Post on 07-Apr-2018
transcript
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 1/11
Th e Anarchist Encyclopaedia
Fol io 2, March 1986
better grasped th e
inter-relat ionships of natural
and social phenomena (what we
might term the laws of nature
and of society) wi l l the more
readi ly and more ful ly grasp
the nature of hi s surroundinss?
IT 15
natural that he who knows more
wi l l doninate him who knows
less. And were this disparj- ty
of educat ion and educat ion an d
learning the only one to exist
between two classes, would not
al l the others swif t ly fo1low
unti l the world of me n itsel f
in i ts present circumstances,
that is, unt i l it was aqain
divided into a mass of s laves
and a t iny number of rulers,
th e former labouring away as
they do today, to the advantage
of the lat ter?
Now lre see why the
bourgeois social ists demand
only a l i t t le educat ion for th e
people, a soupcon more than
they current ly receivel whereas
we social ist democrats demand,
on the people's behalf ,
compJ.ete an d integral
educat ion, an educat ion as ful l
as the power of intel lect today
rssN 0267-61 1
permits, so that, henceforth,
there may not be any class over
the workers bv vir tue of
superr-or educat ion andtherefore able to dominate and
exploi t then. The bourgeois
-social ists \^rant to see the
tretent ionof the class systen,
each c1ass, they contend,
ful f i l l ing a specif ic social
funct ion; one speclal is ing,
say, in learning, and the other
i .n manual labour. We, on the
other hand, seek the f inal an d
the utter abol- i t ion of c lasses;
we seek a unif icat i -on of
society and egual i ty of social
and economic provis ions fo r
every indiv idual on this earth.
Th e bourgeois social ists,
whi lst retaining the histor ic
bases of the society of today,
would l i -ke to see them become
less stark, less harsh and more
prett i f ied. Whereas we should
l ike to see their destruct ion.
From vrhich i t fo l lows that
there can be no truce or
compromise, let alone any
coal i t ion between the bourqeois
(n
F.pi
P
€o
h
p,afP.
IlllI
Michael Bakunin
The f i rst topic for
considerat ion today is this -
wi. l l i t be feasib]e for th e
working masses to know complete
enancipat ion as long as the
educat ion avai lable to those
masses cont inues to be i -nfer ior
to that bestowed upon th e
bourgeois, or, in more general
terms, as Iong as there exists
any class, be i t numerous or
otherwise, which, by vir tue of
bir th, is ent i t led to a
superior educat lon and a more
complete j-nstruct ion? Does
no t th e quest ion answer i tsel f?
Is i t not sel f-evident that of
any two persons endowed by
nature with roughly equivalent
intel l igence, one wiI l have th e
edge - the one whose mind \ ,r i l l -
have been broadened by
learnj .ng and who, having th e
IntegralEducation
11 the fol1owing four essays on educat ion publ ished in gggl l te (Geneva) between July and August
1959, Bakunin argues that where there exists di f fer lng degrees of educat ion, class society is
inevi tabl-e. Anarchists, he j.nsists, nust seek equal i ty and, therefore, integral educat ion - th e
same educat ion avai lable for everyone. ' I t is to the interest of both labour and science that
there must no longer be this div is ion into workers and scholars - henceforth there must only be
nen.t
An d that this one wil l feeI,
Ie t us say, a greater l iberty
and, in pract ical terms, show a
greater apt i tude and capabi l i tythan his fel low?
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 2/11
Michael Bakunin
social ists an d us social ist
democrats.
Rrr l -- T hawe heerd it said -
and thj ,s is the argument most
frequently rai .sed against us
an d an argument which the
dogmatists of every shade
regard as j-rrefutabl-e - i t is
impossible that the whole of
mankind should devote i tsel f to
Iearning, for we shoul-d al l di e
of starvat ion. ConsequentlYt
whi le some study others must
labour so that they ca n Produce
what we need to l ive - no t just
producing for their ow n needs,
bu t al-so for those men who
devote themselves exclusivelY
to intel lectual pursuits; aside
from expanding th e horizons of
human knowledge, th e
theseiscoveries of
intel lectuals imProve th e
condit ion of al l human beings'
wj- thout except ion, when aPPIied
to industry, agr icul ture and'
general ly, to Pol i t icaI an d
socj.al l i fe; agreed? And do
not their art ist ic creat ions
enhance th e l ives of everY on e
of us ?
No , not at al l . And thegreatest reproach which we ca n
level against science and the
arts i. s precisely that theY do
no t distr ibute their favours
an d do not exercise their
inf luence, except upon a t inY
fragment of society, to the
exclusion and, thus, to the
detr iment of th e vast major i tY.
Today on e might say of th e
advances of science an d of the
arts, just what has alreadY an d
so properly been said of th e
prodigious progress of
industry, trade, credit , and,
in a word, of th e wealth of
society in the most c iv i l ised
countr ies of th e modern world.
That wealth is quite exclusive,
an d th e tendency is for i t to
become more so each day, as i t
becomes concentrated into an
ever shr inking number of hands'
shunning th e lower echefons of
th e middle cl-ass an d th e Peti te
bourgeoisie, depressing them
into th e proletar iat , so that
th e growth of this wealth is
Social Theory
th e direct cause behind th e
growing misery of the labouring
masses. Thus the outcome is
that th e gulf which Yawns
between the priv i . leged,
contented minori tY an d mil l ions
of workers wh o earn their keeP
by th e strength of their arrns'
yawns ever wider an d that th e
happier th e contented - wh o
exploi t th e PeoPle's labour-
become, th e more unhaPPY th e
workers become. On e has onIY
to l-ook at th e fabulous
opulence of the aristocrat ic,
f inancier, commercial an d
j-ndustr ia l- c l ique in England
an d compare it with th e
miserable condit ion of th e
workers of the same countrY;
on e has only to re-read th e so
naive an d heartrending letter
lately penned bY an intel l igent
an d upright goldsmith of
London, on e Walter Dugan, wh o
ha s just voluntar i lY taken
poison alonq with hi s wife an d
their si x chi ldren, simPlY as a
means of escape from th e
degradat ions of PovertY an d th e
torments of hunger (1 ) - an d
on e wil l -f ind oneself obl iged
to concede that th e much
vaunted civi l isat ion means, in
nater ial terms, to the PeoPle,
only oppression an d ruinat ion.
