<b>Historical reflections about the criticism on jesuits in the eighteenth century</b> - doi: 10.4025/actascieduc.v33i2.14193

Abstract

The content of the interpretations of the Jesuits’ action in the eighteenth century is the subject of this article. The main goal is to show that they are the product of the history itself, as it was the educational project of the ‘Companhia de Jesus’ in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From this perspective, the condemning content in the analysis of the most distinguished authors of this time reveals the historical character of that institution: given the new educational and social demands of the bourgeois society, the ‘Companhia de Jesus’ no longer had the same importance from the previous centuries. It should also be noted that the content of the interpretations, more than revealing the importance of those educators in the history, show the seventeenth-century authors’ commitment with the new interests that have guided the life of the mankind. Finally, we emphasize that this reflection about the different ways to condemn the ‘Companhia’, both spatially and temporally, also help to reflect about the reasons for some criticism have been overcome by history, and others have persisted, despite the social changes inherent to human practice.