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Education in a Burkian Society. Education in a "Burkian" Society The
Enlightenment period was host to a variety of reforms spanning ...
Submitted by alexhill87 on November 8, 2006
Category: English
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Education in a "Burkian" Society
The Enlightenment period was host to a variety of reforms spanning social structures and government infrastructures. There is no better example of these reforms than the French Revolution which Edmund Burke saw unfold and led him to write Reflections on the Revolution in France. Burke was strongly against these reforms and argued for tradition and rigid social structure. Had Burke written an education plan, like Rousseau's Emile, the pupil would be well prepared to function in a society and contribute to the greater good having learned his duty from his forefathers.
In a world dominated by a "Burkian" education, people would be "inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties from a long line of ancestors" (203). As such, the education of a child can be divided into two main categories (with slight variance for members of the middle, and upper middle class): leaders, or the aristocracy, and followers, members of the working class. Despite following two different forms of education, the child's first year remains the same in either. Burke agrees with Rousseau in the fact that "we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate is the gift of education" (141). In the case of both categories, the child must be cared for and allowed to reach an age at which he can begin to learn. Once the child has reached this stage and has passed from "one to the other" (146), his education can begin.
Stage Two, between the ages of two and twelve years, also varies little between the two divisions. Both impress upon the child that "people will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors" (203). It is important to look at your ancestors as guides. They say that history is the best teacher and it is wise to learn from it. Burke could not agree more. He believes knowledge from one's ancestors should be used to the utmost advantage. The knowledge of a society rests upon...
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