28 h 10 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do you raise an honest, kind child in a society that teaches him otherwise?
In Emile, Jean-Jacques Rousseau turns a question about education into the imagined life of a child. Emile is a rich orphan whose tutor takes sole charge of him from birth to marriage. Throughout his education, Rousseau asks how nature, rather than social habit, might guide a boy toward freedom and self-reliance.
The lessons begin with movement, play and the consequences of ordinary choices. A broken window means living with the cold. As Emile grows, curiosity, work, pity, conscience and love enter his education. Rousseau links the raising of a child to larger questions about religion and politics, while leaving readers plenty to challenge.
What you’ll discover
- Nature before social habit Consider Rousseau's claim that education should follow a child's nature rather than society's customs.
- Lessons in broken glass Explore why Rousseau lets cold air teach a lesson that adult commands cannot.
- Curiosity as a guide Follow an education that uses curiosity to build knowledge, practical skill and self-reliance.
- The claims of conscience Meet the Savoyard Vicar, who explains religious beliefs reached through his own honest thought.
- Love and its questions Examine Sophie's proposed education as Rousseau turns toward partnership, adulthood and citizenship.
Is it for you?
This book suits parents, teachers and students of philosophy who want to see where modern ideas about child-centred learning began. It also suits anyone curious about the Enlightenment. Readers wanting practical classroom advice may find it too strange and too long.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Follow nature, not social habit
- Let the infant's body move
- Protect the child with negative education
- Teach through consequences, not commands
- Use curiosity to build knowledge and skill
- Awaken the heart through pity and humanity
- Seek faith through conscience, not authority
- Prepare for love, Sophie and citizenship
- Weigh its flaws and long influence
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 28 h 10 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Emilio in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Emilio
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau· 1762
A tutor raises a child to resist society’s corrupting influence.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Español
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
Follow nature, not social habit
Rousseau opens with a bold claim. Everything is good as it leaves the hands of its maker, and everything degenerates in the hands of man. By this he means that children are born with sound instincts, and that human customs bend them out of shape. A man raised by society, he says, is neither one thing nor the other. He is pulled between duties to himself and duties to others, and so he is useful to neither.
He says every person is taught by three masters. Nature teaches through the growth of our bodies and talents. Men teach us how to use that growth. Things teach us through our own experience of the world. Rousseau argues that education works only when the three pull the same way. Since we cannot control nature, the other two must be brought into line with it.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712–1778 · Genevan philosopher and writer
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712 and died in Ermenonville, France, in 1778. He lived in Switzerland, France, and England. He wrote philosophy, fiction, autobiography, and music. His works include Discourse on Inequality (1755), Julie (1761), and Emile (1762). His Confessions was published after his death.
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about Emilio
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is Emile by Rousseau about?
Emile is a treatise on education told through an imagined pupil and his tutor. It follows the boy from birth to marriage and argues that children should be raised in line with nature, learning by experience rather than by lectures.
What is negative education in Emile?
Negative education is Rousseau's idea that, in early childhood, the tutor should not teach virtue or truth by words. Instead, he guards the child from vice and error, and lets the senses and experience do the work.
Why was Emile banned?
Emile was condemned in Paris in 1762 and ordered burned, mainly because of the Savoyard Vicar's Profession of Faith. Its natural religion, which trusts conscience over church authority, offended religious and civil leaders. Rousseau had to flee France.
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
