A educação musical de Emílio

Abstract

Rousseau’s proposal in the Émile of an “education according to nature” should not be confused with the rearing of a savage blissfully unaware of all refinements of civilization. On the contrary, Rousseau’s treatise contains the plan of a very sophisticated education of taste, and although Émile is not supposed to become an artist, he will be well versed in the artistic matters and conventions of his time. In this paper I examine the steps of Émile’s musical education through the several stages in which Rousseau divides the physical, intellectual and emotional development of his hypothetical pupil. By showing how the particular aims and methods in each stage conform to the guidelines set up by nature for this development, I hope to make clear that there is no incompatibility, in Rousseau ́s philosophy, between an education “according to nature” and a proper cultivation of taste and aesthetical appreciation.