International Journal of Basic Sciences & Applied Research. Vol., 3 (SP), 289-293, 2014
Available online at http://www.isicenter.org
ISSN 2147-3749 ©2014
A Comparison of the Perspectives of Rousseau and Freud on the Human Nature and Its
Educational Implications
Roghayeh Barzegar1*, Mohammad Hassan Karimi2
1Ph.D
2Assistant
Student of Department of Foundations of Education. Shiraz University
Professor of Philosophy of Education. Department of Foundations of Education. Shiraz University
*Corresponding
Author Email: [email protected]
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is an investigation of the outlooks adopted by Rousseau and
Freud about human nature and its educational implications based on two positive and
negative perspectives for humanity. Therefore, we seek to answer these questions: what is
Rousseau’s idea of human nature? What is that of Freud’s? What are their implications in
education? The method used is descriptive and interpretative. The research shows that
Rousseau thinks that human nature is basically good and flawless and says that since
children are pure and innocent creatures the natural method must be used in educating them
and in his opinion the criterion for training and raising a child is the imitation of nature;
Rousseau thinks the society and community to be the corruptors of the human nature. In
return, Freud prepares a picture of humanity based on which human nature is evil and
aggressive in essence. He believes that humans are ruled by their aggressive nature and
explains that humans are not pacific creatures who only fight in response to violence; rather,
they have a deep sensation for aggression. Quite contrary to Rousseau he there was no any
restraints from the community and the super-ego, the humans would have destroyed one
another a long time ago.
Keywords: Rousseau, Freud, Education, Nature, Aggression, Instinct.
Introduction
The nature and essence of human beings is a subject of education and more precisely the quality of being educated is based
on the premise that in human nature there are some gifts and capacities that can be fallible or prefect. These capacities or potentials
can make humans legitimate for education and training as there are some unfulfilled qualities that wait to be realized. In this
particular sense, our thoughts, aims, methods and instruments that we use can shape the circumstances surrounding education.
These opinions form the very core of the philosophy of education for any school of thought. It follows that first to move in this
direction one has to identify and pinpoint the talents and capacities along with the values and existential dimensions attached to
human nature in order to design the tools and techniques for education. The trainings must be commensurate with the human nature
and not one that does not fit into this category rendering the nature and capacities. Ultimately, this would lead to discontents and
disharmony among the humans and the other appearances of being (Aminfar, 1995).
Discussions on the human nature and essence have been central to all the sects and schools and each has shaped their
educational philosophy differently by their visions (Aminfar, 1995). In the enlightenment era, the philosophers thought that humans
are not violent in nature and their aggressive behavior is sometimes caused by the surrounding circumstances and man is made to
make a choice. In their opinion, by changing the situation the innate goodness reappears (From,2001). Jean Jacque Rousseau is
one of the thinkers who say that the human nature is good and is sometimes corrupted by the community of people and thus one as
a child must grow by his nature away from the manipulations of the community (Vasegh Ghaznavi,2011). With the advent of the two
global wars and the crimes committed by Hitler and Mussolini, and Stalin and with mass murders and furnaces used for burning the
victims some of the western intellectuals concluded that man is violent in nature and will commit any crime is not prohibited and this
view is rooted in the thought that traditionally the human nature is evil (Aminfar, 1995). Freud is of the group that has recognized the
human nature as evil and the education as a process which must oppose the nature by imposing constraints and discipline (vasegh
Ghaznavi, 2011). Human is an animal, perceived by Freud, who is very bellicose, blood shedding and violent and in human
psychology only when they envisages a larger pleasure they forbear violence, obviously not in the sense that they are naturally and
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basically good. On the opposite side, Rousseau is of the opinion that humans are essentially good unless corrupted by the societal
tradition (Aminfar, 1995).
1-the Freudian perspective on human nature
Based on this perspective, the human mind is like an ice berg, only the tip of which can be seen. This visible part is the conscious
and the other main part is the subconscious. The subconscious is a wide array of suppressed motives, desires, and ideas about
which one is not very conscious. In truth, these factors are the main determinants of human behavior which are the id, the ego and
the superego (Shamlou, 2011 & Stevenson, 1989). The id is present in humans after the birth in hereditary fashion and it can be the
source of all the psychic powers consisting of the ego and superego. The id receives its power from the physical systems in turn.
