A foundational text of Western education, this 1762 treatise served as a model f
or a new approach to teaching during the French Revolution. "Emile" recounts a b
oy's education, and Rousseau considered it the most important of his writings. W
ith its theories on the retention of innate human goodness and the avoidance of
corruption from bourgeois society, the book offers prime examples of the author'
sphilosophy.
Rousseau's five-part approach devotes the first three sections to
Emile's early education, including the child's interactions with the larger worl
d and the selection of a trade. The fourth part explores the cultivation of sent
iment, with particular focus on natural religion. The book concludes with a prof
ile of Emile's prospective bride, Sophie, that emphasizes the role of mothers in
educating their children but encourages women to be submissive to their husband
s a view that excited controversy even among Rousseau's contemporaries and helpe
d inspire Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
