because he is not anxious to attract attention. For the same reason he only says what is to the point… His heart is tender and sensitive, but he doesn’t care about popular opinion, although he loves to give pleasure to others …For the same reasons he will never be careless about his manners or his clothes...

     He knows how he should seek his own happiness in life, and how he can contribute to the happiness of others. His sphere of knowledge is restricted to what is profitable. His path is narrow and clearly defined… Emile is a man of common sense and he has no desire to be anything more.