The sexual instincts and the raw motives like violence and pleasure are created by the id. In this way, Freud is of the opinion that the
essential state of the inner self which causes the psychological and physical incentives is called the instinct. The physical source of
its inclinations includes the wish and the wants. On this basis, it can be said that the instincts determine the whole behaviors of
humans. The whole of these instincts create the human psychological power (Shalmou, 2011).
Freud highly considers two important instincts in humans which is the life and death instinct. Sexual derives are included under
the life instinct which show the endeavors by humans to survive and reproduce. The underlying concept of energy in sexuality is
called libido. So, as the name was later used widely, the term which applies to the psychological energy which seeks being satisfied
in sexual activities is called libido (Shamlou, 2011). Arguably, the second group of the instincts is given the label the death instincts
considered as the supporting system for the aggressive and cruel and criminal motives such as murder, suicide, and war (Shamlou,
2011). Freud believes that anything that we do or intend to do or even see in our dreams has been predetermined and organized by
the unavoidable powers inside us. We are struggling with the instincts of life and death. Our adult personality is completely shaped
by our interactions as a child that has less than five years of age during a period in which we have had nor sensible control over life
and we are falling victim to a determinism based on these experiences (Bashiri,2009). Therefore, before anything, he believes in an
idea of unchangeable lives. Humans act originally and irrationally according to Freud as most of the motives are determined by their
subconscious instincts over which they have no control and the id is utterly located in a subconscious part of the mind this id is in
control of rationality and human derives (Bashiri, 2009). Freud did not give a pleasant and optimistic picture of humanity. He thought
that a human is similar to a battle-field of conflicts often leading to his defeat. On the other hand, humans tend to use the instincts of
death in dealing with one another. Freud has indicated the wars, murders and massacres to support his view. This view was even
stronger as Freud grew older and experienced the First World War and the Nazism. The sexual and aggressive derives which come
of the life and death instincts respectively compel humans to selfishly satisfy their appeals. Freud thus forms the theory that the
future of the human race can only be possible if there are some rules and constraints imposed by the community to control these
destructive and harmful instincts in individuals. We are violent animals according to Freud and only the civilization can control the
sexual appetites and appetites for destruction among humans.
This problem is not going to be solved by socialization because this process is in conflict with the selfish derives and
inclinations that constantly make tensions in varying forms and so the reason for being obedient to the social controls is that single
individuals has a desire for the support of the others. However, this social control comes at a price which is taking away the human
vigor and pleasure which could otherwise be satisfied by uncontrolled fulfillments. Accordingly, the subconscious compartment of the
mind contradicts these social constraints and as Freud himself had doubts about any certain solution for this problem, he suggested
that the civilization uses the analogous process (absorbing the values of the others and especially those of the parents) and
elevation (using the energy of these instincts in socially desirable activities) to contain the destructive instincts. The aim of Freudian
psychology in psychoanalysis is the strengthening of the “ego” (the conscious and rational part of human personality) so that the
inclinations can be controlled and proper outlets can be provided for them.
The role of the Freudian psychology in education
Freud was of the opinion that humans right after birth possess a kind of energy known as libido made up of sexual and aggressive
instincts. The human personality is thus made up of three parts known as the id, the ego and superego. The id is the section merely
in pursuit of pleasure which can be presented in eating, drinking, and sexual activities in a way not in conform to the lives of the
others. However, the ego is the actual section of human personality that follows a realistic approach to the needs and requirements.
The superego is the moral conscience and those who have a strong composition, in Freud’s opinion, have a powerful superego. The
thoughts and actions are thus influenced by the instincts that subconsciously control everything. Following this argument, an
education system after the teachings of Freud requires responses to human instincts and desires as humans have psycho-sexual
natures and education is organized in this way. However, using the same perspective, the education must be such that it can
moderate the instincts and desires of humans inasmuch as the uncontrolled and prohibited pursuit of the desires can lead to
violence and corruption so much that the continuation of human life might be impossible.
