Formation versus Instruction in Rousseau's Emile

Abstract

In the second phase of the natural education outlined by Rousseau in "Emile" or "On Education," the adolescent enters the stage of learning a profession, where the philosopher directs his apprentice to refine their senses at the expense of reason. From this premise, the aim of this article is to characterize the difference between formation and instruction, focusing on the excerpt from Book III of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's pedagogical work, "Emile" or "On Education," where the philosopher discusses the importance of work in an individual's life. The methodology employed will be bibliographic, with interpretative analysis of the primary text and commentators discussing the theme. As work is one of the main survival items in human life, educating a child from infancy to adulthood inevitably entails addressing the topic's impact on human and cognitive development. Rousseau's perspective on this matter diverges from some educational paradigms prevalent in Modernity. Thus, the aim is to contribute new approaches to this perennially relevant theme of work and how, in Rousseau's view, it assumes a perspective within the parameters of negative education.