And the same holds true fo r
th e modern advances of science
an d th e arts. Huge str idest
indeed, i t is true! But the
greater the advances, th e more
they foster intel lectual
servi tude an d thus, in mater ial
terms, foster miserY an d
infer ior i ty as the lot of th e
people; fo r these advances
merely widen th e gulf which
already separates th e people's
l-eve1 of understanding from th e
levels of the priv i leged
classes. From the point of
view of natural capacity ' th e
intel l igence of the former is ,
today, obviously less stunted,
less exercised, less
lessnd
corrupted by the need to defend
unjust interests, and is ,
consequently, natural ly of
greater potency than the brain
Integral Educat ion
power of the bourgeoisie: but,
then again, th e brain Power of
th e bourgeois does have at it s
disposal the complete arsenal-
of science f i l led with weapons
that ar e indeed formidable. Tt
is very often the case that a
highly intel l igent worker is
obl iged to hold hi s tongue when
confronted by a l-earned fool
who defeats him, not bY dint of
intel lect (o f which he has
none) bu t by dint of hi s
educat ion, an educat ion denied
the workingman bu t granted th e
fool because, whi le th e fool
wa s able to develoP hi s
fool ishness scient i f ical lY in
schools, th e working man's
fabours were clothing, housing,
feeding him and supplying hi s
every need, hi s teachers an d
his books, everything necessary
to his educat i-on.
Even within th e bourgeois
c1ass, as we know onIY too
welI , th e degree of learning
i-nparted to each individual is
not the same. There, too,
there is a scale which is
determined, no t bY th e
potent ial of th e individual bu t
by the amount of wealth of th e
social stratum to which he
belongs by bir th; fo r examPle'
th e instruct ion made avai lable
to the chi ldren of th e lower
pet i te bourgeoisie, whi lst
i - tsel f scarcely superior to{l ^
that which workers manage to
obtain for themselves, is next
to nothing bY comParison wj-th
th e educat ion that societY
makes readi lY avai labfe to th e
upper an d middle bourgeoisie.
What, then, do we find? Th e
peti te bourgeoisie, whose onlY
attachment to th e middl-e class
is through a r id iculous vanity
on th e on e hand, an d it s
dependence upon the bi g
caoital- ists on th e other ' f inds
i tsel f nost often in
circumstances even more
miserable an d even more
humil iat ing than those which
aff l ict the Proletar iat . So
when we talk of Priv i leged
classes, we never have in mind
this poor Peti te bourgeoisie
sophist icated
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 3/11
The Anarchist Encyclopaedia
\,rhich, i f i t d id but have a
l i t t le nore spir i t an d
gumption, would not delay in
joining forces with us to
combat the big and medium
bourgeoisie who crush i t today
no less than they crush the
proletar iat . An d should
societyr s currenteconomic
trends cont inue in the same
direct ion for a further te n
years (whlch \,re do, however,
regard as impossible) \ , /e may
ye t see the bulk of the medium
bourgeoisie tumble f i rst of aI l
into the current circurnstances
of the pet i te bourgeoisie only
to sl ip a l i t t Ie later into th e
proletar iat - as a resuJ-t , of
course, of th is inevi table
concentrat ion of ownership into
an ever smal ler number of hands
- the ineluctable consequences
of which would be to part i t ion
society once and for al l into a
t iny, overweaningly opulent,
educated, rul inq minori ty and a
vast major i ty of j -mpoverished,
ignorant, enslaved
proJ-etar ians.
There is one fact which
should make an inpression upon
every person of conscience,
upon al l who have at heart a
concern for human dignlty and
j ust ice; that i s, for th e
l iberty of each indiv idual amid
and | -hrnrrah : <at-# i na^f
equal i ty fo r al l . That is theal
fact that a1l of the
contr ivances of th e
intel l igentsj-a, aI 1 of the
great appl icat ions of science
to the purposeof industry,
trade and to the l i fe of
society in geneal have thus far
prof i ted no one, save th e
pri .v i leged c.Iasses an d th e
power of the State, that
t i rneless champion of al l
pol i t ical . an d social in iqui ty.
Never, no t oncef have they
brought any benef i t to th e
masses of the people. We need
only l ist the machines an d
every workingman and honest
advocate of the emancipat ion of
labour would accept th e just lce
of what we say. By what power
do th e priv i leged classes
Social Theorv
maintain themselves today, with
al l their insolent smugness an d
iniqui tous pleasures, in
def iance of th e al l too
Iegit imate outragte fel t bY the
masses of th e people? Is it
by some power inherent in their
persons? No - i t i .s solelY
through th epower
of the State,in whose apparatus today their
offspr ing hold, always, every
ke y posit ion (and even evry
lower and middle range
posit ion) except ing that of
soldier and worker. And in
this day and age what is i t
that const i tutes th e principle
underly ing the power of the
State? Why, i - t is science.
Yes, science - Science of
government, science of
admi-nistrat ion and f inancial
science; the science of
f leecing th e f locks of the
people without their bleat ing
too loudly and, when they start
to bleat, the science of urging
si lence, pat ience and obedience
upon then by means of a
scient i f ical ly organised force:
the science of deceiving an d
d .vj-ding the masses of the
people an d keeping thern always
in a salutory ignorance lest
they ever becorne able, by
helping one another an d pool ing
their efforts, to conjure up a
power capabfe of overturning
States I and, above al l ,
mi l i tary science with al l i . ts
tr ied an d tested weaponryrthese
fornidable instruments of
destruct ion which 'work wonderst
(2): an d last ly, the science ofgen j-us lehj-ch has conj ured up
steamships, ra j- lways an d
telegraphy whj-ch, by turning
every government into a hundred
armed, a thousand armed
Briareos (3), giv ing it th e
po! 'rer to be, act and arrest
everywhere at once - ha s
brought about the most
fornidable pol i t ical
central isat ion th e lror ld has
ever witnessed.
Who, then, wi l l deny that,
without except ion, al l of the
advances made by science have
thus far brought nothing, save
Fol io 2
a boost ing of th e weafth of the
priv i leged classes and of the
power of the State, to the
detr i rnent of the welI-being and
l iberty of the masses of the
people, of the proletar iat?
But, we wi l l hear th e
object ion, do not the masses of
:::,;f't."i'r"Isociet ies of byegone centur j-es?
We shal1 reply to that with
an observat ion borrowed from
th e noted cerman social ist ,
Lassal le. In measuring th e
progress made by the workj-ng
masses, in terms of their
po I i t ical and social
emancipat ion, one should not
compare their intel lectual
state in this century with what
i t may have been in centur ies
gone by. Instead, one ought to
consider whether, by comparison
with some given t ime, the ga p
which then existed betvreen
the working masses and the
priv i leged cl-asses having been
noted, th e masses have
progressed to the same extent
as these priv i leged classes.