3-The Rousseau’s perspectives on education
Rousseau has a clean and pure picture of humanity and thinks the human nature good and desirable. He thus explains the situation
of man: everything that comes from the hand of the universe creator is free from flaws but it will be corrupted as soon as it is
possessed by the human hand. The humans do not want anything to be as created by nature even if it is the human. The human
child must grow as trees in a garden in the way that the nature sees as fit (Rousseau, 2011).
In the introduction to the book which is the social contract, Rousseau says that nature has created man perfectly but the community
has made him aggressive and evil. Nature has created him free and the communities have made a slave of him. These are the
expression one truth as the relation of the community to nature is like that of evil and good. Rousseau’s inferences are all based on
this premise (Rousseau, 2011). Rousseau’s emphasis on the human perfection is just the opposite of the Middle Ages belief that
humans were evil by nature focusing on the eternal sin focusing on the exemption of man from the wrongdoing by strict rules. He
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turned the attention of the educators to the upbringing of the children and proposed the idea that to educate a child the natural rules
must be followed as living by the codes of nature and avoiding the artificialities (Shah Hassani, 2008). In his first boo “Emile” he says
that in nature as in the wild humans are naturally good and cannot be evil as there is not yet any rules and moral obligations by
which the good and evil can be distinguished. He is selfish because he follows his instincts in self-preservation. He does not mean
harm and takes only as much as he needs. Even he has a kind of mercy and sympathy for his fellow creatures and if he himself is
healthy he would try to help the others. He has gentle and painful feelings and emotions that awaken his instincts. Immorality and
corruption only comes by when the emotions are mixed with the rationality and selfishness becomes right and lawful which is of
course inappropriate and hateful. The addition of the requirements and desires, inventing artificial comforts and pleasures, made
only to attract the attention of the others, is further evidence of the actions against the blueprint of nature leading to struggle for
survival, uncontrolled and unleashed temptations, the weakening of sympathetic emotions and all the changes that have been
created in human nature in a community (Rousseau, 2011).
Being obedient to nature is indeed being obedient to the will of god and the fate that god has designed for humans (Shatoo,
2009). Joining the community is according to Rousseau the continuation of the sin that the Adam had committed as a special talent
of humans. In Emile, he says: “everything in the human hand changes it nature and humans accept nothing as they are created by
nature”. (Shattoo, 2009). “There is going to be much need for the redemption of man, to protect the natural man, and avoid the
change of the natural man into the present civilized man, to expand the reason and conscience that God has bestowed humans.”
There is a lot difference between the natural man in nature and the man in a community as one is created and the other is made by
the sufferings and torments. To avoid the artificiality of the social creature a great deal of art is needed.” If there is not enough care
in this respect, the point is neglected and the education of the human race would be half-done and our attempts would lead to the
education of superficial scientists.” (Shatoo, 2009). Rousseau is not happy with the civilization and thinks it leads to human
corruption and considers the order of education better without the effects of civilization (Shah Hassani, 2008).
4-The perspective of Rousseau in education
In the introduction to the book “Emile”, Rousseau says that whatever comes by the creature is good and becomes evil as soon as it
reached the hand of human beings. Thus, the purpose of education is nothing like the doctrine of the Middle Ages during which the
purpose of education is the evolution of the human talents in itself. Based on the doctrine developed by Rousseau, the prime
education is pursued by natural activities and the education must incite these activities (Shah Hassani, 2008). He believes that
education grows gradually and requires the passage of time indicating that the upbringing of children is a technique which requires
longer time to meet the objectives (Shah Hassani, 2008). Attention to the principle of nature in education means that the natural
course of action and development must be strictly followed in designing the programs and educational steps. In other words,
education must be in harmony and commensurate with the human nature. Rousseau believes that if nature is followed in education,
new courses will appear. You do not know whenever you try to correct the acts of nature the natural process is ruined. As thought
by Rousseau, nature is the guide of education and we ought to remain rue to it. In one particularly restricted sense, the natural
education is the one that does not accept the purposes other than the ones laid aside in nature. This genus of education does not
avoid the natural tendencies of humans and respect them to prevent the aberrations. Another sense of the natural education is that
of remaining faithful to the natural cycles. The stages of human development in nature as a constitutional law must be obligatorily
pursued and any kind of blind education must be prevented. The human growth stages are based on the actions and events by
Rousseau following the procedures or the educational outcomes of the end.
