著者

寺崎 弘昭

出版者

東京大学教育学部

雑誌

東京大学教育学部紀要 (ISSN:04957849)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, pp.1-20, 1995-02-28

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In this paper, the writer has attempted to analyze the educational thought of Thomas Tryon (1634-1703) in order to clarify an aspect of the historical stream of European thought of embryo education. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, citing Varro's discourse, said such as the following : Educit obstetrix, dit Varron; educat nutrix, instituit poedagogus, docet magister. Ainsi l'education, l'institution, l'instruction, sont trois choses aussi differentes dans leur objet que la gouvernante, le precepteur et le maitre. This shows explicitly that the term "educacion" traditionally meant the action of midwives and nurses. "Education" did not mean school-instruction but "san-iku (bringing forth and breeding up)" (Kunio Yanagida). Accordingly, in the first place, the history of education must be a history of "saniku" which clarifies the historical transformation of "education". Furthermore, the crucial and critical field of such history, though it might sound strange, is the history of embryo education, because it comprises the overlapping field both of "san" and "iku". In fact, historical materials of embryo education consist of books for midwifery and child-rearing. However, at least to Japanese, European history of embryo education discourses has not been familiar. On the other hand, we have already had many informations on Japanese history of embryo education ("taikyo"). Therefore, in Japan, exsists a tendency to think that embryo education discourses exisist in Japan rather than in Europe. But, in this paper, the writer presents one of embryo education discourses in the 17th-century England as an example for embryo education in Europe. Thomas Tryon, a Pythagorean and vegetarian, published his book A New Method of Educating Children in 1695,which was read by John Locke too. This book on education began with his discourse on embryo education, which was founded on two premises : (1) The "Impressions" that women make, whilst they are pregnant and go with the child, have a wonderful "Influence" upon their issue. (2) There is a strong and unconceivable "Sympathy" between the mother and the child. Because of these premises, he had to submit the discourse on embryo education at first, proposing six dietetic advices, physical and mental, toward mothers. Of course, his dietetic advices which were based upon his The Way to Health functioned as a manual for mothers' self-fashioning, naturally stressing on the importance of female education. In Tryon's educational thought, embryo education was an archtype and a foundation of his whole thought of education, which represented European tradition of education.