For, i f the progess made by
both has been roughly
equivalent, th e intel lectual
ga p which separates the masses
from th e priv i leged in todayrs
world wi l l be the same as i t
ever was; but i f th e
proletar iat ha s progressed
further an d more rapidly than
th e priv i leged, then the ga p
must necessari ly have narrowedlbut i f , on the other hand, th e
worker 's rate of progress ha s
been slower and, consequently,
less than that of a
representat ive of th e rul ing
classes over the same period,
then that ga p wil l have grown.
Th e gulf which separates them
wil l have increased and the man
of pr iv i lege grown more
powerful an d the worker 's
circunstances rnore abject, more
slave l- i -ke than at the date on e
chose as th e point of
departure. f f the two of us
set off f rom two di f ferent
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 4/11
Michael Bakunin
points at the same t ime and yo u
have a lead of one hundred
paces over me and yo u move at a
rate of s ixty paces per minute,
an d I at only thir ty paces per
minute, then after one hour th e
distance which separates us
wi l l no t be just over one
hundred paces, but just over
one thousand nine hundred
paces.
That example gives a
roughly accurate notion of the
respective advances made by the
bourgeoisie an d th e
proletar iat . Thus far th e
bourgeoisie has raced along the
track of c i-v i l - isat ion at a
quicker rate than the
proletar iat , not because they
ar e in te l lectual ly more
powerful than the lat ter
indeed one might properly argue
the contrary case - but because
th e pol i t ical an d economic
organisat lon of society ha s
been such that ' h i therto, th e
bourgeoisie alone have enjoyed
access to learning and science
has existed only for them' and
th e proletar iat ha s found
i. tsel f doomed to a forced
ignorance, so that j. f th e
proletar iat has, nevertheless,
made progress (and there is no
denying i , t ha s ) then that
progress wa s made not thanks
to society, bu t rather in
spite of it .
To su m up . rn society as
present ly const i tuted, th e
avances of sci .ence have been at
th e root of the relat ive
j-gnorance of th e proletar iat ,
just as the progress of
industry and commerce have been
at the root of i ts relat ive
impoverishment. Thus,
intel lectual progress an d
mater iaf progress have
contr ibuted in equal measure
Lowards the exacerbat ion of the
slavery of the proletar iat .
Meaning what? Meaning that we
have a duty to reject and
resist that bourgeois sciencet
just as we have a duty to
rej ect and resist bourgeois
wealth. And reject and resist
thern in this sense - that
Socia1 Theorv
in destroying the socj .al order
which turns i t into th e
preserve of one or of several
c lasses, we must 1ay clairn to
i t as the common inheri tance of
al l the wor]d.
Egal- i te, 31 July 1869
II
We have shown how, as long as
there are two or more degrees
of instruct ion for the var ious
strata of society, there must,
of necessity, be classes, that
is , economic and pol i t ical
pr iv i lege for a sma1l number of
the contented and slavery and
misery fo r the lot of the
general i ty of men.
As members of the
fnternat j-onal Working Men's
Associat ion (IWMA/AfT), we seek
equal i ty and, because we seek
it , we must also seek integral
educat ion, the same educat ion
for everyone.
Bu t i f everyone is schooled
who wi l l want to work? we hear
someone ask. Our answer to
that is a simple one: everyone
nust work and everyone must
receive educat ion. To this,
i t is very often objected that
this mixing of j-ndustr ia l with
intel lectual labour cannot be,
except one or the other suffer
by i t . The manual workers wi l - l
make poor scholars, and the
scholars wi l l never be more
than quite pathet ic workers.
True, in the society of today
where manual labour and
intel lectual- l -abour are equal ly
distorted by th e quiLe
art i f ic ia l isolat ion in which
both are kept! But we are
guite persuaded that in th e
rounded human being, each of
these pursuits, the muscuLar
and the nervous, must be
devel-oped in equal measure and
that far from being inimicaL
each must lean upon, enhance
and reinforce the other. Th escience of th e sage wil l become
more frui t fu l , more useful and
more expansive when the sage is
no longer a stranger to manuaL
labour, and the labours of the
Integral Educat ion
workmen, when he is educated,
wj-11 be more intel l igent an d
thus more product ive than those
of an ignorant workman.
From which i t fo l lows that,
fo r work's sake as much as for
the sake of science, there must
no longer be this div is ion into
workers and scholars and
henceforth there must be onlv
Th e result of th is is that
those me n who are today, on
account of their superior
intel lects, caught up in the
ivory towers of science and
who, once they have establ ished
themselves in this world, y ield
to the need for a thoroughly
bourgeois posit ion and bend
their every invent ion to the
excl-usive use of th e priv i leged
class to which they themselves
belong. These men, I say, once
they becone truly the fel lows
of everyone, fel lows not just
in their imaginat ion nor just
in their speech but in fact, in
their work, wi l I just as
necessari ly convert their
invent ions and appl icat ions of
their learning to the benef i tof al l , and especial ly apply
themselves to th e task of
nakinq work ( the basis, th e
only real and r ightful basis of
human society) l ighter and more
dignif ied.
I t is quite possible and,
indeed, I ikely that dur ing th e
period of fair ly lengthy
t ransit ion
?*-
which wi 1l- ,
natural ly, succeed the great
cr is is of society, th e loft iest
sciences wi l l fa l l considerably
below their current levels.
Equal ly, i t is not to be
doubted that luxury an d
everything const i tut ing the
ref i .nements of l i . fe wi l l have
to disappear from the social
scene fo r quite a long t ime and
wil l not be abl-e to reappear as
the exclusive amusements of a
few, but wi l l have to return as
rdays of digni fy ing 11fe for
everybody, and then only once
society has conquered need j. n
al l of us. Bu t would this
temporary ecl ipse of the lof ty
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 5/11
The Anarchist Encyclopaedia
sci-ences be such a misfortune?
Whatever sci-ence may lose in
terms of subl- ime elevat ion,
wi l l i t not win through the
extensi.on of i ts base?
Doubtless there wi l l be fewer
j- l lustr ious sages, but at the
same t ine there wiI I be fewer
ignoramuses too. There wi l lbe no more of these men who can
touch the skies, but, on th e
other hand, mi l l ions of men wh o
ma y be degraded and crushed
today wil l be able to tread the
earth as human beings: no
demigods, but no slaves either.
Both the slave and the demigods
wil l achieve hunan-ness, th e
one by r is ing a 1ot, the other
by stooping a I i t t1e. Thus no
longer wi l l there be a place
for dci f i nal- i nn - nor fof
contumely. Everyone wil l shake
hands with hi s neighbour and,
once reuini ted, we shafl al l
march with a ne w sprinq in ou r
sEeps, onwards to new
conguests, in the realm of
science as in the realm of l i fe
i tsel- f .
