Helvetius Diderot. Pedagogical views of French materialists of the 18th century (Helvetius, Diderot). Pedagogical theories

Topic 7: New time (continued).

Pedagogical thought in France in the 18th century.

Claude Adrian Helvetius, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

By the middle of the 18th century. there was a powerful upsurge of social thought in France, known in history as French Enlightenment . This movement developed under the influence of the English Enlightenment, which arose earlier, and prepared the spiritual ground for the French Revolution of the 18th century. Continuing the humanistic traditions of the Renaissance, the figures of the Enlightenment considered it their task to substantiate the need to rebuild society according to the requirements of reason, to realize “natural” human rights through the education of the people.

The education system in France in the 18th century did not provide the opportunity to implement the ideas of the Enlightenment. As in other European countries, its main task was religious and moral education; scholasticism and drill reigned in traditional schools, which did not in any way correspond to the ideas of educators who dreamed of raising people capable of building their lives on reasonable principles. Among this group of thinkers, K.A. should be especially highlighted. Helvetius and D. Diderot.

Claude Adrian Helvetius(1715-1771) - French philosopher, figure of the Enlightenment, ideologist of the revolutionary bourgeoisie, sensualist, atheist. He outlined his pedagogical ideas in the essays “About the Mind” and “About Man, His mental abilities and his upbringing."

In the book “About man, his mental abilities and his upbringing” The term “upbringing” was interpreted broadly, meaning the totality of all conditions of an individual’s life.

A means to create universal happiness K.A. Helvetius believed in changing laws and improving education. The purpose of education is not preparation for an eternal afterlife, but “the desire for the good of society, i.e. to your greatest pleasure and happiness the largest number citizens."

He associated differences in human views, ideas, and mental abilities solely with the influence of the external environment, without recognizing the innate abilities of man. According to Helvetius, there are no innate ideas, man is a product of the environment, from birth he is neither stupid nor smart, neither evil nor kind. He is just ignorant and ill-mannered. People have the same abilities, Helvetius believed. Education makes us different. “Man is a product of circumstances and upbringing.” Differences in people's abilities are a consequence of differences in educational conditions. Helvetius examines in detail the upbringing of a child in a family, a teenager at school, and a young man in a wide social environment.

In the process of upbringing, he put first place the formation of interests, “passions”, and not mental development. “Rivers do not flow backward, and people do not go against the rapid flow of their interests.”. The main condition for the successful education of K.A. Helvetius believed that the interests of rulers and people coincided. This is where his idea about public education flowed. The well-being of any society depends on the talents and virtues of its citizens, which in turn depend on education. Society can control the formation of talents and virtues and, thus, determine its own well-being in the present and future. Schools must be taken out of the hands of the clergy. Schools must be organized by the state.

In the views of Helvetius, four main ideas stand out:

The innate equality of all people;

Personal interest is the driving force of individual development and the decisive principle in people’s activities;

Education is the guiding force in the development of interests;

The political system determines the nature of education.

The ideal of a person, according to Helvetius, is an atheist, free from prejudice, able to combine personal happiness with the well-being of the nation.

The most prominent figure among the philosophers-enlighteners was, perhaps, Denis Diderot (1713-1784), who was the inspirer, organizer, editor and one of the main authors of the famous “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts”, whose main task was to promote natural science knowledge - the strongest weapon against traditional ideology. One day, Diderot was asked to edit a translation of Chambers's English Encyclopedia (a technical reference book). He had the idea to supplement this book with new articles. He attracted Voltaire, Montesquieu, D, Alembert and Rousseau to his work. This is how one of the most famous books of the 18th century came out. She was immediately banned for her political and philosophical articles. Voltaire said that once at dinner King Louis XV had a dispute about how gunpowder was made. Nobody could give an exact answer. Then they brought the corresponding volume of the forbidden Encyclopedia and clarified the question. Madame Pompadour became interested in what blush was made from. The answer was also found in the Encyclopedia. One of the courtiers complained that the publication of this book was prohibited. The king had to justify himself by saying that one of the clergy convinced him that this was a very dangerous book. Thus, Diderot was able to continue publication. Work on the Encyclopedia lasted about thirty years and had a huge influence on the minds of all of Europe in the 18th century.

