J. J. Rousseau, Emile and Religious Education

J. J. Rousseau, thinker of the Age of Enlightenment, breaks a new ground in education with his work "Emile." In his novel, "Emile" is the name of the child he has grown up imaginatively. Rousseau, describing Emile's life and his relationship with his instructor from birth to adolescence, discusses teacher-student relationship, and he defends that children are innate, pure and noble, and that they must be protected from the negative effects of society. This vision, called the return to nature and aiming to protect children from society's artificiality and self-esteem, is recognized as Naturalism in education world. The basic idea of this movement is that child development is carried out without undue interference and limitations. Parents and educators should be good observers, helpers for providing appropriate experiences, and should be in a position that allows children to grow according to their natural abilities. Rousseau, recommending Robinson Crusoe lifestyle, is opposed to compulsory and restricted education. Rousseau himself, who seems to have influenced many thinkers such as Daniel Defoe, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dewey, Vygotsky and Piaget, has also been influenced by others. "Emile" is thought to have been influenced by the work Hayy Ibn Yaqzan written by Avicenna and Ibn Tufail centuries ago. Rousseau also mentions religious and moral education in his work. To him, it is more meaningful to teach children how to choose truthfully, how to choose by using their minds and experiences and to respect their free will, rather than giving them a religious education shaped and modified by society. Although it is not possible to practice today, important points to be taken into consideration in religious education draw attention. In our theoretical article, we have tried to investigate the still-influential Naturalism movement and Rousseau's views on religious-moral education, and contribute to the field. We aim to create an awareness of this subject which has not been researched by any independent study.