So , far from having an y
misgivings about that ecl i .pse
of science - which wi l l be in
any case only a f leet ing on e -
$/e ought to cal l fo r it with
al l our powers since i ts effect
wi l - ] be to hurnanise both
scholar and rnanual labourer an d
to reconci l -e science and l i fe.
An d we are convj.nced that, once
we have achieved this ne w
foundation, th e progress of
nankind, in the realm of
scj .ence as elsewhere in l i fe,
wiI l very guickly outstr ip
everything that we have seen
and everything we might conjure
up in our imaginat ions today.
But here another quest ion
crops up: wi l l every indiv idual
have an equal capacity for
absorbing educat ion to the same
degree? Let us imagine a
soclety organised along th e
most egal i tar ian I ines, a
society in which chi ldren wi1l ,
f rom birth onwards, start ou t
with the same circumstances
economical ly, social ly and
po1it ica11y, I l rhich is to say
SociaI Theory
the same upkeep, the same
educat ion, the same
instruct ion: among these
thousands of t iny indiv j-duals
wi l l there no t be an inf in l te
var iety of enthusiasms, natural
incl inat ions and apt j- tudes?
Such is th e big argurnent
advanced by our adversar ies,
the bourgeoj-s pure and simple,
and the bourgeois socj-al ists as
wel1. They imagine i t to be
unanswerable. So let us try to
prove the opposite. Wel1, to
begin with, by what r ight do
they make their stand for th e
principle of individual
capabi l i t ies? Is there roorn
fo r th e development of
capabi l i t ies in society as at
present const i tuted? Ca n
there be room fo r that
development in a society which
cont inues to have the r ight of
inheri tance as i ts foundation?
SeIf-evident ly not; for, from
the moment that the r ight of
inheri tance appl ies, th e career
of chi ldren wi l l never be
determined by their indiv idual
gi f ts an d appl icat lon: i t wi l I
be determined primari lyby
their economic circumstances,
by the wealth or poverty of
their famil ies. Wealthy bu t
emptyheaded heirs wiI l receive
a superior educat ion; th e rnost
intel l igent chi ldren of th e
proletar iat wi l l receive
ignorance as their inheri tance,
just as happens at present.
So, is it not hypocr j_t ica1,
when speaking no t only of
society as i t is today bu t even
of a reforned society which
would st i l l have as i ts
fundaments pr ivate property
ownership and the r i .ght of
inheri tance - is 1t not sordld
sophistry to talk about
indiv idual r ights based on
indivldual capabi l i t ies?
There is such a lot of
talk today of indiv idual
l iberty, yet what prevai ls is
no t th e individual person, no r
the indiv idual i. n general , bu t
the individual upon r,rhom
priv i lege 1s conferred by his
social posi t ion. Thus what
Fol io 2
counts is posit ion and class.
Just let one intel l igent
indiv idual from the ranks of
th e bourgeoisie dare to take a
stand against the economic
pr iv i leges of that respectable
class an d yo u wil l see how much
these qood bourgeois, forever
pratt l - ing about indlv idual
l j .berty today, respect h -s
I i herfv as an individual!
Don't ta lk to us about
indiv idual abi l i t ies! Is i t
not an everyday thj-ng for us to
see the greatest abi l i t ies of
working men and bourgeois
forced to give way and even to
kowtow before the crass
-! . . - i r i r - . ^. !L ^ heirs to theLuI/rurLI vr
golden calf? Indivi .dual
l iberty - no t pr iv i leged
l iberty but hurnan l iberty, an d
th e reaf potent ial of
indiv iduafs - wi l l only be able
to enjoy fuI1 expansi.on in a
regime of conplete equal i ty.
When there exists an equal i ty
of or ig ins fo r aII men on this
earth then, and only then (with
safeguards, of course, fo r th e
superior cal ls of fe l lowship or
sol idar i ty, which is and evershal l remain the greatest
producer of al l social
phenornena, from human
intel l igence to mater ial
weal- th) only then wi l l one be
able to say, with more reason
than one can today, that every
indiv idual is a sel f-made man.
Hence our conclusion is that,
if lndlv idual talents are to
prosper and no longer be
thwarted in br inging forth
their fu l1 frui ts, the f l rst
precondit ion is that al-1
indiv idual pr iv i leges, economic
as wel l as pol i t ical , musL
disappear, which is to say that
al l c lass dist inct ions rnust be
abol ished. That requires that
pr ivate property r ights an d th e
rights of inherl tance must go ,
an d equal l ty must tr iurnph
economical ly, pol i t ical ly an d
socia1Ly.
Bu t once equal i ty ha s
tr i .umphed and is wel l
establ ished, \di l l there be no
longer any di f ference j. n th e
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 6/11
Bakunin
an d degree of
of th e various
There wi l l be a
not so many as
today, PerhaPs, but there
always be di f ferences. of
there ca n be no doubt.
is a Proverbial truth
wiI l probably never cease
be true - that no tree ever
forth two leaves that
e exact ly ident ical . Ho\, t
more wi l -1 this be true of
me n being much more
creatures than
But such diversi ty '
r f rom const i tut ing an
is , as the German
Feuerbach ha s
noted, on e of th e
of mankind. Thanks to
, th e human race is a
whole wherein each
being comPlements th e
an d ha s need of them; so
this inf in i te var iat ion in
beings is th e verY cause
d chlef basis of their
an lmPortant
in favour of equal i tY.
Baslcal ly, even in todaY's
if on e excePts tw oof men - men of
an d idiots - an d
on e abstracts
conjured uP
through th e
of a thousand social
such as educat ion,
nstruct ion, economic an d
status which create
no t merelY within
ach social stratum, bu t in
lmost every familY unit ' on e
concede that f rom th e
point of v iew of intel lectual
gi f ts an d moral energY th e vast
major i ty of men are verY much
al ike or r at least, are worth
about th e same - weakness in
on e regard being alrnost alwaYs
counterbalanced by an
equivalent strength in another,
so that i t becomes imPossible
to sa y whether on e man chosen
from this mass is much th e
superior or the infer ior of hi s
neighbour. The vast major i tY
of me n ar e no t ident ical bu t
equivalent an d thus equa1.
Soclal Theorv
Which means that th e f ine of
argument pursued by our
adversar ies is l-eft with
nothing but the geniuses an d
the idiots.
As \ ,re know, i-diocy is a
psycholoqical and social
aff l ic t ion. Thus, i t should be
treated no t in th e school-s but
in the hospitals and one is
ent i t led to expect that a rnore
rat ional system of social-
hygiene - above al l , one that
cares more for the physi.cal am d
moral wel l -being of the
individual than th e current
system - wi l l some day be
introduced an d that together
with a new society organj-sed
along egal i tar ian I ines i t wi l -1
eventual ly eradlcate from the
surface of the earth this
aff l lct ion of idi .ocy' such a
humil iat ion to the human race.
