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영어

Among the most influential figures who prevailed on the 18th century education for children might be included Calvin, Locke and Rousseau. This paper is an attempt to examine their views on child and its education and to elucidate Blake’s attitude toward them. First I begin with the survey of Calvinistic views on child and its education, which were imbued with the sense of original sin: a child is born a sinner, and hence the emphasis on the necessity of severe upbringing and training to redeem it from condemnation. Locke, on the other hand, seemed far more lenient in his views, objecting to harsh punishment and believing in reasoning with children. He also insisted upon the formation of useful habits in early life with recourse to the authority of a father. Lastly, Rousseau opposed to the Calvinist- Lockean educational alliance that emphasizes austerity and self-denial, asserting that personal discovery through natural experience is the true path to learning. His ideas were quite advanced and radical, and yet, in the final analysis, he does not as much differ from Calvin and Locke as might seem in that he also denies children what Blake felt were their valuable qualities, I.e. vision and imagination.