ABSTRACT
Theorising about education has introduced a degree of intellectual rigour into its study which would have been unthinkable even in the earlier years of my own commitment to teacher training. The psychology of education had made most progress; but what was then termed philosophy was frankly moribund, and sociology of education in its empirical sense practically non-existent. This chapter focuses on concepts such as 'indoctrination', 'autonomy', 'reason' and the like. To view such concepts in their historical context, and to be brought to realize that other educationists in former times not inferior in cultural achievement have emphasized a very different set of concepts is to become apprised of a certain parochialism of philosophical attention which might well benefit from an extended awareness. The chapter explores the implications of the method by examining an early recommendation of its usage in Rousseau's Emile.