In my work “Systematic refutation of Helvetius’s book “Man” (About Man...) D. Diderot criticized K.A. Helvetius for underestimating the inclinations inherent in man by nature. D. Diderot highly appreciated the role of education in the formation of a person. But he called for taking into account in the process of upbringing both the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the child, as well as the social conditions in which the formation of personality occurs.

Emphasizing the huge role of education in the life of society, he recognized that “education develops only what nature has given: it develops good inclinations and suppresses bad ones.” And an unjust social system drowns out the most beautiful inclinations in a person.

Like all French educators, he criticized the education system of his time. D. Diderot outlined new principles for organizing education:

universality and

free education,

his lack of class,

secularism.

In an era when public education in France was a matter of the Church, Diderot designed a state system of public education built on the principle of classlessness. He was convinced that the children of the poor, accustomed to work from an early age, study more seriously and diligently than the children of the rich. To make school more accessible, Diderot considered it necessary to help low-income children financially (provide free textbooks, scholarships, school meals, etc.).

Diderot was a supporter real education, believing that it is necessary to expand the scope of teaching mathematics, physics, astronomy, and chemistry at school by reducing the teaching of ancient languages. He said that spreading and deepening natural sciences knowledge provides a connection with the needs of life and production.

Diderot thought a lot about what it should be like modern system education. They were offered three types of educational institutions: primary school - secondary school - university. At the request of Catherine II, Diderot developed "University Plan for the Russian Government"(1775), meaning the university as the entire educational system. During his stay in St. Petersburg, he wrote a number of notes: “About a school for young girls”, “About public schools” and others, which touches on various aspects of training and education.

Diderot highly valued the thoroughness of knowledge. He wrote: “It is better to know a little, but well, and even not to know anything at all, than to know poorly.” He attached great importance to good textbooks, in the writing of which he proposed to involve prominent scientists in order to compile scientifically based textbooks.

He proposed a differentiated approach to learning and encouraging capable students.

In order to improve the level of knowledge of students, he recommended holding public exams at school 4 times a year with the invitation of parents and honored guests.

French educators assigned a special role in educating the younger generation to the teacher and made high demands on him. Diderot was convinced that a teacher, in addition to knowledge of his subject, must have high moral qualities such as honesty, responsiveness and love for children. The teacher’s task is to instill in each student such qualities as firmness, justice, develop intelligence, horizons, and instill a taste for everything “true, beautiful, great, good.”

Recognizing the need for education for the entire people, D. Diderot advocated the abolition of class restrictions in secondary and higher schools and proposed creating a new system of public schools that would provide free universal primary education.

The theory of free (natural) education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

One of the brightest representatives of the French Enlightenment was J.J. Rousseau (1712-1778). Having not received a systematic education, thanks to work and constant self-education, Rousseau became one of the most enlightened people of his time. Of the many works he wrote, three are singled out, forming a single whole and representing his philosophical and pedagogical views in a concentrated form. These are the works: “Discourse on the beginning and foundations of inequality between people”(1755), "Discourse on the Sciences and Arts"(1762), "Emil, or About Education"(1762).

According to Rousseau, the first stage of humanity was the “state of nature,” when people lived freely, separately, and in harmony with nature. Private property, inequality, and vices were unknown to them. The growth of needs forced people to unite with their brothers and conclude a social contract, which laid the foundation for the emergence of private property, laws, property inequality, oppression and vices. Having retreated from their natural state, people found themselves subject to unhealthy passions: greed, ambition, acquisitiveness, etc. The further human civilization develops, the more rapidly a person moves away from his natural state, in which he was happy. People can recreate a semblance of the natural order if they establish equality, give up luxury, and settle in nature. The social structure can be changed either through revolution or through education. Education is the pillar of any form of government. The well-being of the state and the individual depends on correct education.

