Emile, praised by Goethe as "the natural gospel of education", is a concentrated expression of Rousseau's educational thought. In his book, he expounded the thought of natural education and opened up the road of humanistic education. Rousseau's natural education thought is a direct reflection of his enlightenment thought of "everyone is born free and equal" in education. The core of nature education thought is "returning to nature". He believes that education must follow the requirements of nature and conform to human nature, emphasizing that "it is natural for children to be like children before adulthood", and teachers should teach children as children and "treat them according to the age of your students". At the same time, it is believed that natural education must also be free education, which requires children to enjoy the possibility and conditions of full free activities, and strive to adapt to children's physical and mental development level and individual differences in the teaching process. Taking Emily as a fictional educational object, he expressed his ideal of educating and shaping a "natural person", that is, a new generation who is completely free to grow up, physically and mentally sound, self-reliant, "not bound by tradition, and can adapt to social life. "Not bound by tradition, conforming to natural development, not relying on others, able to stand on one's own feet, be independent, have strong social adaptability, be able to undertake social responsibilities, develop physically and mentally, and be healthy physically and mentally. This is Rousseau's description of a" natural person ". Rousseau also attached great importance to physical education and labor education, hoping that children could "work like farmers and think like philosophers".

Rousseau's natural education thought directly challenged the dominant position of classical education and seriously damaged people's mental development. This is the Enlightenment in the field of education.