Sobre o processo de formação do cidadão

Abstract

Since the dawn of modernity, becoming a citizen, far from being something natural or spontaneous, has required effort, to the extent that it requires that each one overcomes his own self sufficiency and independence. In light of this, Rousseau comes to affirm the need to transform human nature so as to endow each individual, who is a perfect and solitary whole, with the capacity for collectivity, of integrating himself to a collective body as an inseparable part. The difficulty of the project, or of the educational process for becoming a citizen, resides in the fact that such a requirement is not imposed spontaneously on individuals, although it is a necessary condition for the establishment of a harmonious relationship between each individual and the collective body. Discussing the tension existing between individual and citizen, investigating the effort undertaken by the legislator and by each individual will be the object of this article.