Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712—1778)
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born to Isaac
Rousseau and Suzanne Bernard in Geneva
on June 28, 1712. His mother died only a
few days later on July 7, and his only
sibling, an older brother, ran away from
home when Rousseau was still a child.

• In 1742 Rousseau went to Paris to become

a musician and composer. After two years
spent serving a post at the French Embassy
in Venice, he returned in 1745 and met a
linen-maid named Therese Levasseur, who
would become his lifelong companion (they
eventually married in 1768). They had five
children together, all of whom were left at
the Paris orphanage.
• Swiss-born philosopher, writer, and political
theorist whose treatises and novels inspired the
leaders of the French Revolution and the
Romantic generation
• Rousseau was the least academic of modern
philosophers and in many ways was the most
influential. His thought marked the end of the Age
of Reason. He propelled political and ethical
thinking into new channels.

• He introduced the cult of religious sentiment

among people who had discarded religious
dogma. He opened people’s eyes to the beauties
of nature, and he made liberty an object of almost
universal aspiration.
The Beginnings of Modern Philosophy and the
Enlightenment
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most influential thinkers
during the Enlightenment in eighteenth century Europe.
Rousseau’s major works span the mid to late eighteenth century.
As such, it is appropriate to consider Rousseau, at least
chronologically, as an Enlightenment thinker. However, there is
dispute as to whether Rousseau’s thought is best characterized
as “Enlightenment” or “counter-Enlightenment.” The major
goal of Enlightenment thinkers was to give a foundation to
philosophy that was independent of any particular tradition,
culture, or religion: one that any rational person would accept. In
the realm of science, this project has its roots in the birth of
modern philosophy
 Works
• Discours sur les Sciences et les Arts (Discourse on the Sciences and Arts), 1750.
• Often referred to as the “First Discourse,” this work was a submission to the Academy of Dijon’s essay
contest, which it won, on the question, “Has the restoration of the sciences and arts tended to purify morals?”
• Lettre sur la musique francaise (Letter on French music), 1753.
• Discours sur l’origine et les fondments de l’inegalite (Discourse on the Origin and
Foundations of Inequality), 1755.
• Often referred to as the “Second Discourse,” this was another submission to an essay contest sponsored by
the Academy of Dijon, though unlike the First Discourse, it did not win the prize. The Second Discourse is a
response to the question, “What is the Origin of Inequality Among Men and is it Authorized by the Natural
Law?”
• Discours sur l’Économie politique (Discourse on Political Economy), 1755.
• Sometimes called the “Third Discourse,” this work originally appeared in the Encyclopédie of Diderot and
d’Alembert.
• Du Contract Social (The Social Contract), 1762.
• Rousseau’s most comprehensive work on politics.
• Émile ou de l’Éducation (Émile or On Education), 1762.
• Rousseau’s major work on education. It also contains the Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, which
documents Rousseau’s views on metaphysics, free will, and his controversial views on natural religion for
which the work was banned by Parisian authorities.
 Discourse on the Sciences and Arts
“Has the restoration of the sciences and arts tended
to purify morals?”

• Rousseau’s answer to this question is an emphatic

“no.” The First Discourse won the academy’s prize as
the best essay. The work is perhaps the greatest
example of Rousseau as a “counter-Enlightenment”
thinker. For the Enlightenment project was based on
the idea that progress in fields like the arts and
sciences do indeed contribute to the purification of
morals on individual, social, and political levels
• which argued that the arts and sciences corrupt human
morality

• “Within an instant of reading this [advertisement], I saw

another universe and became another man." Rousseau
found the idea to which he would passionately dedicate
the rest of his intellectual life: the destructive influence
of civilization on human beings.

“I am not abusing science…I am defending virtue before

virtuous men.”
 First Discourse is comprised of two main parts

The first part is largely an historical survey.

-He notes that it was after philosophy and the arts flourished that
ancient Egypt fell.

Similarly, ancient Greece was once founded on notions of heroic

virtue, but after the arts and sciences progressed, it became a
society based on luxury and leisure.
• Interestingly, Rousseau here discusses Socrates, as
one of the few wise Athenians who recognized the
corruption that the arts and sciences were bringing
about.

In his address to the court, Socrates says that the

artists and philosophers of his day claim to have
knowledge of piety, goodness, and virtue, yet they do
not really understand anything. Rousseau’s historical
inductions are not limited to ancient civilizations,
however, as he also mentions China as a learned
civilization that suffers terribly from its vices.
The second part of the First Discourse is an examination of the arts and
sciences themselves, and the dangers they bring.
• -First, Rousseau claims that the arts and sciences are born from our vices:
• “Astronomy was born from superstition
• eloquence from ambition, hate, flattery, and falsehood
• geometry from avarice, physics from vain curiosity
• all, even moral philosophy, from human pride.”

• Rousseau articulates how they fail to contribute anything positive to morality.

They take time from the activities that are truly important, such as love of
country, friends, and the unfortunate. Philosophical and scientific knowledge of
subjects such as the relationship of the mind to the body, the orbit of the planets,
and physical laws that govern particles fail to genuinely provide any guidance for
making people more virtuous citizens.
• Rather, Rousseau argues that they create a false sense of
need for luxury, so that science becomes simply a means for
making our lives easier and more pleasurable, but not morally
better.