Rousseau develops some themes in Emile which have laid an impact on the education trends in naturalism: (1) the childhood
educational programs have an intrinsic desirability. (2) education in the best way possible is done in a ready environment, a natural
setting in which the natural inclinations and curiosities are aroused, (3) a child in a free environment in which he makes natural
choices is able to learn new things (Gotek, 2009).
Therefore, the aim of education is the reconstruction of a human social life. But this innovation is based on the frameworks
bestowed by the God in nature. Nature here is the system which lends support to the rationality and talents of humanity and not the
wild man routines, as created by the divine law. The God, nature, society, and the reason are all interconnected and if one is
neglected the educational theory developed by Rousseau loses its credibility. For instance, if we tend to consider the natural factor
alone, we might lose grasp of the question why we should remain true to nature while nature at times can only be a series of
situations without spiritual merit. On the other hand, if we focus too much on the philosophical spirit of the religious spirit, we neglect
how much the social contracts in a community depend on the religious peculiarities (Shatoo, 2009). Following by the natural laws is
in fact confirming the fate by the God and obtaining one’s rightful place in the world (Shatoo, 2009).
No only should the natural education make someone worthy of the human conditions wholly, but anyone who is raised well by these
laws cannot do wrongly any of the tasks given to him: therefore, even when we want to commit to what is common among humans,
as the human talent is universal, there is still a secondary kind of gift that should not be neglected. The differences among the
different ages are not artificial like those of the social classes; rather, nature wants the children to remain children before puberty
(Shatto, 2009). For the reason that education is based on talents, happiness can be perceived as one goal within it. Emile’s teacher
says I went forward and ahead in the vein of nature until I was shown a way to happiness and it was made clear that it is the same
as the passage of nature and I was looking for it in ignorance. Man is only evil, if he is desperate as following the ways of the nature,
in ways proposed by Rousseau, can incite the feelings and concealed plans. Nature is never apt to fool us. Emile, my dear, one
ought to be happy; this is the end of any being and the first attraction that nature has imprinted in us all, never leaving us alone.
Being happy is acting according to one’s possessions. Hence, when Rousseau says: let us make humans happy in all the stages of
their lives, this implicates the relation of each age-group with a certain kind of education and fulfillment. We ought to consider the
cuts and distinctions that nature has made in a lifetime (Shatto, 2009).
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Today, if humans do not educate their children, we would be in a more terrible situation as we suppose in the present condition
a child is left to nature as of birth and he did not have any care. If he survived, he would have been more defective and poorer than
the others as the determined obsessions and the social traditions would have drowned him. His natural tendencies would be ruined
and no replacement would be made. All that we do not possess at birth and need in adulthood can be obtained by education. This
upbringing can be taken either from the nature or the humans. The internal power development is gained by the nature, and
education can lead one in these directions. What we learn by the things surrounding can affect our instructions is an education and
training that creates harmony among the agreements by three masters. Only the individual who has received the complete forms of
these trainings might arrive at the ultimate end and live by the merits and this means only he has been well trained (Rousseau,
Emile, 36).
Of the three schools and ideas of education, the order followed by nature is not allowed here. The order by the phenomena
around us is only in our hands in some directions. The only state fully under our control is the kind education performed by humans
though we yet cannot be fully certain that we have a leash in this case as no one can hope for a complete modification of what
happens with the children (Rousseau, Emile, 37). This is the same intention that nature has in it. The first stage of education must be
allowed to grow naturally while later comes the methodology. Of course the use of the word “nature” is somewhat ambiguous here.
4-1.The negative education
Rousseau considers the steps taken in education as negative. He says, in this regard, unless Emile reaches 12 years of age he is
not going to give him any books while he makes him follow the book of nature.” (Naghibzadeh, 1995). Therefore, based on
Rousseau’s idea the natural training can be at times absolutely negative. In this sense, he gives his heart to the human nature and
believes that his natural progress must be followed away from nature. Rousseau thus suggests that a fence must be around child
not to let anything disrupt the work of nature. He does not believe in premature growth and warns against shortening the course of
nature with the children. If God had such intentions he could have created man as adult in the first place like many other creatures in
this condition. The greatness of man must be sought in his youthful inabilities .When we have faith in this view, then, the role of a
teacher is like that of a gardener whose duty s only uprooting the weeds and nursing the flowers.