As for the men of genius, on e
should note f i rst of al l that,
happi ly or unhappi ly ' according
to onets main point of view,
such men have not featured in
th e history of mankind excePt
as the extremely rare
except i-ons to al l ofthe rules
known to us' and one cannot
organise to cater fo r
except ions. Even Sor i t is
ou r hope that the soclety of
th e future wi l l be abl-e to
discover, through a truly
pract ical popular organisat j -on
of i ts col lect ive assets th e
means by which to render such
geniuses less necessary, less
int imidat ing an d more truly the
benefactors of us a1I. Fo r we
must never lose sight of
Voltairers great dictum: 'There
is someone with more wit than
th e greatest gTeniuses, an d that
is everyonet. so i t is merely
a quest ion of organising this
everyone for the sake of th e
ful lest l iberty rooted in th e
most complete economic,
pol i t ical and social equal i ty,
and one need no longer fear the
dictator ial anbit ions an d
despotic incl inat ions of the
men of genius.
As for turning out such me n
of genius through educat ion,
Integral Educat ion
one ought to banish the thought
from oners mind. Moreover, of
al l th e me n of genius we have
known thus far, none or almost
di qn l r r rod l -hai r
genius whi le ye t in their
chi ldhood, nor in their
adolescence no r ye t in thei .r
ear ly youth. only in theirmature years did they ever
reveal themselves geniuses an d
several were not recognised as
such unt i . l af ter their death
whereas rnany supposedly great
men having ha d their praises
sung whi le youths by better me n
have f inished their careers in
th e rnost absolute obscuri ty.
So it i -s never in the chi ldhood
years, nor even j. n th e
adolescent years that one can
discern an d determine the
comparat ive excel lences an d
shortcomings of men, nor the
extent of their talents, no r
their inborn apt i tudes. A11 of
these things only become
obvious and are governed by the
development of the individual
person and, just as there ar e
sone natures precocious an d
some very sfow - although th e
latter are by no means infer ior
and, indeed, are often superior
- so no schoolmaster wi l l ever
be in a posit ion to specify in
advance the career or nature of
th e occupations which hi s
charges wi l l - choose once they
attain the age when they have
th e freedom to choose.
From which i t fo l lows that
society, disregarding an y real
or i .magined dif ferences inapt i tudes or abi l i t ies an d
possessed of no means of
determining these in any event
and of no r ight to al lot th e
uture career of chi l -dren owes
fhem al l , without a single
except ion, an absolutely equal
educat ion an d instruct ion.
Egal i te, 14 August 1869
II I
At every level there must be
equal instruct ion for al I ;
consequently that instruct ion
must be integrated, whi.ch is to
e
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 7/11
Anarchist EncycloPaeadia
that it should PrePare each
of whichever sex, as
for a l i fe of brainwork as
a l i fe of labour so that
of thern md Y i. n equal
becme rounded human
Posit ive Phi losoPhY (4),
dethroned rel ig ious
an d th e reveries of
from their LordshiP
th e mind, al- Iows us an
into what scient i f ic
must be in th e t ime
come. It wit l have as it s
th e knowledge of nature
d it s crownj.nq glorY wil l be
Th e idea1, ceasing
be th e Iord, the ravisher of
as it is in every
an d rel ig ious
wj. l I henceforth be
other than th e ult imate
d most beaut i fu l expression
the real world. Ceasing to
a dream, i t wi l l i tsel f
a real i ty.
Since no mind, however
is caPable of
al l of th e
of al l of th e
an d since a generalwith al l of th e
is absolutelY vi- tal to
thorough develoPment of th e
teaching wi l l natural lY
divided into tw o Parts: th e
Part which wiI I imPart
e basic PrinciPles of al l of
" sciences without excePtion
wel l as a famil iar j - tY - real
than suPerf ic ial - with
e sciences as a whole; an d
e sPecial ised Part, which
of necessitY, be divlded
into several grouPs of
facult ies, each on e
special is ing in a certain
number of th e branches of
learning which ar e bY their
very nature reciProcaI lY
cornplementarY in a special vtay.
The f irst , or general Part
wi l t be comPulsorY fo r al l
chi ldren: i t wi l l r i f i "e may
use the exPression, const i tute
th e humane education of their
spir i t , taking over ent ire lY
from metaPhYsics an d theologY
whilst at the same t irne Placing
Social- TheorY
th e chi ldren at a suff lc ient lY
advanced Poj-nt so that once
they reach adolescence theY
wil l be in a Posit ion to select
knowledgeablY
special isat ion which best sui ts
their indiv j-dua1 disPosit ions
an d tastes.
It wi l f no doubt cone to
pass that in select ing their
special ised area of study
adolescents, inf fuenced bY solne
secondary considerat ion,
internal or external, wi l l
occasional lY make mistakes an d
that they ma Y at f i rst oP t fo r
a special i tY an d fo r a career
which ma y wel l no t be those
best matched to their
apt i tudes. But, s ince we ar e
al l unhypocri t ical an d honest
advocates of th e freedom of th e
indivi i lual an d since, in the
name of that freedom we abhor
with 'al l ou r hearts the
principle of author i tY as wel l
as aI I possible manifestat ions
of that div ine an d anti--human
principle; an d since we desPise
an d condemn, from th e very
depths of love we bear freedom'
th e authori tYof th e father as
wel l as of th e schoolmaster -
f inding th e on e everY whit as
depraving an d degrading in that
ou r everydaY exPerience Proves
that th e Pater-famil ias an d
th e schoolmaster, desPite their
obl igatory an d Proverbial
wisdom - an d indeed because of
it - er r regarding th e
abi l i t i .es of their chi- l -dren
even rnore so than th e chi ldren
themselves, an d in view of the
thoroughly human, irrefutable
an d inescapable law which saYs
that every ma n in a Posit ion of
povrer never lets sl iP the
chance to abuse hi s Power; an d
since, in
arbi trar i ly
determining
(these pater
famil ias and schoolmasters)
what their chi ldren's future is
to be , theY give greater
credence to their own
inclinations than to an y
natural aptitudes on th e Part
of their charges. In short t
since mistakes made bY desPots
ar e always more noxious and
Fol io 2
harder to rePair than those
made by f ree nenr \'7e hold
unf l inchinglY an d without
quest ion, desPite al l of f ic ia l ,
th e off ic ious, paternal and
pedantic overseers in th e
world, that th e chi ldren must
be free to select an d determine
their ow ncareers.
