Philosophy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (2008) states that a child possesses more strength than he actually needs to fulfill his needs, and there is a need for his educator to properly teach him how to channel such strength into his proper education. Since a child has lesser desires than the grown man, and this fact makes the child stronger in comparison to a grown man, and much easier to mold into the right path.
It quite known that the life of man is plagued with weaknesses which can corrupt him unknown to a lot of individuals, there was once a time when man can do about without these weaknesses. This is the time before man entered adolescence. A child is far stronger than a grown man in the sense that he is does not pursue all his desiresdue to the fact that he has few developed desires compared to a grown man (Rousseau, 2008).

A child, according to Rousseau (2008), is devoid of strong passions and desires inherent to grown men primarily because there is a discrepancy between his strength and his desires. It is stated that the strength of a child increases far more quickly than his desires thus, since he is granted with strength and his desires are few, there are far less instances wherein he is unable to fulfill his desires (Rousseau, 2008).

Grown men tend to have more and more desires every day, and their strength is unable to compensate for these desires, thus, such desires go unfulfilledcreating a form of dissatisfaction which contributes to the fact that desires are mans weakness. In a sense, Rousseaus discussion about strength versus desire was proof that children need to be able to channel their strengths into their education, primarily because as they grow older, they find more things to channel their strength into. It is wise, then, to begin educating them while they are young, when they have few desires to occupy their minds (Rousseau, 2008).

Proper Use of Strength Early Education
    Since it has already been established that a childs strength is disproportionate to his wants, and that he has relatively more strength than needed at this time of his life, it should follow that this strength should be channeled into a positive means therefore, there is a need to evaluate as to what kind of means should the child channel his strength. Rousseau (2008) states that a child should be properly educatedfor this will enable him to properly use this strength or will to appropriately direct his physical strength in the future. It is stated that the body is always looking for means to utilize its energy however, this need is often of lesser value than the need for mental activity which seeks for knowledge (Rousseau, 2008, p. 182).

Children are often running around, looking for things to do, and then they become curious of certain things, and this often means that there is a need for knowledge. If the child is properly educated and given the appropriate tools, then the child may be able to proceed through development without problems (Rousseau, 2008).

    Rousseau then states several means as to how a child should be educated. A primary note he made is that a child should not be merely educated using books, for doing such does not provide him with real knowledge but mere words. In Rousseaus own words A child who reads ceases to think, he only reads (Rousseau, 2008, p 183).

A child should not be taught of things which he cannot understand without seeing for himself therefore, there is a need for his educator to instruct him on how to observe the events around him. There is also a need to observe proper timing as to when certain knowledge should be introduced. Not everything may be learned at one, and the child needs to take time to think of the new knowledge imparted to him (Rousseau, 2008).

Critique and Counter-Arguments
    Given the previous information, there are a few several points that should be analyzed. One point that is important to take into notice is that Rousseaus assumption that children are stronger than grown men because they possess strength which can overcome desires and needs. Children are not necessarily stronger in willthey are merely of undeveloped faculties to understand what they truly want or desire. Since children are unable to determine wants and desires which are not trivial, they cannot possibly exert more effort than the amount of effort they exert on trivial things. In a sense, strength or willpower can only be determined once they face the same circumstances with the same developed mind faculties as of a grown man. The theory, then, that children are far stronger than grown men crumbles.

This being said, it cannot be denied that Rousseaus assumption that appropriate child-rearing and education will, indeed, provide the child with the necessary skills and knowledge to appropriately control his desires and urges are correct. However, there remains a question on whether Rousseau is correct in his statement that books only leave children with words and not knowledge.

Books need not contain pure text this is why a lot of books carry illustrations in order for children to understand what they are reading about. Books offer children the chance to use their imagination, for they are, after all, in need of good visualization skills. However, there is, of course, the need to contextualize when Rousseau has written his book, and it might not be applicable to current times.
In summary, the aforementioned points made by Rousseau his book are good arguments however, there are a few points which need to be thoroughly analyzed before completely agreeing to his statements. One point is that children are not necessarily stronger in will than men because they still have not developed their desires, thus the extra strength for other tasks however, Rousseau is correct in stating that this is the appropriate time to educate them, since their minds are not clouded with desires. The other point is that education does not have to be restricted to personal observations, for books can also provide children with the appropriate knowledge and enhance their imagination. In a sense, Rousseaus points make sense to an educator, but there is always a need to contextualize his theories and philosophies in order to be able to understand not only how, but why Rousseau has perceived such beliefs and techniques when it comes to education.