Emile or Education

by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau wrote about the difficulty of being a good individual within an inherently corrupting collectivity: society. Emile deals specifically with education, and outlines a system which would allow for human goodness. He uses the fictional story of Emile and his tutor to outline his ideas. The book was banned and publicly burned on its publication, but became a European bestseller and provided a basis for new education systems.