ROUSSEAU'S CONTRIBUTIONS 335 



owes much to him. Herbert Spencer also shows his influence indi- 

 rectly, although he had not read Entile when he wrote his essay on 

 education. For good or for ill, then, the popular educational doctrines 

 of the day can be traced to Eousseau. 



In brief, Eousseau had an important place in both philosophy and 

 education. It would be interesting to ask how many of Eousseau's 

 doctrines were his own and how many were merely borrowed and worked 

 over. Many of his theories can be traced to earlier men, to Montaigne, 

 to Eabelais, to Montesquieu. His educational theories were largely 

 modified from Locke and Condillac, and the influence of the classics was 

 great in all departments. Much more was common thought and com- 

 mon talk among his associates — what might be called the spirit of the 

 age. What there is left that is original is difficult to say. Certainly, 

 nowhere else among the writers of the age have these ideas been 

 brought together and put with such emotional fervor and literary skill. 

 Whoever may have originated the ideas, Eousseau gets credit for them 

 because of his skill in exposition. Certainly no one better than he repre- 

 sents all the contradictory tendencies of his age. 



Still another question presents itself in connection with a man like 

 Eousseau. Does he deserve any credit for his ideas? They present 

 themselves in striking profusion in a highly unstable nervous system, 

 ideas, good, bad and indifferent, queerly assembled and altogether out of 

 relation to each other and to the acts of the man himself. It may even 

 be questioned whether Eousseau was able to distinguish between the 

 true and false, the worthy and the unworthy. Each was given expres- 

 sion with no reference to anything else or to its value. There was 

 apparently no definite purpose in their utterance, aside from pleasing 

 the reader or satisfying the artistic sense of the writer, there was even 

 no responsibility for them. It might be asked in retort how far any 

 one deserves credit for his ideas, and how many men have been able 

 accurately to guage the value of their contributions. Eousseau fur- 

 nishes an enigma in this respect, but all questions of credit in this fun- 

 damental sense are enigmatical. Certain it is that an occasional 

 unstable nervous system of this sort is likely to be a spot where ideas of 

 value germinate and makes for progress in the world of thought. 

 Whether Eousseau is to be regarded as a credit or debit on the world's 

 books depends upon the point of view. The relatives of the victims of 

 the Eeign of Terror would give one answer; you would get another if 

 you asked the men of all ages who have enjoyed the brilliant literary 

 work of Eousseau or the increasing democracy that followed the French 

 Eevolution, assuming, which is an open question, that Eousseau was 

 really responsible for the economic change. 



