The Importance Of Education In The Age Of Enlightenment And The Enlightenment

“We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man 's estate, is the gift of education.” As suggested by French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, education is essential to one’s being. As France steps into the 18th century, as France steps into the Age of Enlightenment, the importance of education has been brought into new light, especially for the peasants. Prior the Enlightenment, peasants’ education was never a topic of much discussion; the upper class naturally emphasized education for their children ever since the revival of literature during the Renaissance, but education for the commoner was most often limited to the religious teachings of the church, largely of content unrelated to the everyday lives of the commoner. However, with the emergence of critical thinking during the Enlightenment, numerous philosophers began to challenge the old system of education. Thinkers like John Locke and Rousseau emphasized the significance of educating the young, leading to later demands of a revised education system that included the peasantry. Figures such as Voltaire questioned the authority of the Catholic Church all together; he denounced the church for its superstition in its teaching and advocated for a different institution to be in charge of the education for the people. Yet those of power, mainly the upper class and government officials, feared that the peasant would rise and