《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体意见与信念的间接因素》第13节
Foremost among the dominant ideas of the present epoch is to be found the notion that instruction is capable of considerably changing men, and has for its unfailing consequence to improve them and even to make them equal. By the mere fact of its being constantly repeated, this assertion has ended by becoming one of the most steadfast democratic dogmas. It would be as difficult now to attack it as it would have been formerly to have attacked the dogmas of the Church. It is not assuredly--and nobody has ever maintained this proposition-- that well-directed instruction may not give very useful practical results, if not in the sense of raising the standard of morality, at least in that of developing professional capacity. Unfortunately the Latin peoples, especially in the last twenty-five years, have based their systems of instruction on very erroneous principles, and in spite of the observations of the most eminent minds, such as Breal, Fustel de Coulanges, Taine, and many others, they persist in their lamentable mistakes. I have myself shown, in a work published some time ago, that the French system of education transforms the majority of those who have undergone it into enemies of society, and recruits numerous disciples for the worst forms of socialism.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里讨论的是教育作为间接因素对群体意见的塑造作用，但他的出发点和十九世纪末法国第三共和国的特殊教育焦虑紧密相关。他首先劈头就对准一个在当时已经广为传播的观念：教育能够从根本上升华人的品性、使人变得更好、甚至拉平人与人之间的差距。他所说的那个“民主教条”，并非他凭空树立的靶子，而是自大革命以来被反复宣说、到第三共和国成立后更被写进世俗化免费义务教育…