Guided by Instinct: Feeling Evolutionary and Political Patterns

Part 9/10 – A Natural Education

“One must use a great deal of art to prevent social man from being totally artificial”

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau had hoped that his natural, yet carefully guided education would not only help prepare young Emile for a smoother transition into puberty but that it would also lay a

foundation for which romantic love could be cultivated. However, since this desire for romance was neither rooted in human nature nor grew naturally in society, Rousseau had to develop a method of pollination for this new species of love to flourish. Once this new seed of love was sowed, nurtured with poetry and literature, and deeply watered with fresh emotion, came the dawning of a new “hybrid” era in Europe, commonly, referred to as “the romantic era”, which lasted well into the 19th century. It was a season that celebrated emotional intensity, the beauty of nature and the psychological depths of the individual, inspired by the vigour of Rousseau’s new variety of philosophy, presented in Emile, or on Education, which generated a widespread desire in Europeans to thrive romantically. Rousseau believes that when romantic love is absent from political societies, self-seeking love is sure to dominate the atmosphere, which will become a breeding ground for hostility and prejudice. This part of the series explores the successive nature of these passions and how a natural education paired with artistic expression can prime the body for romantic love.

Before this time-period, the majority of citizens in Europe were still largely entrenched

in their practical lifestyles and common modes of subsistence and survival, born from

upbringings and educations designed to abet, only, their most basic human needs of fulfillment. Needs like food, sleep, and sex, which could be easily satisfied in the state of nature, illustrated by Rousseau in his Second Discourse seven years earlier. A state where primal sex drive was the dominating force and all reproductive strategies were detached from emotion and romantic connectivity of any kind. However, once Rousseau discovered the heights and intensity of this passion firsthand, he realized that the long endured, style of childhood education in Europe was perhaps, denying some citizens the opportunity to experience romantic love directly and sought to rectify this situation with a more natural approach to education.

For Rousseau, there was something very essential about a nurturing education within this context and believed that environmental variables predominantly shaped the individual as opposed to genetic, or other hereditary factors. In general, Emile, or on Education was a

theoretical rehearsal of how one could assist in the preservation of human goodness in a manner that would also connect, or rather, reconnect humans with their natural world. Rousseau thought that Emile’s preparatory yet natural education would encourage a healthy development of the senses. A foundation that would not only foster a sense of security great enough to allow for the later surrendering of these senses during puberty but would also build in his student the capacity to fall in love and then experience the spiritual quality of sex with his loved one, when his more primal instincts and energies took over. In Emile, or on Education, Rousseau seeks to explain how this “rebirth” of passions develops within the individual (Emile) taking his readers through the consecutive stages of child development and the specific rearing strategies required (by the tutor) to support a healthy and natural “birth” of these passions. However, in the original state of nature that Rousseau outlined

in his Second Discourse, “romance” did not exist and so it is important for us to understand how and when in history this desire was born and the significance of this passion in the context of “modern” times.

By first gaining an understanding of the state of nature, it allows us to visualize the

“natural order” of humankind, which Rousseau describes as the “slow sequence of events” which takes us from “one era to the next”. He believes that knowledge of this sequence is essential to understanding how this transformation from primal sex drive to romantic love occurred and why it is important “at this last stage, in the state of nature”. He reflects that in our most original and primitive state, self-preservation was the only concern for early humans, which, of course, included the need to reproduce, since this act would help to ensure the survival of our species. In the Second Discourse, Rousseau describes this instinct as a “blind impulse, lacking all heartfelt sentiment, [and was] a purely animal act” and that once these needs were satisfied, “the two sexes no longer recognized each other”.

However, as speciation progressed, the characteristics of our species did too, as more and more distinctive traits began to distinguish our species from that of others. Rousseau thought that one of the most significant turning points in “prehistory” occurred in unison with the discovery of iron and believed that manipulation of this natural resource slowly transformed into the art of metallurgy. This artform then influenced the development of societies because it was the metal tools born from this artform that were first used for the cultivation of land, which then, inspired the art of agriculture. For Rousseau, it was the combination of these two artforms which brought political order and inequality to the world because humans began to realize the ways in which these metal tools could be used to increase food production, which led to a need for division of this land, hence, the introduction of “property”, which created an interdependency for survival. Once this land was distinguished as “property”, law became necessary because this interdependency now required a certain level of morality, which demanded a greater need for civility among our species.

Once laws were established to maintain this new level of civil order, “civilizations”

began to grow parallel to language development and soon, differences among humans began to matter as certain “talents” started to prove themselves to be more “useful” than others. As populations increased, these differences only grew more and more consequential as the hunt for resources and mating opportunities became more competitive. However, even in these “developing” societies, romantic love was still absent, and it was this absence which likely motivated Rousseau’s Emile, or on Education, in the hopes that this style of education would help future political societies to achieve a more fully “developed” state, by his standards. In Rousseau’s opinion however, this would require some external guidance though, since this passion was one that remained unnatural in human development.

