Religião natural e educação natural: a (de)formação do homem moderno

Abstract

Considering that the thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau underpins and intensifies modern discussions on human nature, the formation of the human being, and the exercise of religiosity, this dissertation has as its general objective the analysis of the intrinsic relationship between natural education and natural religion in the formative process of the modern individual, investigating how this articulation presents itself as a critical response to the (de)formation produced by civil society and its institutions. As specific objectives, the study seeks to: (a) understand the Rousseauian conception of nature and natural goodness; (b) examine the role of conscience and sensitive reason in moral and religious formation; and (c) reflect on the educational implications of this proposal for existence in society. The justification of the study lies in the contemporary relevance of Rousseau’s diagnosis of the social, moral, and religious corruption of the modern individual, marked by materialism, the fragmentation of human relationships, and the emptying of the sense of the sacred, which makes it pertinent to revisit his formative categories in light of the contemporary challenges of education. From a methodological standpoint, this is a qualitative study of a bibliographic and hermeneutical nature, grounded in the analysis of Rousseau’s central works, especially Émile, or On Education, with particular focus on the section Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, as well as on critical studies and commentators engaged with the philosophy of education and religion. The guiding hypothesis is that, for Rousseau, natural education and natural religion constitute a single formative movement oriented by nature, capable of safeguarding the human being from social degradation and of promoting a sensitive and moral formation that enables both life in society and openness to transcendence. It is further argued that conscience, far from an Enlightenment notion of freedom detached from moral references, operates as a mediating instance between the individual, civil obligations, and the “Author of Things,” guiding human beings in self-knowledge, ethical life, and religious experience. It is concluded that the integration of natural education and natural religion constitutes, in Rousseau’s thought, a path of purification of the modern individual, restoring existential meaning, moral responsibility, and the possibility of access to the sacred.