The present community is corrupts according to Rousseau and the ‘positive’ school of education is determined, owing to the will
of our communities, to make the human child socially able before its time. This can actually open the door to further problems. We
should not reveal the truth to the person who is not able to grasp it as we may replace a false opinion in his mind instead (Shatto,
2009). Rousseau has the following words about the negative education: if a human is naturally good, he would remain so unless
something outside him drives him to wrongdoing and so the human heart remains clean and pure. The negative education tries to
make our minds great before trying to give any information. The negative education does not give anyone virtue, rather avoids the
evils; does not teach the truth but protects from errors, as it gives the child everything needed to achieve the truth when reaching the
age of discretion (Shatto, 2009).
Discussion and Conclusion
Freud and Rousseau are the opposite extremes to some degrees. Rousseau believes that to meet the goals of education, one
has to view the human nature positively as anything created by God is necessarily perfect while anything falling into the hands of
humans gradually becomes corrupted and unclean and in this way the society makes humans corrupted. As humans are naturally
good, on the other side, there has to be some hurdles to the deviations imposed externally. Thus he suggests the negative
education meaning that everything should be done timely and appropriately with the human child teachings so that the affairs
necessary for the understanding of truth must be given. The human personality must grow according to the nature as one’s nature is
essentially good. However, this education comes with the order of the natural gifts of the creator and not the artificial nature of the
wild man; rather, the nature based on the human talents and powers ought to be adopted. The god and the eason and humans are
interconnected factors here and if one is neglected, then, education would be meaningless. In a godless system, this would be rather
logical to consider man against nature and in this way the nature is but a series of unrelated events. But Freud, on the other pole,
thinks that humans are bad and evil and humans are originally beasts. The animal motives and instincts make humans capable of
horrible things and in this way only the constraints put in place by the rules of civilization can possibly prevent the demise of human
social life. Civilization has the function of controlling the sexual thirst and the destructive pattern in us. Contrary to Rousseau,
therefore, Freud is of the opinion that only the society can achieve the survival of human life and guidance in obtaining pleasure and
content through forbidding uncontrolled and unleashed self-fulfillment. Hence, the subconscious of human mind is constantly
struggling with the values and rules of the civilization. According to the perspective developed by Freud, education is only in
accordance with the fulfillment of the instincts while the society and official education must be such that they can hold back the
human instincts as they might be destructively involved in satisfying the pleasure drives. Freud in his investigations wanted to prove
the fact that people are not aware of the motives controlling or shaping their actions and this make them to behave in a certain way
to conform to the legitimate models. Now, it has been proven that the childhood experiences may have a profound impact on the
adult behavior and lifestyle sometimes affecting the family life as well (Ross, 2013). As held by the Freudian school of psychology,
all the human impulses and tendencies and inclinations are traced back to the sex drive. There is a central and vital power source in
humans. This source is of instinctual and biological nature found in pleasure as it drives man power in the direction for the
fulfillments of the desires and avoiding sufferings and pains. In fact, humans experiences the periods of balance and imbalance in
sequence (Shamshiri, 2006). According to Freud, if the psychosexual phases are properly completed the sexual impulses will
appear according to norms and one would have conscious awareness of them. Otherwise, they would be out of hand and control,
tending to abnormalities and misbehaviors which could be perilous to the life and ideally the impulses should be consumed in
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changed ways and in human ways to avoid being under the burden of the others and the society. Freud has tried to attach sexuality
to all the activities of humans from birth to grave. If a baby sucks at the mother’s breasts, if a son loves a mother and the daughter
loves a father, if a writer sits in a corner and creates literary works and in all such cases people try to satisfy their suppressed
desires. Contrariwise, Rousseau thought that the human impulses and emotions are negative and even believes that the temptations
are created by the God and so they are good in themselves and help one to survive. But when self-esteem is turned into selfrighteousness the temptations would become destructive and dangerous and unnatural. One should not resort to rationality and logic
alone as they are not capable of anything when applied solely. Rather, one ought to set the inclinations against the other impulses
and to control the temptations, he suggests, one should adopt the way and method of affection and friendliness (Shamshiri, 2006).
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