The task of education Rousseau saw in the upbringing of a person, this is the fundamental difference between his interpretation of the purpose of upbringing and the old upbringing, which set as its goal the preparation of a person for a specific profession, for a certain position in society. According to Rousseau, “it is necessary to educate first of all a person, and not an official, not a soldier, not a judge, not a scientist.” The French thinker's view of education as a universal human endeavor was, of course, progressive, but in his contemporary conditions, the implementation of this idea was impossible. Rousseau gave a portrait of a perfect person who must have the mind of a sage, the strength of an athlete, hard work, immunity to the temptations of civilization and bad influences, the ability to control oneself, balance one’s desires and capabilities. From childhood, a child needs to be taught life, the ability to withstand the blows of fate. In this regard, Rousseau wrote: “To live does not mean to breathe, but to act, to use our organs, feelings, abilities. It was not the man who lived anymore more years, but the one who felt life more.”

According to Rousseau, a person is educated under the influence of three forces: nature, things and people. Nature endows the individual with abilities. The world influences consciousness through sensations and experiences. People help or hinder the development of a child’s natural inclinations.

Rousseau criticized the modern education system, believing that it does not promote the development of children, but spoils them. Instead of the traditional system of education, he proposed an alternative: raising a child in the lap of nature, away from society, from culture with its artificiality. It is characteristic that the educational system proposed by Rousseau did not apply to the children of the poor, whom, in his opinion, do not need to be educated, because they were educated by life itself.

In the pedagogical treatise "Emil, or About Education" presented a program for raising a child from rich family. Emil is an orphan. The teacher takes him out of town and long years lives with him, guiding his pupil through the main periods of life: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adolescence. The treatise has five parts, the first four contain a description of the stages of Emil’s development, the fifth deals with Sophie, his life partner. Already in the very composition of the treatise, the author’s main idea is revealed: a child is a developing being and his life is a change of age stages. For each age stage, special tasks and means of education are provided (Table 2.3).

Pedagogical views of Claude Adrian Helvetia(1715-1771). In 1758, Helvetius’s famous book “On the Mind” was published. The authorities condemned and banned this book as being directed against religion and the existing system. The book was publicly burned. Helvetius went abroad and at that time wrote a new work - “On Man, His Mental Abilities and His Education” (published in 1773). Helvetia

believed that all ideas and concepts in humans are formed on the basis of sensory perceptions. He attached great importance to the formation of man under the influence of the environment. He pointed out that the feudal system cripples people. The Church corrupts human characters. Helvetius considered it necessary to formulate a single goal of education for all citizens. This goal is to strive for the good of the whole society, for the greatest pleasure and happiness of the greatest number of citizens. Helvetius argued that all people are equally capable of education, since they are born with the same spiritual abilities. Helvetius believed that a person is formed only under the influence of environment and upbringing. At the same time, he interpreted the concept of “education” very broadly. By education, Helvetia “understands not only education in the usual sense of the word, but also the totality of all the living conditions of an individual...”1. Helvetius declared that “education makes us what we are,” and even more: “Education can do anything.” There is a need for widespread education of the people, it is necessary to re-educate people. G. hoped that as a result of enlightenment and upbringing a person would be created free from prejudices. Pedagogical views of Denis Diderot (1713-1784). His works were met with hostility by the authorities. As soon as his work “Letters on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” was published, Diderot was arrested. Diderot decisively refutes Helvetius's position that education can do everything. He believes that much can be achieved through education, but education develops what nature has given the child. Through education, it is possible to develop good natural inclinations and suppress bad ones, but only if education takes into account the physical organization of a person and his natural characteristics.

Diderot believed that not only the elite have good natural inclinations; on the contrary, he argued that the people are much more often the bearers of talents than representatives of the nobility.

Just like Helvetia, Diderot strongly criticized the French feudal system of education, emphasizing that primary schools, in the hands of the clergy, neglect the education of children from the people, and privileged secondary schools of the classical type instill only an aversion to science and produce insignificant results.