Should theY rnake a mistake'
th e very mistake which theY
wiII have made wil l - Prove an
effect ive educat ion fo r them in
subsequent t imes, an d tb e
broad-based educat ion which
they wiI l a lreadY have received
wil l have enl ightened themr so
that they wiI I f ind i t easy to
redirect along t ines dictated
by their ow n natures.
Like ful l lJror^tn men,
chi ldren to o learn onIY from
personal exPerience an d never
by th e mistakes of others.
In a systen of integrated
educat ion, scient l f ic an d
theoret ical instruct ion must
necessari ly go hand in hand
vt i th lndustr ia l or Pract ical
training, onlY thus wi l l th e
rounded human being be arr ived
at ; a rounded human being wh o
understand an d knows.
Para1le1 wlth scient i f ic
training, this industr ia l-
training wi l l be divided into
two stages; a broadbased
training, whj.ch should give
chi ldren a broad samPle an d
introductory pract ical
experience of aI 1 manner of
industr ies, except ing none, as
wel l as an overal l not ion of
what underPins civ i l isat ionmater ial ly an d of th e range of
human labouri and, th e second
phase, the sPecial ised, when
th e students ar e sPl i t uP into
more special ised inter-rel-ated
groups.
Th e broadbased training
should equiP adolescents to
make free choice of th e
special ised area of industrY
and, within this th e sPecif ic
industry which theY feel most
attracted to . Once theY have
moved on to th e second Phase of
industr ia l t raining theY ca n
begin their f i rst ser ious
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 8/11
Michael Bakunin
apprent iceship experiences
under th e supervis ion of their
instructors.
Side by side with such
traininq in the sciences an d
industr ies there wi l l a lso be a
need fo r pract ical training' or
rather a succession of
experiences of a moral i tY which
is not div ine bu t human.
Divine moral i ty is founded upon
tvro imrnoral . pr inciples
respect for author i ty an d
contempt for mankind. BY
contrast, human moral i ty is
rooted only in the contempt fo r
author i ty and respect fo r
freedorn and humanity. Divine
moral i ty deems work a
degradat ion, a punishment;
human moral i ty sees in work
th e supreme condlt ion of human
happiness an d human dignity.
Of necessity, div ine moral i ty
culminates in a pol i t lcs which
recognises r ights only fo r
those who, by vir tue of their
economic, their Pr iv i leged
economic circumstances, ca n
l ive without having to work.
I luman moral i ty concedes rights
only to those wh o l- ive bYworking: i t recognises th e fact
that it is through work that
ma n becomes human. Th e
educat ion of chi ldren which is
f ounded upon au.t.horitY must
henceforth yield t 'o educat ion
based on th e ful- Iest freedom.
Posit ively speaking' what we
mean by freedom is the ful- I
development of al l of th e
facult ies of which ma n is
possessed and, in a negative
sense, th e complete
independence of the wi l l of th e
individuat vi s a vls hi s
fel Iows.
Ma n is not and never shal1
be free of th e laws of nature
vi s a vi s th e laws of
society: laws, which for the
purposes of science are thus
divided into two tYPes, belong
in real i ty to onlY on e and the
same type for they are al l -
Social Theory
so that one could onlY defY
them by taking one's ow n l i fe.
But i t is inportant to
dist inguish between these
laws and the
Integral Educat ion
concerned, l i fe renoved from
al l society and every human
inf luence ( in other words
absolute isolat ion) rnean death
intel lectual ly, moral ly and
mater ial ly also. Sol idar i ty is
not the product bu t th e sire of
indiv idual i ty an d th e human
personal i ty cannot be conceived
and cannot develop except in a
society of human beings.
Th e su m of prevai l ing
social inf luences as expressed
by th e sol idar ist ic or overal l
consciousness of a human group
of whatever size, ' , te cal l
publ ic opinion. An d wrich of
us doe not know th e al l
powerful effects of PubIic
opinion upon every indiv idual?
^' ^"?n th e mostl l c r i l l [JouL
draconi,an restr ict ive t-
legis lat ion is as nothing
beside it . So, i t is publ ic
opr-n]-on which
par_exce1lence, the educator
of men; from which it fo l ]ows
that i f one is to in ject
noral i ty into indiv iduals on e
has to i .nject it f i rst of al l
j -nto society i tsel f - on e ha s
to humanisej- ts publ ic
oPinion,it s publ ic conscience.
Egal i te, 14 August 1869
IV
To make me n moral, we said, on e
has to make their social p
context rnoral . Social ism, {
which has as j- ts poundati-on
posit ive science, rejects out
of hand the doctr ine of free
wi l l an d holds that what, in
men, \ ,ve Inay cal- I v ice or
vir tue, j- s who1ly th e resu1t of
th e combined inf luences of
nature an d society. Naturer in
th e form of ethnographic,
physiological and pathological
factors, conj ures uP th e
facult ies an d disposit i .ons
whj-ch vr e term natural , and the
manner in which society 's
organised ca n either develop
these, arrest their develoPment
or distort it . Every
indiv idual r without
except ion, is, at every instant
of his l i fe what nature and
equal ly naturet s
inescapable laws
represent th e f iundat ion an d
condlt ion of al l l i fe, so rnuch
naturaf
author i tar ian t arbit rary,
pol i t ical , rel ig ious, cr iminal
and civ i l laws which priv i leged
classes throughout history have
laid down - always in the
interests in their exploi tat ion
of Lh e labouring massesr their
sole airn having been to
restr ict th e freedom of these
masses. Such laws, behind th e
pretext of an al leged moral i ty,
have always been the sirens of
th e nost thorough-going
immoral i ty. Thus, we
advocate, reluctant bu t
ineluctable obedience to a1 I
th e laws which const i tute,
independently of an y man's
wi l I - tha vFrv l i fesblood of
nature and of society: but the
most absolute independence
possible for each individual
with regard to al l - pretent ions
to command on th e part of al l
human wil lsr col lect ive or
i-ndiv idual, who would foist
upon others no t an y naturalinf luence but their ordinance,
their despot ism.
As for the natural
inf luence which men wield over
on e another, this is Ye t
another of those features of
t i fe in a society against which
al l revolt would be as fut i le
as i t woul-d be imPossible.
Such inf luence is the very
mater ial , intel lectual an d
moral foundati-on of human
sol idar i ty. The indiv idual
human beingr a product of
sol idar i ty, which is to say a
product of a society, whi le he
is unable to evade thraldorn to
naturets Iaws, can, under th e
inf luence of feel ings emanating
from
especia l ly
outside himself ,
f ron others'
conpany, react against i t to a
degree but wi l l not be able to
escape them wiLhout moving
immediately to a dif ferent
sol idar ist i .c mi l leu an d
exposing himself to ne w
inf luences. For, where man is
1aws,
which
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 9/11
The Anarchist Encyclopaedia
society, between thern, have
made of him.
