Public education and democracy in the thought of the French enlightenment

No abstractThis essay suggests a reading that emphasizes some elements of the evolution of the thought of the French Enlightenment concerning public education and most notably its connection to the concept of publicity. Beginning with a brief survey of the origins of this thought in the work of John Locke, the work focuses on the debate that was carried out in France chiefly after 1748 and the publication of Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws. Indeed, the latter posits the question of the political role of education for the first time in modern terms. Exploring the relevant writings of key Enlightenment figures such as Helvétius, La Chalotais, Rousseau, Diderot and the Physiocrats, we present an evolution that reveals certain key elements concerning the importance of generalized public education in a rational society, as well as the dilemmas posed by its eventual democratization. Finally, we focus on the work of Condorcet. Condorcet, as a member of both the «philosophes» and the Constitutional Assembly, presented the first draft of a comprehensive program of a system of public education. Furthermore, we refer briefly to the opponents of the latter as well as to the Ideologues that close this period. As a conclusion, we present some considerations which we hope can be useful to the modern reader