Few would want to dispute that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most fascinating figures of the Enlightenment; a man whose interests ranged over a variety of subjects, from politics, to education, to music, to botany. He was also one of the most contradictory and controversial thinkers and exciting writers of his time; the writer of the first modern autobiography and author of the best-selling novel of his day. Emile was among his most celebrated works, a book he regarded as his crowning achievement. Its revolutionary ideas have influenced radical thinkers and made him famous with...

Few would want to dispute that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most fascinating figures of the Enlightenment; a man whose interests ranged over a variety of subjects, from politics, to education, to music, to botany. He was also one of the most contradictory and controversial thinkers and exciting writers of his time; the writer of the first modern autobiography and author of the best-selling novel of his day. Emile was among his most celebrated works, a book he regarded as his crowning achievement. Its revolutionary ideas have influenced radical thinkers and made him famous with...

This book, first published in 1987, provides a rigorous philosophical analysis of lifelong education. The author presents his arguments simply and directly so that the book is accessible to students who are new to philosophy and adult education.

This book engages in a broad reading of Rousseau's writings on educational and political thought in order to explore and address the competing demands of the enculturation and individuation of the young in Western societies. Although Rousseau's Emile has been frequently utilised in educational debate, much of his other work has been largely neglected, as too has the relationship between his educational and political thinking, which this work seeks to redress.

Drawing on the thinking of philosophers Foucault and Richard Rorty, the book considers the public and private...