Emílio e Emília:ou razão e sensibilidade na pauta das conversações

Abstract

The text seeks to analyze the interaction between reason and sensibility in the following works: the treatise on education Emile or on education, written by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) in the form of a novel; and the work Les conversations d’Émilie, written by Louise d’Épinay (1726-1783). This one was written with the purpose of opposing the former, but it doesn't develop the theme with the same depth. The method for the analysis was hermeneutic, with a structural and comparative reading, reaching the conclusion that the two are similar in terms of reason and sensitivity, with due regard for specific differences. Emile will not be a savage at the end of his education, but a man of knowledge and reason; and Emilie will be educated with a view to developing reason, but safeguarding sensibility.