It is only because of th is
natural ineluctabi l i ty (and
soclal ineluctabi l i tyr too)
that stat ist ical science is
possible. Stat lst ical science
is not content merely to note
and enumerate socialphenomenal
i t a lso seeks to discover their
bearing upon and correlat ion
with the manner in which
society is organised. Criminal
stat ist ics, for instance,
record that in a single country
or a single town over a period
of 1 0, 20 , or 30 years ( an d
sometimes longer, unless some
nol i f icel or social cr is is
i .ntervenes to alter the tenor
of the society), the very
same cr imes or offences wi. l I
reappear year after year after
year on roughly the same scale.
An d - this is even more
remarkable - the manner in
which they are committed wi l l
be repeated alrnost as often in
on e year as 1n another. Fo r
instance, the nunber of deaths
by poison, kni fe or f i rearm, as
wel l as th e number of sulc ides
by this method or that, ar e
al-most constant. Which leads
th e renowned Belgian
stat ist ic ian Quetelet to make
this memorable pronouncement:
I Society fosters cr imes;
lndiv iduals rnerely carry them
outr .
This regular repet i t ion of
the same social phenomena would
not take place if ment s
inte I Iectual and moral-disposlt ions as wel l as their
acts of wl l l were founded upon
fre choice. To pu t i t another
way, al l th is talk of free wi. l - I
is nonsense. Either that or i- t
means that the indiv idual
deterrnines hi s ow n course
spontaneously and by himsel- f ,
removed from al l outside
inf luences, be they natural or
social . But i f such were the
case with al l me n sult ing
themselves, the world would be
over-run by the most
unmit igated anarchy: aI I
sol idar i ty between man and man
Social Theory
would become impossible, and
aI1 these mil l ions of wi1Is,
thoroughly independent one frorn
another, some runing counter to
others, would natural ly tend to
destroy one another and might
even end by doing just that,
unLess there was, above them,
th e despotic wi l l of div ineProvidence wh o 'shows them the
wa y whi lst they seether an d
who, by obl i terat ing them a1l
at once, foists div ine order
upon their human confusion.
we also f ind aI1 th e part isans
of the principle of free wi l l
inevj- tably dr iven by th e force
of logic into grant ing th e
existence and impact of a
divine Providence. This
underpins every theological and
metaphysical doctr ine, a
magnif icent system which ha s
long held human conscience in
thral l and one which, seen from
a distance in abstract
medi- tat ion or in the l iqht of a
rel ig ious and poet j- c
imaginat ion, does j.ndeed seem
to be resplendent in harmony
an d grandeur. I t is j us t
fortunate that the histor ic
real i ty which ha s corresponded
to thls system has always been
horr i f ic and that the system
itsel f cannot stand up to
scient i f ic cr i t ic i -srn.
Indeed, we know that for as
long as div ine law has held
sway on earth the vast rnajor i ty
of nen have been brutal ly and
pit i lessly exploi ted, an d
tormented, and oppressed and
decimated: we know that eventoday the name of theorlogical
or metaphysical di .v ini ty is
st1II c i ted by those who seek
to naintain the masses in their
s lavi .sh condit ion: and i t coul-d
no t be otherwise, fo r th e
instant i t is admitted that a
div ine wi l l holds sway in th e
world and governs nature an d
soci.ety, one effect ively makes
a nonsense of mant s freedom.
of necessity, mant s wishes
avai l nothing against th e
divine wi l l . What does that
inply? It impl ies that in
attempting to defend th e
Fol io 2
abstract, metaphyslcal or
f ict i t ious freedom of ma n an d
free wi l1, one is forced to
deny his real f reedom. Against
a background of div ine
omnipotence and div ine
omnlpresence, man is but a
sIave. Th e freedom of
everynanhaving
been dispel ledby div ine providence, al l that
remains ls pr iv i lege, which i .s
to sdy, special ent i t lements
awarded by th e grace of God to
this or that j -ndiv idual, th is
or that hierarchy (5), this or
that dynasty, th is or that
class.
Simi lar ly, div ine provi .dence
makes a1l science impossible,
which means that dlv ine
providence is , quite simply,
th e negation of hurnan reason,
or rather, before one can
acknowledge div j .ne providence
on e ha s to abdicate one's
common sense. Th e moment on e
accepts that the world is
governed by div ine wi l l , on e
need no longer l -ook fo r an y
natural interre 1a ionshi p
between phenomena, bu t look
instead for a seri .es of
displays of that supreme wil l
whose decrees are and forever
must remain, as Holy Scripture
says, inaccessib le to human
reason lest thev lose their
divine naEure. Divine
providence is not just the
negat ion of a l l human logic, i t
is a negat ion of logic as such,
for aI1 logic holds impl ic i t a
natural necessity, and this
necessity would be contrary todlvine l iberty: so it is, f rom
the human point of view, th e
tr iumph of nonsense. So, those
who would be bel ievers must
renounce both liberty and
science an d allow themselves to
be exploited and lashed by
those upon whom God has
bestowed privi lege: an d one has
to say with Tertu l l ian - I
bel ieve because of i. ts
absurdity, adding th is (which
is as logical as the foregoing)
And I desire in iquity.
For ourselves, who freely
renounce al l the joys of the
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 10/11
world and demand the
tr iumph of mankind
this earth, we humbly
that rr e understand
of div ine logic an d
we shal1 content ourselves
logic, founded as i t
upon experience an d
of interrelat ionships
natural as wel l as of social
Th e accumuiated, correlated
d consldered experience which
know as science, shows us
sovereign r/r i l l is an
invent ion which
the face of the very
of things; what is
the wiI I is merely th e
of the exercise of a
faculty, just as
strength i. s only th e
of the exercise of our
consequently both are
eqaual measure th e product
social and natural l i fe,
of th e physical an d
i.nto which
is born an d
background they
le t us say it
- every man, at every
of his l i fe, is th e
of the combined impact
an d society, f rom
it c lear ly fol lows that
we stated in our preceding
quite true: Lo make
n moral f i rst make their
moral.
And there is only one way to
those surroundings rnoral -
effect the tr iumph of
i .e. , the ful lest(6 ) fo r each 1n the
of the most f l -awless
al l . Inequal i ty of
r ights (and
of l iberty fo r
is i ts necessary
- THAT is the vast
iniqui ty which gives
to al l indiv idual
but establ ish
one and al l the others wi l l
sh .
fn view of the tardiness of
men of pr iv i lege in
themselves to be rnade
or (and it amounts to the
SociaI Theorv
same thing), to be made equaI,
we very much fear that just ice
wi l l see no tr iumph lest i t be
by means of social revolut ion.