From ages 0-15, “Emile has only natural and purely physical knowledge” states

Rousseau, which has confirmed a steadiness in his pupil that will provide a supportive basis for any new imagery that charges his mind during puberty. In only seeking the nature of things in relation to himself during these first fifteen years without being exposed to opinions, history, metaphysics or laws of morality, Rousseau’s student “considers himself without regard to others and finds it good that others do not think of him”. These educational omissions have prevented amour-propre from developing in Emile up until this point, as he has been purposely prevented from learning subjects which would provoke one to make comparisons between themselves and others. Instead, his mind has been allowed a long gestation, still untouched with a free heart and soul to energize it. At this point in his education (approx. age 15), Emile is now ready to begin learning about the motions of the human heart, which his tutor believes, is best done by reading into the lives of individuals before groups, since “the genius of assembled [peoples] is quite different from a [person’s] character in private”. In this matter, the more detailed the biography the better, in Rousseau’s opinion, since the partialities of the individual must be well

understood before one becomes able to “foresee their effects when combined in the body of the people”. This skill will also become very helpful in the role of parenting when that parent finds themselves able to empower their child with guidance that will appeal to the many rather than the few. By studying the motions of the individual through written memoires and poetry, Rousseau’s pupil will gain an understanding of the human life, form, and flaws from a distance, thus, allowing him to first find beauty in these flaws because he will be free to form his own opinions about the individuals without hearing other judgements that could potentially influence/alter the flow of his own. This secondhand knowledge will condition Emile to be more sensitive to the lives, emotions and passions of others because he will absorb the details of their childhoods, struggles, joys, pains, romances, and livelihoods with pure and simple understanding, rather than with judgement that can only truly manifest through firsthand experiences.

In this condition, Emile is now ready to understand the social order, which will suddenly

bring awareness to “natural and civil, inequality” that was not there before. However, since his imagination has been preserved up until now, any violent new images conjured by the mind while absorbing lessons in history, will be met with an operative and tolerant brain that will courageously absorb the details of these dangerous events without “enlarging” the calamity of them. Rousseau calls this phase “the moral order”, which is the final step before all the passions begin to arise and the inevitable transformation from self-love to amour-propre occurs. However, even this phase must be buffered by the tutor, who will present Emile with history that has not been “molded according to [author] interests” and instead choose authors who strictly “report the facts without judging them”. This will allow his

student the opportunity to make judgements for himself, provided the author has fairly presented the reader with all the determining facts and conditions relating to the historical events. For Rousseau, there is one ancient in particular who meets these standards and says that “Thucydides is to my taste the true model of historians…he puts all he recounts before the reader’s eyes. Far from putting himself between the events and the readers, he hides himself. The reader no longer believes he reads; he believes he sees”. These history lessons will prepare his mind and body for the inequality he will begin to observe and take to heart once he starts comparing himself to others in society during puberty and the competitive mating strategies that will seek to overpower his movements during this time and that of his “competitors”.

Finally, the moment has arrived for the passions. Emile is now fully ready for these new

urges and desires because he has been protected from developing amour-propre until now and is above all, a lover of peace, happiness and sharing that happiness with others. And since he has gained a thorough understanding of the “true principles of the just, the true

models of the beautiful, [and] all the moral relations of beings” he is now entering puberty with a healthy and natural attitude about passions even before the actual experience of them because his tutor has taught “their illusions and their effects” in a manner that has left Emile well-prepared for the arrival of them. However, Rousseau warns that during this “rebirth” (puberty), it is essential that if/when the pupil has questions about their/her/his new desires, that it is important not to “combat [these] desires with dryness” as this type of response could suppress one’s imagination which needs room to soar during this stage in human development. This will allow the pupil’s changing body, the freedom that it needs to experience a natural rise in sex hormones during this time which will support his immune system and growth processes if this is considered from the onset of puberty. The best response is to assure him that all his new sexual feelings, desires, and urges are quite simply beautiful because passions and sensual pleasure bring “supreme happiness” to life, and by speaking to him about pleasures in this manner, he will feel able to surrender to his senses and the feelings inside him. Moreover, by speaking to him tenderly about romantic love (regardless of whether the tutor, has experienced it themselves or not) they will be allowing their pupil to develop a “thirst for sweet sentiment” which will cause them to “sense how much charm the union of two hearts adds to the attraction of the senses”. At this point, the pupil is now ready (and even wants) to fall in love.

However, according to Rousseau, it is absolutely, essential that sexual desires have a

chance to be naturally born as opposed to being “provided for in advance” (as would be the case for someone who is repeatedly sought out by others for sex before they/she/he has fallen in love with those individuals). He warns, that “in seeking him out before he loves them, they will unhinge him rather than make a lover out of him”. Presumably, Rousseau,

himself, must have fallen in love at some point during his life, otherwise, he would, not have

been able to make this distinction between the position of “lover” and “loved” in the context of romantic and/or intimate experiences, one would assume. When, he states that “he will have successes but he will have neither transports nor passions for enjoying them”, one can only assume that he is speaking from personal experience and that he must have felt intensely pleasurable emotion for someone who stirred these desires in him, which then,

transformed his entire perspective about romance thereafter. And although, he does admit that, in matters of love, many things are “an illusion”, he does believe that “the sentiments for the truly beautiful” are real, and that it is these sentiments “with which love animates us and which it makes us love”, hence the importance of the sentiments chosen by the tutor

when discussing matters of love and what constitutes true beauty as Emile will then be free to "inherit" these romantic sentiments himself.

So as you can understand now, this has nothing to do with genetics, genetic inheritance or nature. Healthy attitudes about love and sex don't grow naturally in nature, these attitudes are born from the nurture one receives in their lifetime. Romance is learned and these attitudes are moulded by our upbringing and the influences all around us in all of our political environments. Any negative attitudes about love and/or sex that you may see and hear around you, is a reflection of the hostility and prejudice which has grown from lack of nourishment. Lack of nurture. It is not a choice, these are rational attitudes and they are justified because they are the result of either firsthand experience, learned (secondhand) experience or lack of experience. It is a reflection of the attitudes one sees and hears, which means that we are all responsible for each others attitudes about romance and love if we would like to see them change. And if we truly want to help others, we will help them acquire these attitudes that we, ourselves, were lucky enough to acquire from others.

By: Heather Sakaki

Date: March 15, 2021