Rousseaus Émile: En tidlös provokation

Abstract

One of the most legendary educational books ever written is Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “Emile ou de l’Education”. Most obviously Rousseau wrote this book guided by diverse more or less conscious purposes and one of the main problems it presents is paradoxical: Does education have to promote freedom by force? In this article I will, firstly, present several aims that might have triggered Rousseau to write “Emile”. Secondly, I will discuss Rousseau’s view of the so called “educational paradox”. Since this quandary touches the topic of many other of his books, I will discuss “Emile” along with Rousseau’s other works and thus place his educational story in his “great narrative”.