Denis Diderot(1713-1784), French philosopher, educator, writer. He studied at a Jesuit college and received the title of Master of Arts. Diderot's first philosophical works were burned by decision of the French parliament (for criticizing the Christian religion and the church in the spirit of deism, he was arrested for spreading “dangerous thoughts”). In 1773-74 visited Russia, at the suggestion of Catherine II, participated in the development of a democratic program of upbringing and education in Russia. Wrote "Plan of a University, or School of Public Teaching of Sciences for the Russian Government."

The most prominent representative of French materialism of the 18th century. The inspirer, organizer and one of the main authors of the famous "Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", whose main task was the promotion of natural science knowledge - the strongest weapon against traditional ideology. D. Diderot highly valued the role of education in the formation of a person. He called for taking into account the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the child in the process of education, as well as the social conditions in which the formation of personality occurs. Diderot outlined new principles for organizing education: universality and free education, its classlessness, secularism. He expressed his thoughts on the content of the school curriculum, taking into account the relationship and interdependence of the sciences. He called on scientists to compile scientifically based textbooks, proposed a differentiated approach to teaching, and encouraged capable students. Special attention paid attention to the selection of teachers who have all the necessary, in his opinion, qualities. He attributed these qualities, first of all, to deep knowledge of the subject, honesty, responsiveness and love for children.

MATERIALISM (from the Latin materialis material), a philosophical direction that proceeds from the fact that the world is material, exists objectively, outside and independently of consciousness, that matter is primary, not created by anyone, exists forever, that consciousness, thinking is a property of matter, that the world and its patterns are knowable. Materialism is the opposite of idealism; their struggle constitutes the content of the historical and philosophical process.

Denis Diderot(1713 - 1784) - a consistent materialist who gave examples of dialectical thinking. From his point of view, the world is moving matter; the source of motion is inside matter.

Diderot was a sensualist who at the same time recognized the importance of reason and thinking for knowledge. He presented the process of cognition in a balanced way. Being a supporter of the enlightened monarchy, he spoke out with irreconcilable criticism of feudalism, absolutism, the Christian religion and the church, and defended (based on sensationalism) materialist ideas; one of the ideologists of the revolutionary French bourgeoisie of the 18th century.

Diderot led the creation of the first Encyclopedia in human history. Thanks to the fact of the creation of the Encyclopedia, the 18th century is called the Age of Enlightenment.

French philosopher, materialist, atheist, educator, encyclopedist.

Holbach(1723 - 1789) - the largest systematizer of the worldview of French materialists of the 18th century. He asserted the primacy and uncreateability of the material world, nature, existing independently of human consciousness, infinite in time and space. Matter, according to Holbach, is the totality of all existing bodies; its simplest, elementary particles are immutable and indivisible atoms, the main properties of which are extension, weight, figure, impenetrability, movement; Holbach reduced all forms of movement to mechanical movement. Matter and motion are inseparable. Constituting an integral, fundamental property of matter, its attribute, movement is as uncreated, indestructible and infinite as matter. Holbach denied the universal animation of matter, believing that sensitivity is inherent only in certain organized forms of matter.

Holbach recognized the existence of objective laws of the material world, believing that they were based on a constant and indestructible connection between causes and their actions. Man is a part of nature and therefore subject to its laws. Holbach denied free will due to the causality of human behavior. Defending the knowability of the material world, Holbach, based on materialistic sensationalism, considered sensations to be the source of knowledge; cognition is a reflection of reality; sensations and concepts are considered as images of objects. Holbach's materialist theory of knowledge, also shared by other French materialists, was directed against agnosticism, theology, the idealistic sensationalism of J. Berkeley and Rene Descartes' doctrine of innate ideas. He denied the objective nature of chance.

Holbach owns atheistic works imbued with caustic sarcasm. Due to persecution by the clergy, Holbach's works were published anonymously and, as a rule, outside France.

