Source: Dewey, Democracy and Education, Chs. 6–7, 9
Tags: Plato, Rousseau, Kant, educational philosophy, naturalism, social efficiency, nature vs. society, education as national, cosmopolitanism, Republic, noble lie
Dewey examines three historical approaches to education. Plato held that a stable society depends on each person doing what they are naturally suited for, but he limited this to a rigid class system. Rousseau argued that nature, not corrupt social institutions, should guide education. Kant defined education as the process by which "man becomes man," aiming at a better future humanity rather than mere social reproduction.
Plato's educational philosophy
The idea that society is well-organised when each individual performs the role they are naturally suited to, contributing to the whole. Education's job is to discover natural aptitudes and train them for social use.
Social efficiency (as an educational aim)
The view that education should prepare individuals to be adaptable and capable of personal initiative, especially in a mobile society full of channels for distributing change.
Rousseau's naturalism
The doctrine that nature provides both the starting forces and the plan for human growth. "Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Creator; everything degenerates in the hands of man." Education should follow nature, not corrupt social institutions.
Natural man (Rousseau)
A being of absolute value, a complete integer with no relation save to himself and his fellow man. Contrasted with civilised man, who is merely a fraction dependent on the social whole.
Kant's cosmopolitan educational ideal
Education as the process by which man creates himself as a moral, rational, and free being. Each generation should educate the next not for the present state of affairs but to make possible a better future humanity.
Sensationalistic theory of knowledge
The view (associated with Locke and the empiricists) that the mind is originally passive and empty, a "wax tablet" to be written on by experience. Dewey notes this was used to glorify education's possibilities.
Plato's starting point: the organisation of society depends on knowledge of the end (the good). Without it, we are at the mercy of accident.
A just society requires each person to do what they are naturally fitted for, in a way that contributes to the whole. Education discovers these aptitudes and trains them.
The limitation: Plato never grasped the indefinite plurality of activities that can characterise an individual or a social group. He restricted his view to a limited number of classes of capacities and social arrangements.
A disorganised, factional society produces false valuations and inconsistency of mind. Plato saw this clearly but responded with a fixed class system rather than an open, democratic model.
"Following nature" was a political dogma, a rebellion against existing social institutions, customs, and ideals.
Rousseau contrasted the natural (good) with the social (corrupted). "Good political institutions are those which make a man unnatural."
The practical conclusion: since existing institutions corrupt, education should be guided by nature rather than by society.
Dewey's critique: it is true that bad institutions produce bad education, but the answer is not to educate apart from the environment. The answer is to provide an environment in which native powers are put to better uses.
The sensationalist epistemology (mind as blank slate) was derived from this same impulse. If mind is passive and nature is harmonious truth, then natural education would infallibly produce minds filled with truth.
Kant defined education as the process by which man becomes man. Humanity begins submerged in nature (instinct and appetite) and must create itself through voluntary effort.
This creative effort is carried on by the educational activities of slow generations. Its acceleration depends on consciously educating successors not for the existing state of affairs but for a better future.
The great difficulty: each generation tends to educate for the present world. Parents educate so children "may get on"; princes educate for their own ends. The proper aim, the best possible realisation of humanity as humanity, is routinely sidelined.
Once the initial enthusiasm for freedom and naturalism waned, the weakness of leaving everything to nature became obvious.
The practical question shifted: how does education serve national and social ends without becoming mere subordination to existing institutions?
In Germany, the struggle against Napoleon transformed educational philosophy from Kant's individual-cosmopolitan ideal toward a more nationalistic conception.
⚠️ Plato, Rousseau, and Kant represent three distinct answers to "What is education for?" Be able to state each in one sentence and identify Dewey's critique of each.
⚠️ Dewey does not fully reject any of these thinkers. He draws on Plato's insight (match aptitude to social role) while criticising the rigidity. He accepts Rousseau's critique of corrupt institutions while rejecting the idea of educating apart from society.
⚠️ Rousseau's "natural man" vs. "civilised man" distinction is a common exam contrast. Know the quotations and what they imply for education.
⚠️ Kant's "great difficulty" (each generation educates for the present rather than a better future) is a recurring theme in Dewey's own work.
Q: What is Plato's central insight about education, and what does Dewey see as its main limitation?
A: Plato's insight is that a stable society requires each person to do what they are naturally fitted for, and education should discover and train these aptitudes. His limitation is that he restricted the possible range of human activities and capacities to a small number of fixed classes, missing the indefinite plurality of roles that individuals and groups can play.
Q: What did Rousseau mean by saying "good political institutions are those which make a man unnatural"?
A: Rousseau believed that natural man is a whole and complete being, while civilised man is merely a fraction dependent on society. "Good" institutions, on his view, are those that reshape people away from their natural completeness to fit social roles, which he saw as a corruption of human nature.
Q: How does Dewey respond to Rousseau's proposal to educate according to nature rather than society?
A: Dewey agrees that corrupt institutions produce poor education, but argues that the solution is not to withdraw from the social environment. Instead, educators should shape the environment so that native powers are channelled toward better uses. You do not escape society; you improve it.
Q: What does Kant identify as the "great difficulty" of education?
A: Each generation is inclined to educate the young for the existing state of affairs, helping them "get on" in the present world, rather than aiming at the proper end of education: the best possible realisation of humanity as humanity.
Plato, Republic, justice, natural aptitude, social roles, Rousseau, naturalism, natural man, civilised man, noble savage, Kant, cosmopolitanism, Pedagogics, education as self-creation, sensationalism, blank slate, tabula rasa, wax tablet, national education, Germany, Napoleon, Dewey critique, POL 101