Jean-Jacques+Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

J ean-Jacques Rousseau is a French philosopher that lived from 28 June 1712 to 2 July 1778. He received education from his father until the age of ten which influenced him with the ideas of republican patriotism. At the age of sixteen, he was influenced by Francoise-Louise de la Tour, a Catholic woman as he converted to Catholicism in 1728. He wrote his major works in between 1750 and 1762. He went on exile in 1762 in order to escape prosecution due to his ideas on religion and politics. He died in July 4, 1778 in France.
 * Biology**
 * Main idea:** humans are good by nature, and then are corrupted by society. Humans are naturally free, and the main goal of a just government must be the preservation of the freedom of each individual.


 * Nature of Men**

- “State of nature”: a condition in which men found themselves before society and governments.

- Although we cannot return to the state of nature, understanding it is crucial in order to build a better society.

//- Amour de soi// (self-love): the drive of humans to fill the biological needs like food, shelter, and warmth.

- We are part of a benevolent creator, therefore we feel the need to ease the suffering of other beings (//pitié)//.

- //Pitié// is sometimes considered a characteristic alongside with //amour de soi// and other times a derivation from it.

- Humans originally live solitary lives because they don’t need other beings to fulfil their basic needs, and maintain reproduction at a minimal level.

- As populations grow and come together, humans experience family love, which according to Rousseau is the source of the greatest happiness, but living in groups also leads to evil.

- When living in groups, competition for mating causes man to look at himself in comparison to the others.

- //Amour prope//: the need to be recognized by others as having value and to be treated with respect.

- Considered the source of all evil.

- Causes conflict as people try to be superior to others.

- //Amour de soi// represents the instinctive human desire for self-preservation, while //amour de prope// is artificial and leads to selfishness and exploitation of other beings.

- In the state of nature, human needs are those of survival: food, shelter, and reproduction.

- As society develops, humans also develop new superficial, nonessential desires such as luxury or entertainment, which eventually become needs.

- Society then develops around the pursuit of these needs and gives way to “moral inequality,” in which some people will be forced to work to fulfil the needs of others while others dominate.


 * Morality**

- Humans are different from other creatures in two characteristics: freedom and perfectibility.

- Freedom is the ability not to be governed solely by appetite.

- Perfectibility is the ability to learn and find new means to survive, or satisfy one’s needs.

- Together they give humans self-consciousness, rationality, and morality, but these characteristics will also make it easier for them to be fall into the wrongs of society.

- Morality is a natural, or innate, characteristic in humans, developed from his urge to stop suffering.

- Humans do not act morally in their state of nature.

- Terms such as justice or wickedness only exist in society.

- Humans in the state of nature will act for their own preservation. They act as animals, and therefore their good is a good such as those in the lives of animals, which has no moral connotations.


 * The Origin of the State**

- Inequality between the poor and rich grew bigger, and rivalry made people vulnerable and at constant war.

- The rich then tricked the poor into giving up their freedom to be ruled by them.

- The state was therefore built not under the principles of equality, or liberty, but under the principle of private property, which is the cause of the conflict the state is trying to avoid.

- Private property, according to Rousseau, is a lie in which a man, with no justification claims an object to be his and convinces the poor into believing it.


 * The Social Contract and General Will**

- “Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains”

- Rousseau suggests that society is taking freedom away, and that a just government can only come from an agreement by all the citizens.

- “sovereign” – all the citizens together.

- While each individual has his own will, the sovereign expresses the general will, which aims at the common good.

- The sovereign dictates the law, and the government enforces it.

- These two groups will be in constant duel, until they destroy society. A healthy state, however, can last for a long time before this occurs.

- Man must “be forced to be free” – individuals can have different opinions, but the state requires all citizens to follow the general will in order to be just and stable.

 Discourse on the Arts and Sciences     Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men      Émile: or, on Education      The Social Contract
 * Major Works**

Legacy

 Influenced Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx

 French Revolution - Liberty, Iquality, Fraternity

 Romantic Naturalism movement in Europe

 Immanuel Kant, Johann Goethe, Maximilien de Robespierre, Johann Pestalozzi, Leo Tolsoy.

 [|http://www.iep.utm.edu/rousseau/#][|H7]     [|http][|://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/#Lif]
 * References**