Education is a kind of inheritance, the inheritance of modern history. For the sorting out of educational ideas, we cannot ignore the rich heritage of educational ideas in ancient and modern China and abroad.
Elvier (1715-1771) was an 18th-century French materialist philosopher and Enlightenment thinker, and his devoted work "On the Intellectual Capacity and Education of Man" had a certain insight into education, which is still very influential today.
Claude adrien helvétius
18th-century French materialist philosopher
Enlightenment thinkers
Born into a family of court physicians in Paris, Elvis received a good family education as a child and dabbled in the literary and philosophical works that had shone with scientific and democratic ideas since the Renaissance.
The book "On Man's Intellectual Ability and Education" puts forward some basic views on the role that man's rational ability and education can play on man. He is an advocate of the "omnipotent theory of education", arguing that man is a product of the environment and education, and that education "can create genius"; that the difference in human intelligence is caused by the environment in which man is located and the opportunities of the day after tomorrow, as well as the difference in education received[1]. He believed that the space for educational activities should not be confined to the walls of schools, but should include the influence of the family, schools, socio-political systems, laws, nature and other aspects on people.
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Natural equality of intelligence
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All people's understanding is equal.
——Aier Maintenance[2]
The philosophy of Elvisith is the empiricism of materialism, and he draws on and develops Locke's materialist sensory theory, which holds that all human ideas and spirits are acquired through the senses.
Man is intellectually equal, and every man with good sensory organs has the same level of intelligence and can seek truth, and even those with varying degrees of perfection of the senses can develop in the same way.
Man's natural wisdom is equal, man's reason and knowledge come from the acquired education, genius is the creation of education, and everyone should have the right to secondary and higher education.
Since human intelligence is equal, the development of the spirit has nothing to do with the perfection of the senses. So, why are people's mental outlooks so different and different?
Elvier believes that the spiritual differences between people are due to the different environments and different educations they live in. Therefore, man is a product of the environment and education, and the role of education is omnipotent.
Educational omnipotence
Man is a product of the environment.
--Aier Maintenance
All differences lie in education. Similarly, the formation and change of a country's and nation's character is also the result of education. Education often plays a decisive role in the development of people, on the formation and perfection of national and national character, and on the improvement and progress of social, political, legal and moral standards.
Aer Maintenance's "educational omnipotence" idea mainly includes three aspects:
The first is to start from the impact of the environment on people, which illustrates the principle that in order to establish a good education, it is necessary to reform the old society. First of all, there is a distinction between truth and falsehood in education. True education makes people wise and knowledgeable, and pseudo-education makes people stupid and ignorant. Second, not everyone can receive the same education. Children are educated from the moment they are given life. Children's initial teachers are simply their various feelings, and by the time they enter school at the age of seven or eight, they have acquired a considerable number of ideas from real life. Children's growth environments are very different and their acceptance concepts are very different, and it is reasonable to show different learning interests after entering school.
Second, from the perspective of transforming society, education is the most important means. He said: "The spiritual differences we see between people are due to the different circumstances in which they live, because of the different educations they receive. This conclusion illustrates the full importance of education." To consider the issue of social education from this point of view emphasizes the social function of education. Second, he believes that the decisive factor for human growth is education. "Education has made us where we are now," he said. According to his view, "What kind of education a person receives, he becomes."
Third, the formation of human character and the development of talents depend on education. In On man's Intellectual Ability and Education, Ervet said: "People's spirit, character and temperament are the result of education." Only through rational education, changing people's ignorance and cultivating men, women and children into rational people, can a beautiful society be established. [3]
Moral, Intellectual and Physical Education
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Every person without passion has no principle of action in his heart, nor a motivation to act.
Elvi argues that it is human nature to love oneself, to seek pleasure and avoid suffering, and that abstinence and suppression of one's pursuit of happiness are contrary to human nature. To this end, a new basic principle needs to be established for civic morality, namely, the feeling of the flesh. According to this criterion, the perfect procedure for all moral acts can be judged, and the so-called "sound morality" can be found. The supreme principle of "do unto others what you do not want to do to others" is only a subordinate, secondary criterion. From this principle, the need for public welfare to be regarded as the supreme law can be more fully understood.
On the issue of intellectual education, Aer maintenance argues that the ultimate purpose of intellectual education is to impart scientific knowledge to children and to cultivate their intellectual habits of independent thinking in the process of imparting knowledge. Knowledge is power, and ignorance can only lead to laziness, vanity and fragmentation. A nation devoid of knowledge can only be a weak nation, and sooner or later it will not be able to escape the fate of extinction. And once the people have knowledge, they become smart and can be happy. In terms of educational methods, intellectual education should change the way of rote memorization, and pay attention to the development and cultivation of children's thinking, judgment, enthusiasm and initiative.
On the issue of sports, Aier Maintenance advocates that the purpose of sports is to create a strong and healthy body. To this end, suitable sports venues should be built for children and children should be arranged for daily physical exercise to facilitate future growth and development.
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brief summary
Elvier's educational ideas, together with those of other Enlightenment thinkers, constituted the most progressive system of educational theory of the 18th century, convincingly justifying the political, economic, and educational demands of the bourgeoisie, and explaining the dialectical relationship between man, the environment, and education.
For thousands of years, people have always had high hopes for education. Whenever a new crisis arises in social development, we turn our attention to education. Educating people is to try to make people become perfect people who are "good and beautiful in body and mind", but education always makes people walk on the journey toward perfection.