203. Great Principles of Modern Pedagogy. ВЂ” With-

out intending it, without any other thought than that of

modifying the false direction of the mind in the search for

scientific truth, Descartes has stated some of the great prin-

ciples of modern pedagogy.

The first is the equal aptitude of minds to know and com-

prehend. "Good sense," says Descartes, "is the thing of

all else in this world that is most equally distributed. 1 . . .

The latent ability to judge well, to distinguish the true from

the false, is naturally equal among all men." What is this

but saying that all men are entitled to instruction ? In a cer-

tain sense, what are the innumerable primary schools scattered

over the surface of the civilized globe, but the application

and the living commentary of Descartes' ideas on the equal

distribution of good sense and reason among men ?

1 I am in doubt whether M. Compayre intends to sanction this doctrine

or not. This is an anticipation of one of Jacotot's paradoxes: " All human

beings are equally capable of learning." The verdict of actual teachers

is undoubtedly to the effect that there are manifold differences in the

ability of pupils to know, comprehend, and judge. (P.)

PHILOSOPHEKS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 191

But, adds Descartes, " it is not enough to have a sound

miud ; the principal thing is to make a good use of it." In

other words, nature is not sufficient in herself ; she needs to

be guided and directed. Method is the essential thing ; it

has a sovereign importance. Success will depend less on

natural qualities, such as imagination, memory, quickness

of thought, than upon the rules of intellectual direction

imposed on the mind. Education has a far greater part

than nature in the formation and development of accurate

and upright intelligences.

Another Cartesian principle is the substitution of free

inquiry and reflective conviction for blind beliefs founded

upon authority. Descartes promulgated this famous rule of

his method : "The first precept is, never to receive anything

for true that I do not know, upon evidence, to be such ; . . .

and to comprise no more within my judgments than what is

presented so clearly and distinctly to my mind that I have

no occasion to call it in question." In this declaration he

has not only reformed science and revolutionized philoso-

phy, but has banished from the school the old routine, the

mechanical processes and exercises of pure memory, and

has made a demand for rational methods that excite the

intelligence, awaken clear and distinct ideas, and provoke

judgment and reflection. Of course, it is not proposed to

make a little Descartes out of every child, despoiling him

of received beliefs in order to construct personal opinions

de novo; but the rule of evidence, applied with moderation

and discretion, is none the less an excellent pedagogical

precept, which will never be disallowed by those who wish

to make of the child something more than a mere machine.

204. Objective and Subjective Pedagogy. — We have

now reached a place where we may call into notice two dif-

ferent tendencies, equally legitimate, which we shall find,

192 THE HISTORY OF PEDAGOGY.

with exaggerations that compromise their utility, in the

practice of modern teachers. There are those who wish

above all to develop the intelligence ; and there are others

who are preoccupied with furnishing the mind with a stock

of positive knowledge. The first conceive instruction as

taking place, as it were, through what is within, through the

development of the internal qualities of precision and meas-

ure ; the others are preoccupied only with the instruction

that takes place through what is without, through an ex-

tended erudition, through an accumulation of knowledges.