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Challenging Current Conceptions of Eighteenth-Century French Educational Thought Tal Gilead*

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Challenging Current Conceptions of Eighteenth-Century French Educational Thought Tal Gilead* London Review of Education Vol. 7, No. 2, July 2009, 101–112 On pliability and progress: challenging current conceptions of eighteenth-century French educational thought Tal Gilead* Hebrew University, Israel TaylorCLRE_A_399209.sgm10.1080/14748460902990377London1474-8460Original200972000000JulyDrtgilea65@mscc.huji.ac.il TalGilead and& ReviewArticle Francis (print)/1474-8479Francis 2009 of Education (online)Examining the educational writings of three of the eighteenth-century’s most innovative thinkers, the Abbé de Saint-Pierre, Morelly and Helvétius, this article challenges the currently accepted view that it was a belief in human pliability which gave rise to the contemporary groundbreaking faith in the power of education to improve society. The article delineates an intellectual process that culminated in the stance that man’s innate behavioural tendencies are unalterable. It argues that, at least prior to Rousseau, the eighteenth-century faith in the power of education to improve society rested on a conviction that it is possible to beneficially direct man’s fixed behavioural tendencies. Keywords: pliability; progress; eighteenth century; education; France; philosophy Introduction The rise of the belief in the power of education to bring about the progress of society is closely associated with the work of eighteenth-century French educational thinkers. Identifying progress with the increase and spread of happiness in society, these thinkers famously argued that education can greatly contribute to it by perfecting the existing modes of conduct. Histo- rians and those concerned with the history of educational philosophy have traditionally tied the eighteenth-century emergence of the above belief to two intellectual developments: the declining faith in the doctrine of original sin, and the implementation of scientifically inspired methods of philosophical inquiry for the study of the mind which led to the embracement of a sensualist psychology. Expounding and amending Locke’s understanding of the mind, many eighteenth-century French educational thinkers maintained that all knowledge comes from experience and that the mind is originally a blank slate.1 The embracement of these views, a familiar argument goes, led to an increased emphasis on the importance of external influences in determining our mental capacities and the patterns of human behaviour which, in turn, resulted in a growing confidence in human pliability. This confidence, the familiar argument continues, served as the foundation and cause of the eighteenth-century belief in the power of education to generate the progress of society.2 What tends to be overlooked, however, is that the use of philosophical methods inspired by contemporary natural sciences was not restricted to the study of the mind. These methods were also utilized by educationalist to probe into man’s behavioural tendencies, a sphere in which they led to very different conclusions.3 Examining the ideas of three of the earliest and most influential exponents of the eighteenth-century belief in the power of education, Abbé de Saint-Pierre, Morelly and Helvétius, I argue that, in contrast to the common view, prior to 1760s–1770s’ wide- spread acceptance of this belief, there was a growing tendency among progressive educational philosophers to perceive man’s behavioural tendencies as increasingly less alterable. I also maintain *Email: [email protected] ISSN 1474-8460 print/ISSN 1474-8479 online © 2009 Institute of Education, University of London DOI: 10.1080/14748460902990377 http://www.informaworld.com 102 T. Gilead that this development took place despite the triumph of the conviction that the mind was a blank slate. I link this development to a shift in the methods of philosophical inquiry that was influenced by contemporary changes in the scientific outlook. In addition, in this article I reveal that Saint- Pierre, Morelly and Helvétius believed that what permitted education to direct people’s conduct in ways that improve society was a familiarity with man’s unalterable behavioural tendencies. Moreover, I challenge the common view that, prior to Rousseau, there was in eighteenth-century French educational thought an increasing belief in the power of reason. I show that because human nature was progressively seen as unalterable, the role and importance attributed to reason was declining. Based on the study conducted, I conclude that there is a need to reassess the role of the notion of pliability in eighteenth-century educational thought. Concentrating more on ideas and less on the context in which and from which these ideas stemmed, in this article I explore Locke’s Some thoughts concerning education (1693), Abbé de Saint-Pierre’s Projet Pour perfectionner l’éducation (1728), Morelly’s Essai sur le Cœur humain ou principes naturels de l’éducation (1745), and Helvétius’s De l’esprit (1758) and De l’homme (1771). Following Bevir’s The logic of the history