Developed ethical views more consistently Claude Adrian Helvetius(1715-1771) in the work “About Man”. According to Helvetius, there is also no innate morality (this idea was shared by Diderot), and vice is not innate either. Both virtue and vice are the result of upbringing, therefore it depends on society what kind of person a person will be. Education is omnipotent, a person owes everything to it. Helvetius understands education broadly: it is not only the admonishing words of parents and teachers, but the cumulative influence of the surrounding world - both society and nature.

The basis of the educational process, according to Helvetius, is a person’s physical sensitivity to pain and pleasure. It is through the perception of both that a person begins to understand what is good for him and what is bad. Every person is characterized by self-love, which is the deepest impulse of human activity. From self-love through sensitivity to pain and pleasure all passions grow. Interests, the meaning of life, the desire for happiness - everything grows through sensitivity to pain and pleasure.

Helvetius deliberately emphasizes the apology of passions, contrasting it with the Christian teaching about passions, that a person should be able to control his passions. According to Helvetius, passions must be cultivated and their necessity understood, since they move the world. Helvetius analyzes different passions. For example, passions such as interests resonate with profit and benefit and lead to the development of society and the emergence of private property.

Julien Ofret de La Mettrie(1709-1751). Let us note that the first work expressing the ideas of French materialists was La Mettrie’s “Natural History of the Soul.” Since, in his opinion, the soul is mortal, we need to take a different look at morality. The religious concept of morality does not exist, because there is no eternal life, and morality exists insofar as the moral sense is innate. There is a certain moral law, just like the laws of nature. Even animals have this moral law, and since man is a product of the animal world, he also obeys this law. In the 18th century, mechanistic materialism flourished. At this time, mechanics was on the rise and philosophers began to liken many things to mechanical processes. They tried to represent man and society in a mechanical way. Thus, La Mettrie in his essay “Man-Machine” likened man to a machine. He presents the human body as a clockwork mechanism. Then society began to be likened to mechanical systems.

Pedagogical ideas of French enlighteners of the 18th century. (Voltaire, K.A. Helvetius, D. Diderot)

Denis Diderot is one of the most prominent French materialists of the 18th century. Like all representatives of this trend, Diderot was a materialist from below (in the explanation of nature) and an idealist from above (in the interpretation of social phenomena). He recognized the materiality of the world, considered movement inseparable from matter, the world knowable, and resolutely opposed religion.

Standing on the position of materialistic sensationalism, Diderot considered sensations to be the source of knowledge. But unlike Helvetius, he did not reduce the complex to them. process of cognition, but recognized that its second stage is the processing of sensations by the mind. He also believed that “opinions rule the world,” and mistakenly associated the possibility of reorganizing society not with revolution, but with the publication of wise laws and the spread of education, correct upbringing. He outlined his thoughts on education mainly in the work “Systematic Refutation of Helvetius’s Book “On Man.”

Diderot rejected Helvetius's assertion about the omnipotence of education and the absence of individual natural differences among people. He sought to limit the extreme conclusions to which Helvetius came. Thus, Diderot wrote: “He (Helvetius) says: Education means everything.

Diderot correctly argued that all people, and not just a select few, are endowed with favorable inclinations by nature. Diderot rebelled against the dominance of classical education in schools and brought real knowledge to the fore; in high school, he believed, all students should study mathematics, physics and natural sciences, as well as humanities.

Claude Adrian Helvetius - became famous as the author of the book “On the Mind,” which was published in 1758. and provoked furious attacks from all forces of reaction, ruling circles. The book was banned and sentenced to be burned. Helvetius developed his ideas even more thoroughly in the book “On Man, His Mental Abilities and His Education.” This book, written in 1769, in order to avoid new persecution, Helvetius bequeathed to be published only after his death, and it was published in 1773.

In his works, Helvetius, for the first time in the history of pedagogy, quite fully revealed the factors that shape a person. As a sensualist, he argued that all ideas and concepts in humans are formed on the basis of sensory perceptions, and reduced thinking to the ability to sense.

