존로크의 자유-개인주의 교육관

Abstract

On the assumption that liberal-individualism is a key concept in Locke's system of thought, the paper focuses on the educational question: "how does Locke maintain his liberal- individualist position in education?" Framed by this question, the paper first attempts to show the connection between his medical interest and his educational philosophy, bringing the notion of individual difference into the focus. It is followed by an interpretation of Locke's concept of freedom, the goal of which is to clarify the impact of his liberalism on his educational thought. Further it considers the compatability between liberty and experience in Locke's educational thought, which presents a theoretical ground to his liberal philosophy of education. Locke’s individualist view of education may have been indebted to his strong attachment for the clinical medicine of his age, which emphasizes the different variations of individuals. But it is not at all unlikely that Locke’s individualist position is, in significant measure, due to his liberal claim that humans are born free and born rational. The result is that Locke was dissatisfied with the wholesale methods of education which had become stereotyped in the educational institutions since the Renaissance, and at the same time contended that education can only be properly carried on when the individual child was dealt with as an active free-agent. Locke then believed in freedom. And associated with the human power inherent in individuals, belonging to individuals only, not to groups was the emergence of a new theory of education which regarded a free liberty as the vital condition of a true education. Within this liberal and individualist framework, we can correctly credit him to develop the thesis that freedom is the great secret of education. Meanwhile, in the field of education Locke's approval of liberty is not necessarily in contradiction to his general position as empiricist, since Locke reckons with inner capacity and individual difference while considering the potential limit of experience. Locke’s maxim that education is primarily an individual matter is in it an implication for the present education: That is, Locke’s rationalist contention that the individual should be treated as rational creature who has power to direct oneself may help us see the philosophic base of child-centred education.