The personal importance of the idea of age must grow in proportion as religious and civic reformers imposed it in documentary form, beginning with the more educated social strata, that is to say, in the sixteenth century, those who had a college education. It is generally agreed that it was only in the eighteenth century that the parish priests began keeping their registers with the exactness, or the attempted exactness, which a modern state requires of its registrars. The recording of births in parish registers was imposed on the priests of France by Francois I, but to be respected, this order, which had already been prescribed by the authority of the councils, had to be accepted by people who for a long time remained hostile to the rigour of abstract accounting. But they were all devised in ancient times, before the rigor of modern identification had been introduced into our way of life. Belonging to very different species, some areĬommercial bills of exchange or cheques, and the others are wills. There are, however, some acts which commit us to a serious degree, which we draw up ourselves, and which do not call for the inscription of our date of birth.
In our day our registration practices partake at the same time of all worlds. The age, a quantity legally measurable to within a few hours, comes from another world, that of precise figures.
The Christian name belongs to the world of fancy, the surname to that of tradition. And now it has become advisable to add a further detail, the numerical character, the age.
In the Middle Ages the Christian name had been considered too imprecise a description, and it had been found necessary to complete it with a surname, a place name in many cases. In time the latter might well not disappear but be reserved for private life, while a registration number in which the date of birth would be one of the elements would take its place for civic purposes. Our civic personality is already more precisely expressed by the co-ordinates of our birth than by our surname. A day will come when every citizen will have his registration number. He will be a number, which will begin with his sex, the year of his birth, and the month of that year. At the same time as being Paul - and indeed rather than being Paul. Little Paul will give his age at school he will soon become Paul - of Form - and when he starts his first job he will be given, together with his Social Security card, a registration number which will double his own name. But in our technical civilization, how could anyone forget the exact date of his birth, when he has to remember it for almost every application he makes, every document he signs, every form lie fills in -and heaven knows there are enough of those and there will be more in the future. We feel in fact that it is a matter of importance that little Paul should get this right: what would become of him if he forgot his age? In the African bush, age is still quite an obscure notion, something which is not so important that one cannot forget it. We are extremely proud when little Paul, asked how old he is, replies correctly that he is two and a half. As soon as our children start to talk, we teach them their name, their age and their parents' name. She plans on writing a book in the future.Philosophy of Education - Aries: The Ages of Life CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD: PART I: THE AGES OF LIFE FROM: CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD by Philippe AriesĪ man Of the sixteenth or the seventeenth century would be astonished at the exigencies with regard to civil status to which we submit quite naturally. She's passionate about the environment and feminism, and knows that anything is possible in the right pair of shoes.
RELATED: What Your Friends Like Most About You, According To Your Zodiac SignĮmily Ratay is a full-time writer living in Pittsburgh. She’s always been described as the mom friend, so it makes sense that she would be an old soul who somehow knows the answer to everything and can act responsibly in any situation - definitely not child-like. In fact, it’s almost like she’s lived a hundred past lives, which not only makes her great to come to for advice, but also makes it impossible for her to be young at heart.Ĭapricorn is definitely one of the most responsible and level-headed people you’ll ever meet, so when it comes to acting like a child, it would seem very foreign and out of character. She is also a very old soul, which means she’s wise in what she does and what she says. Capricorn is similar to other signs who want to be seen as serious and adult-like, but there’s more to it than just trying to be the opposite of young at heart for her.