He considered the most important factor in the formation of a person to be the influence of the environment. Man is a product of circumstances (social environment) and upbringing, Helvetius argued. The atheist Helvetius demanded that public education be taken out of the hands of the clergy and made unconditionally secular. Sharply condemning the scholastic methods of teaching in the feudal school, Helvetius demanded that teaching be visual and based, if possible, on personal experience baby educational material, he believed, should become simple and understandable to students.

Helvetius recognized the right of all people to education and believed that women should receive equal education with men. Helvetius believed that all people with normal physical organization naturally have equal abilities and opportunities for development. He strongly rejected reactionary opinions about inequality mental development people based on their social origin, race or nationality. In fact, he stated, the cause of inequality is rooted in social conditions that do not allow most people to receive the right education and develop their abilities.

François Marie Voltaire (1694–1778). Known as a poet, playwright, writer, historian, philosopher. Voltaire did not leave special pedagogical works, and the ideas of education are quite rare in his work, but his entire philosophy and his entire ideology became the actual basis of many pedagogical concepts, ideas and attitudes in the field of upbringing and education.

Pedagogical ideas of French enlighteners of the 18th century. (Voltaire, K.A. Helvetius, D. Diderot) - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Pedagogical ideas of French enlighteners of the 18th century (Voltaire, C.A. Helvetius, D. Diderot)" 2017, 2018.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. the sword has undergone some changes. Two-handed swords gained great popularity, and later they were used as ceremonial weapons. One-handed swords have changed much more than in the previous few centuries....

N.A. Konstantinov, E.N. Medynsky, M.F. Shabaeva a brief description of

philosophical views of French materialists. Among the French Enlightenment philosophers, the materialist philosophers stood out with the greatest consistency in their views and the combative nature of their principled positions. "Throughout modern history

Europe,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “and especially at the end of the 18th century, in France, where a decisive battle took place against all sorts of medieval rubbish, against serfdom in institutions and in ideas, materialism turned out to be the only consistent philosophy, true to all the teachings of the natural sciences, hostile to superstitions, hypocrisy, etc.” Materialist philosophers resolutely opposed feudal state institutions and the church, and forged a sharp ideological weapon for the French Revolution. The works of Diderot, Helvetius, and Holbach were prohibited, confiscated, and publicly burned by the authorities; the authors themselves were often persecuted and often forced to emigrate to other countries. French materialists were consistent, active fighters against religion; their atheistic worldview had a huge influence not only on their contemporaries, but also on subsequent generations. Church and religion were the main support of feudalism, the destruction of this support was a necessary condition

Materialist philosophers sought to prove that the sources of religion were ignorance, slavery, despotism and deception of the masses by clergy. The priests do not care about the enlightenment of the people, they wrote, and the less enlightened the masses, the easier it is to fool them. V.I. Lenin highly valued the atheists of the 18th century, who talentedly, wittily and openly attacked religion and clericalism. However, they did not understand the social essence of religion and could not indicate the correct ways to combat it. French materialists believed that enlightenment would eliminate all superstitions. Science, art, and crafts give people new strength and help them understand the laws of nature, which should lead them to renounce religion.

Religion is required for the feudal government in order to more easily govern the people, but a just, enlightened, virtuous government will not need false fables. Therefore, it is impossible to allow the clergy to run schools, there should be no teaching of religion in school, it is necessary to introduce such subjects that would lead students to knowledge of the laws of nature. It would be advisable to establish a subject that would teach the basics of moral standards of behavior in the new society; such a subject should have been a moral course.

According to the teachings of French materialists, there is only matter in the world that is in constant motion, matter is a physical reality. They recognized the universal interaction in nature and movement as a natural property of matter. But French materialism did not go beyond the mechanical understanding of movement and was of a metaphysical, contemplative nature.

Based on Locke's sensationalism, French materialists recognized sensations received from the external world as the starting point of knowledge. As Diderot put it, a person is like a musical instrument, the keys of which are the sense organs: when nature presses them, the instrument makes sounds - a person develops sensations and concepts.