Thls is outsi-de ou r br ief
today, but we shal l assume th e
task of annunciat ing this
truth. which is, moreover, al l
to o obvious - thatunt i l such
t i .me as his social environment
becomes moral, moral i . ty in the
individual wi l l be irnpossible.
Three things are necessary
i f rnen ar e to be made mora1,
which is to Sdyr ar e to be
complete men in the ful lest
sense of the word - a healthy
bir th, a rat ional an d
integrated educat ion
accompanied by an upbringing
based on respect for work,
reason, egual i ty an d l iberty;
and a social envi-ronment
wherein each lndividual 1n
enjoying compl-ete l iberty wj- I1
rea11y be the equal of af 1
others both by r ight an d in
Does such an envirnoment
exist? No. Consequently, it s
foundations must be laid. If ,
in the environment which does
no t exist on e were to manage to
f ind schools whlch woul_d offer
their pupi ls instruct ion an d
educat ion so perfect as to defy
our imaginat ion to concej.ve of
better, would those schools
suceed in creat ing me n wh o were
just, free an d moral? Again
no , because when they left th e
school they would enter into a
social environment governed by
altogether contrary pr inciples,an d since society is always
stronger than indiv lduals, it
would soon overwhelrn and
demoral ise them. Furthermore,
the very foundation of such
schools is impossible in todays
circumstances. Fo r social l i fe
embraces everything an d
permeates th e schools as wel l
as family l i fe and the l ives of
al 1 the indiv iduals wh o compose
th e society.
Teachers, tutors an d parents
are al l members of the sane
society and are al l more or
less brutal lsed or demoral ised
fntegral Education
by it. Horrr could they impart
to their charges that which
they are lacking in themselves?
The proper way, the only proper
way to teach morality is by
example an d since socia l ist
morality is the very opposite
of current moral i ty, th e
teachers, who are more or lessin the grip of the lat ter,
would pract ice before their
pupils th e very opposite of
what they would be preaching.
So, socia l ist educat ion is
impossib le througrh th e schools
j ust as i t is impossib le
through the family of today.
But integrated education is
similar ly impossj.b le: the
bourgeois cannot understand
that their chi. ldren should
become workers, and the workers
are bereft of the wherewithal
that would give their children
a scient i- f ic educat ion.
I am amused by those f ine
bourgeois Socia l ists who are
al-ways tel l ing us: 'Let us
f irst educate the people. then
t.ye shal l emanclpate themr.
Instead, we say: Let the people
emancipate themselves f irst ,
and then they wil l look after
their own education. Whi is to
educate the people? You,
perhaps? But you do no t teach
then, you jusL poison them by
attempt ing to inculcate then
with al l the rel ig ious,F
histor ical , pol i t ical , \b
j ur id ical and economic
prejudices which guarantee your
exlstence, but which at the
same t ime destroy theirintel l igence an d emasculate
their r ighteous indignat ion an d
drain them of al l resolve. You
let the people be crushed by
their dai ly work and by their
misery an d then yo u sa y to
them: 'Educate yourselves! I
We should l i1e to see yo u an d
your chifdren educate
yourselves after th ir teen,
fourteen or sixteen hours of
bruta l is ing to i l with misery
and an uncertai.n tomorrow as
your only reward.
No , gentlemen, fo r al l ou r
reverence for the l-ofty issue
't 0
8/6/2019 M. Bakunin, Integral Education
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/m-bakunin-integral-education 11/11
The Anarchist Encyclopaedia
of integral educat ion, we
declare that at th ls moment i t
is no t th e nost irnportant
issue for the people. The
primary issue is that of
economic emancipati.on, which
necessari ly br ings with it
an immediate concomitant
pol i t ical emancipat ion - an d
only fol lowing that comes th e
intel lectual an d moral
emancipat ion of the people.
This being So rre f u11y
subscri-be to the resol_ution
adopted by the Brussels
^^---^--^c I
vvrrY!EoD
-.
,867:
'Recognising that for th e
moment it is not possible to
organise a rat ional system of
educat ion, th e Congress urges
it s var ious sect ions to
organise study courses which
wouLd fol low a programme of
scient i f ic, professional, an d
industr ia l educat i .on, that is a
programme of in tegral
educat ion, in order to redress,
as far as is possible, th e
inadequacy of present-day
educat ion among vrorkers. ft
is , of course, understood that
a reduct ion in workinq hours is
rssN 0267-61 1
Th e Anarchist Encyclopaedia
c/ o CambridgeFree
press
Unit 6
25 Gwydir Street
Cambridge CB 1 2L c
Social Theory
to be considered an
indispensable prerequisi te. I
Yes. Of course th e workers
wi l l do al l wj. th in thelr power
to provide themselves with
th e educat ion in th e present
situat ion. But, without
let t ing thernseLves be 1e d
astray by th e siren songs ofthe bourgeois an d bourgeois
Social ists, they should above
al l concentrate their efforts
upon th e solving of th e great
problem of econornic
emancipation which must be the
mother of
emancipat ions.
al l other
Egal i te, 21 August 1859
Notes:
( 1 ) Th e letter in quest ion ha d
been printed in th e precedinq
issue of Egal i te.
(2 1 A reference to th e
statement by General De Fai l ly
on the da y after th e batt le of
Mentana (3 November 1867): 'The
chassepots have worked wonderst
a quote which appears in a1l-
of the rnemoirs.
( 3 ) Briareus. In classic
Fol io 2
legend a huge monster with 1 00
arms an d 50 heads.
(4 1 rn referr ing to 'posi t ive
phi losophyr Bakunin r. las no t
thinking of posit iv ism or
Comtism, th e f laws of which he
thoroughly exposed in th e
Appendix publ ished in Volume
II I of Gui l laumers Oeuvres( Cons iderat ions ph i losophi.ques
sur ]e fantome divin, su r 1e
monde real et su r Lrhomme).
he ha s in mind scient i f ic
phi losophy general ly which
rel ies upon observat ion an d
experience.
( 5 ) Bakunln seems to be
employing th e word hierarchy in
it s etymological sense ofI pr iest ly government |
.
( 6 ) We stated earl ier that we
understand j. iberty to be , on
th e on e hand, th e ful lest
possible development of al l th e
natural- facult ies of each
individual and, on th e other,
hi s independence vis_a_vj-s,
no t th e laws of nature an d
society, bu t a1 I th e laws
imposed by other hurnan wi1ls be
they col lect ive or
indiv idual. (Bakuninrsnote)