"Discussions about public education in the period of the Great French revolution (Rousseau and Condorcet)

<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify; font-size: 14px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The period of the Great French revolution has enormous significance for all spheres of social life. The fall of Ancien R&eacute;gime had grave consequences not only for the political structure and economy, but also for the intellectual life of the society. As a result of traditional absolutist views having been destroyed, there appeared a necessity in the formation of a new free citizen. This task was to be completed by the social education, which, thus, needed some modifications.&nbsp; The proposal for changes triggered off a lot of heated debates concerning the role and functions of education and science in society. In the course of time these discussions boiled down to the two main systems of education: one suggested by J.J. Rousseau and supported by his followers; the other one proposed by J.A. Condorcet and his adherents. This paper sets out to examine their philosophies of education in the light of their other views. However, the main focal point of this research is to explore why Rousseau&rsquo;s views on education were finally adopted by society.&nbsp; Finally, this research comes to the conclusion that Rousseau&rsquo;s conception of shaping a new free citizen is based on the improvement of morals, not on the progress of sciences.</span></p>