Being materialists in their views on nature, French philosophers took the position of idealism in explaining the laws of social development. They argued that “opinions rule the world,” and if so, then it is enough to achieve a change in opinions, and all feudal remnants and religion will disappear, enlightenment will spread, legislation will improve and the kingdom of reason will be established. Therefore, it is necessary to convince, re-educate people, and the character public relations will be radically changed. Therefore, French materialists considered education as a means of changing the social system. They also overestimated the influence of the environment, considering a person as a passive product of his environment and upbringing. They did not understand the role of people's revolutionary activity, changing both the environment and their own nature. F. Engels explained that the inconsistency of the old materialism is not that it recognized the existence of ideal driving forces, but that it stopped at them without trying to penetrate further, to reach the reasons that created these forces.

The pedagogical views of the French materialists Helvetius and Diderot were of greatest importance.

Pedagogical views of Claude Adrian Helvetius (1715-1771).

In 1758, Helvetius’s famous book “On the Mind” was published. The authorities condemned and banned this book as being directed against religion and the existing system. The book was publicly burned. Helvetius went abroad and at that time wrote a new work - “On Man, His Mental Abilities and His Education” (published in 1773).

Helvetius denied innate ideas and, being a sensualist, believed that all ideas and concepts in humans are formed on the basis of sensory perceptions. He attached great importance to the formation of a person under the influence of the environment, the socio-political system dominant in the country. According to Helvetius, “the new and main educators of a young man are the form of government of the state in which he lives, and the morals generated among the people by this form of government.”

He pointed out that the feudal system cripples people. The Church spoils human characters, religious morality is hypocritical and inhuman. “Woe to the nations,” exclaims Helvetius, “who entrust priests with the education of their citizens.” He believed that the time had come when secular power should take over the preaching of morality. Since the existing morality is built on errors and prejudices, on religion, a new morality must be created, arising from a correctly understood personal interest, that is, one that is combined with the public interest. However, Helvetia understood the public interest from a bourgeois position. He saw the basis of society in private property.

Helvetius considered it necessary to formulate a single goal of education for all citizens. This goal is to strive for the good of the whole society, for the greatest pleasure and happiness of the greatest number of citizens. It is necessary to educate patriots who are able to combine the idea of ​​personal good and the “good of the nation.” Although Helvetius interpreted the “good of the nation” in a limited way, as a bourgeois thinker, such an understanding of the goals of education was historically progressive.

Helvetius argued that all people are equally capable of education, since they are born with the same spiritual abilities. This statement “about the natural equality of people” is imbued with democracy; it dealt a blow to the theories of contemporary noble ideologists who preached the inequality of people by nature, which was allegedly determined by their social origin. However, Helvetius's denial of any natural differences between people is incorrect.

Helvetius believed that a person is formed only under the influence of environment and upbringing. At the same time, he interpreted the concept of “education” very broadly. Karl Marx pointed out that by education Helvetius “understands not only education in the usual sense of the word, but also the totality of all the living conditions of an individual...”. Helvetius declared that “education makes us what we are,” and even more: “Education can do anything.” He overestimated both the role of education and the environment, believing that a person is the student of all the objects around him, the positions in which chance puts him, and even all the accidents that happen to him. This interpretation leads to an overestimation of spontaneous factors and an underestimation of organized upbringing in the formation of a person.

Helvetius believed that a scholastic school, where children are stupefied with religion, cannot educate not only real people, but also a sane person in general. It is therefore necessary to radically restructure the school, make it secular and state-owned and destroy the monopoly of the privileged caste of nobles on education. There is a need for widespread education of the people, it is necessary to re-educate people. Helvetius hoped that as a result of enlightenment and upbringing, a person would be created, free from prejudices, from superstitions, a true atheist, a patriot, a person who knows how to combine personal happiness with the “good of nations.”

Pedagogical views of Denis Diderot (1713-1784).

