Discussing human connectivity in Rousseau as a pedagogical issue

Abstract

Although the title of this article may evoke a broad analysis of human relations, the text is limited to the analysis of the human connectivity in the political and pedagogical theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Hereby I defend that the capacity for human connection and relationship can be well used for moral improvement, for social and even for political ends - idea well explored in the book Emile or on education, as well as on Julie or the New Heloise, both written by the philosopher of Geneva. This perspective can be spotted and categorized through the ‘pedagogical scenes’ validated by the tutor for his student. Those ‘scenes’ provide practical experiences and human connections enough to expand friendship and social relations in order to educate the amour-propre. Hence the reason for an education full of human connectivity and situations in which this potential can be developed as much as possible is providential. This is to ensure a moral formation that can prepare the individual for a virtuous coexistence – which is possible only if one has experienced significant situations capable of internalizing this feeling enough to become a norm, just as it has happened to Emile and to Julie: two key characters to understand Rousseau’s pedagogy of friendship and personal relations.