of ideas (1999), I endeavour to make the different authors’ perceptions of man’s behavioural tendencies more intelligible by reconstructing them as inter- nally consistent webs of beliefs. In this article I analyse Locke’s, Saint-Pierre’s, Morelly’s and Helvetius’ understanding of the internal sources that move the self and examine their perception of reason, the passion, self-love and their interrelationship. In accordance with Bevir’s (1999) approach, I show how the understanding of man’s behavioural tendencies was transformed with the author’s new ideas, and how existing webs of belief were accordingly adjusted. Reversing natural tendencies In his thorough study of eighteenth-century French educational thought, Grandière (1998, 77) argues that from about 1715 to around 1740 John Locke’s (1632–1704) innovative ideas had a shaping influence on all French educational innovators. By inaugurating a prominent new view of the mind, by introducing a novel method of philosophical inquiry, and by shifting the educational emphasis from man’s relationship with God to man’s relationship with society, Locke had laid the foundations for the creation of the modern understanding of education (Grandière 1998, 81).4 Yet Locke was still deeply committed to many long-established Christian doctrines and notions. Such commitment was particularly evident in Locke’s conception of man’s behavioural tendencies as it appears in his Some thoughts (1693). In this treatise, instead of employing his new method of philosophical inquiry, Locke relied on and borrowed from the prevailing religious traditions. Although Locke did introduce some amendments to his predecessors’ Christian- based view of man’s behavioural tendencies, he still preserved its general structure. Examining Locke’s educational view of human nature then will also enable us to gain some insight into the ideas that dominated French educational thought at the beginning of the eighteenth century. This together with Locke’s shaping influence on educational innovators make him an excellent start- ing point for our investigation. Although Locke famously argued that the mind was a blank slate empty of innate knowledge, he still held that humans have inborn behavioural tendencies. He wrote: ‘I deny not that there are natural tendencies imprinted in the minds of men’ (Locke 1690, 27). Since Locke (1690, 77) believed that like all animals ‘the only thing we [humans] are afraid of, is Pain or the loss of Pleasure’, he believed man to be a pleasure seeking creature by his nature. Like his Christian predecessors, Locke (1693, 170) was persuaded that humans were born with a strong inclination to give absolute priority to their own immediate personal good. Locke’s renowned rejection of the traditional doctrine of original sin then did not result in significant changes in the prevailing Christian image of man as naturally passionate and self-regarding. London Review of Education 103 Following a path set by St Augustine, most of Locke’s Christian educational predecessors painted untutored human nature in very unflattering colours. The passions and self-love, they held, distance man from the way of God and, thereby, prevent him from attaining true happiness and eternal bliss. Similarly, Locke too argued that self-love and the passions preclude true happi- ness by leading man astray. Yet the convictions which brought Locke to this conclusion were somewhat different from those of his predecessors. Considering man first and foremost as a social being, Locke argued that social esteem was absolutely essential for reaching true worldly happiness. He wrote: … those that are commended, and in esteem for doing well, will necessarily be belov’d and cherish’d by everybody, and have all other good things as a consequence of it; and on the other side, when any one by miscarriage falls into disesteem, and cares not to preserve his credit, he will unavoidably fall under neglect and contempt; and in that state, the want of whatever might satisfy or delight him will follow. (Locke 1693, 117) At this point, it is important to emphasize that Locke’s conception of happiness significantly differed from the one that prevails today. Today, we mostly tend to think of happiness as a subjective mental state. A person is considered happy when he holds himself to be so. For Locke, on the other hand, happiness was an objective state of affairs. According to this conception of happiness, which dominated western thought from the time of ancient Greece to the middle of the eighteenth century, one was to be regarded as truly happy not when he perceived himself to be so, but only when he lived in a worthy way. While Locke’s Christian predecessors main- tained that to be truly happy it was necessary to obey and love God, Locke linked happiness to one’s relationships with those around him, and society at large. For Locke, a person who did not enjoy social recognition and was not esteemed by others could not be happy regardless of how this person felt (Tarcov 1984, 186). Yet Locke believed that the passions and self-love were in their essence egoistic and would, therefore, naturally lead man to anti-social conduct and unhap- piness.
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