The most prominent representative of French materialism of the 18th century was Denis Diderot. His works were met with hostility by the authorities. As soon as his work “Letters on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” was published, Diderot was arrested. After his release from prison, he devoted all his energy to preparing for the publication of the Encyclopedia of Sciences, Arts and Crafts. The encyclopedia, around which he gathered the entire flower of the then bourgeois intelligentsia, played a huge role in the ideological preparation of the bourgeois French revolution.

Of all the French materialist philosophers, Diderot was the most consistent: he passionately defended the idea of ​​the indestructibility of matter, the eternity of life, and the great role of science.

Diderot attached great importance to sensations, but he did not reduce cognition to them, but rightly pointed out that the processing of sensations by the mind is of great importance. The senses are only witnesses, while judgment is the result of the activity of the mind based on the data received from them.

Diderot highly valued the role of education, but in his objections to Helvetius he did not consider education to be omnipotent. He wrote in the form of a dialogue the famous “Systematic Refutation of Helvetius’s Book of Man” (1773-1774).

Here is one typical passage:

“Helvetius. I regarded intelligence, genius, and virtue as the product of education.

Diderot. Just education?

Helvetius. This idea still seems true to me.

Diderot. It is false, and because of this it can never be proven in a completely convincing way.

Helvetius. They agreed with me that education has a greater influence on the genius and character of people and nations than was thought.

Diderot. And that’s all I could agree with you on.”

Diderot decisively refutes Helvetius's position that education can do everything. He believes that much can be achieved through education, but education develops what nature has given the child. Through education, it is possible to develop good natural inclinations and suppress bad ones, but only if education takes into account the physical organization of a person and his natural characteristics.

Diderot's position on the importance of the natural differences of people in their development, on the need to take into account peculiarities in education physical organization and the child’s psyche deserves a positive assessment. However, due to the limitations of French materialist philosophy of the 18th century, Diderot mistakenly views human nature as something unchangeable and abstract. Meanwhile, as the founders of Marxism subsequently established, human nature changes in the course of historical development, people change their own nature in the process of revolutionary practice.

Diderot believed that not only the elite have good natural inclinations; on the contrary, he argued that the people are much more often the bearers of talents than representatives of the nobility.

“The number of huts and other private dwellings,” wrote Diderot, “is related to the number of palaces as ten thousand are to one, and accordingly we have ten thousand chances against one that genius, talent and virtue are more likely to emerge from the walls of a hut, rather than from the walls of a palace."

At the same time, Diderot rightly stated that quite often the talents hidden in the masses of the people perish, since the bad social system deprives the children of the people proper education and education. He was a supporter of the education of the broad masses and recognized its enormous liberating role. According to Diderot, "Enlightenment gives man dignity, and the slave will immediately feel that he was not born for slavery."

Just like Helvetius, Diderot strongly criticized the French feudal system of education, emphasizing that primary schools in the hands of the clergy neglected the education of children from the people, and privileged secondary schools of the classical type instilled only an aversion to the sciences and gave insignificant results. The entire system of education and upbringing is unsuitable, “it is necessary to change the method of public education to the very foundation.”

It is necessary that all children study in schools, regardless of their social class. Schools should be removed from the jurisdiction of the clergy and made public. Primary education should be free and compulsory, and public catering should be provided in schools. The children of the poor know the value of education better than the rich. Diderot demanded a decisive restructuring high school. He opposed the dominance of classical education in secondary schools, considered it necessary to ensure that they taught mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural science, and astronomy on a scientific basis, and insisted on the implementation of real education.

In 1773, Diderot, at the invitation of Catherine II, traveled to St. Petersburg and lived there for about a year. As you know, Catherine at that time played the role of an “enlightened figure” and patron of persecuted philosophers.

In 1775, Diderot drew up a plan for organizing public education in Russia on a new basis, called the “University Plan for Russia” (meaning the entire system of public education by university). Catherine, of course, had no intention of implementing Diderot’s plan; it was too radical.

Bibliography

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