Comparative study of educational and moral thoughts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Johann Frederick Herbart (with an emphasis on four fields: ontology, epistemology, anthropology, value science)

The present article, with descriptive method, tries to compare the educational and moral views of two great thinkers of the 18th and 19th centuries, namely Rousseau and Herbart, and intends to examine the differences and commonalities of their views on education and ethics. One of the reasons for comparing these two views is that Rousseau's educational views have influenced Herbart's educational theory. The result of this study shows that Rousseau considers the ultimate goal of education to be "complete adaptation and harmony with nature", but Herbart considers the ultimate goal of education to be "formation of personality or character". The principles of education from Rousseau's point of view are: reforming society is not possible without reforming the educational method. Correct education should be based on experimental psychology and understanding the psychological characteristics of childhood. It should be avoided to impose the taste of the teacher as an adult on the child. Instead of verbal and book methods, he used intuitive and practical methods. The teacher should cultivate the true needs of nature and make the child's talent a creative attitude. In Herbart's opinion, education should be tangible, continuous, progressive and related to life, and appropriate to the child's developmental stage and mental background and interest. Rousseau believes that morality is the highest aspect of man, and he considers a perfect man to be someone who has moral virtues. For Herbart, the goal of education is ethics, and Herbart's educational system ends in ethics.