• Artists, Rousseau says, wish first and foremost to be

applauded. Their work comes from a sense of wanting to be
praised as superior to others. Society begins to emphasize
specialized talents rather than virtues such as courage,
generosity, and temperance. This leads to yet another danger:
the decline of military virtue, which is necessary for a society to
defend itself against aggressors.
 The Emile or On Education
The Emile or On Education is essentially a work that details
Rousseau’s philosophy of education. It was originally published
just several months after the Social Contract. Like the Social
Contract, the Emile was immediately banned by Paris authorities,
which prompted Rousseau to flee France.

The major point of controversy in the Emile was not in his

philosophy of education per se, however. Rather, it was the
claims in one part of the book, the Profession of Faith of the
Savoyard Vicar in which Rousseau argues against traditional
views of religion that led to the banning of the book.
Rousseau wrote this novel to show his beliefs on education. It
consists of five books and the different stages of learning

Book 1: Infancy: Goodness of men, keep children should be kept

form forming bad habits
Book 2: “The age of Nature”: purpose of education, school
environment, self motivated learning, discipline and physical
education
Book 3: Pre-adolescence : Intellectual education, geography,
science, history and other subjects are learned by desire to learn
them
Book 4: Puberty: social attitudes, and natural religion
Book 5: Adulthood: love, education of women
• The basic philosophy of education that Rousseau
advocates in the Emile, much like his book thought in
the first two discourses, is rotted n the nation that
human being are good by nature. The Emile is a large
work, which is divided into five books.
• Rousseau’s claim that the goal of education should be
to cultivate our natural tendencies.

• Rousseau claims that by our nature, each of us has

this natural feeling of love toward ourselves. We
naturally look after own protection and interest.
• The tutor must even manipulate the environment in
order to teach sometime difficult moral lessons about
humbleness, chastity, and honesty.

• Therefore goal of Emile’s natural education is in large

part to keep him from falling into the corrupted form of
this type of self-love.

• Therefore goal of Emile's natural education is in large

part to keep him from falling into the corrupted form of
this type of self-love.
• Rousseau’s philosophy of education, therefore, is not geared
simply at particular techniques that best ensure that the pupil
will absorb information and concepts.
• It is better understood as a way of ensuring that the pupil’s
character be developed in such a way as to have a healthy
sense of self-worth and morality.
• This will allow the pupil to be virtuous even in the unnatural and
imperfect society in which he lives.

• The character of Emile begins learning important moral lessons

from his infancy, thorough childhood, and into early adulthood.
• His education relies on the tutor’s constant supervision. The
tutor must even manipulate the environment in order to teach
sometimes difficult moral lessons about humility, chastity, and
honesty.
The Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar is part of
the fourth Book of the Emile.
In his discussion of how to properly educate a pupil
about religious matters, the tutor recounts a tale of an
Italian who thirty years before was exiled from his town.
Disillusioned, the young man was aided by a priest who
explained his own views of religion, nature, and science.
Rousseau then writes in the first person from the
perspective of this young man, and recounts the Vicar’s
speech.
''Make the citizen good by
training, and everything else will
follow.” - Jean Jacques
Rousseau

Man is born free, but is

everywhere in chain.
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Concept of man
“What is the origin of inequality among men; and is it authorized by
the natural law?” Rousseau’s picture of “man in his natural state,” is
radically different

• believed that man is naturally good and that vice and error are
alien to him. This creates a conflict between “nature” and “artifice”
in attitudes to society, education and religion.
• nature is man’s state before being influenced by outside forces.
“If man is left… to his own notions and conduct, he would certainly
turn out the most preposterous of human beings. The influence of
prejudice, authority… would stifle nature in him and substitute
nothing.”
• In other words, human beings need outside intervention
to develop their natural propensity for good.

• “We are born weak, we have need of help, we are born

destitute… we have need of assistance; we are born
stupid, we have need of understanding.”

• Man needs to work with nature, not against it.

Rousseau says, in his treatise, that man is
discontented with anything in its natural state and
claims that everything degenerates in his hand…
The correct balance of these three categories in human
nature, enables man to develop naturally.

• Education from nature itself, the limitations of which are

outside of man’s control.
• The Education of man, for example, what we are taught,
• Experience of things, for example, the objects around us.

• The modern society, and the ownership it entails, is

blamed for the disruption of the state of nature which
Rousseau sees as true freedom.
State of nature
state of nature, uncorrupted by civilization and the socialization
process

Hobbes’ have all failed to actually depict humans in the true state
of nature. Instead, they have taken civilized human beings and
simply removed laws, government, and technology. For humans
to be in a constant state of war with one another. These faculties,
according to Rousseau, are not natural,

Rousseau describes natural man as isolated, timid, peaceful,

mute, and without the foresight to worry about what the
future will bring.
State of nature
• people more easily understanding their own minds
• satisfied life
• love of family
• respect for nature
• an awe at beauty of universe
• state of nature was moral and guided by spontanouse pity
empaty for others nd their suffering

• Rousseau acknowledges that self-preservation is one

principle of motivation for human actions
Two forms of self-love
Amour de soi is a natural form of self-love in that it does
not depend on others. Rousseau claims that by our nature,
each of us has this natural feeling of love toward ourselves.
We naturally look after our own preservation and interests.

Amour-propre is an unnatural self-love that is essentially

relational. That is, it comes about in the ways in which
human beings view themselves in comparison to other
human beings. Without amour-propre, human beings
would scarcely be able to move beyond the pure state of
nature Rousseau describes in the Discourse on Inequality.
Thus, amour-propre can contribute positively to human
freedom and even virtue. Nevertheless, amour-propre is
also extremely dangerous because it is so easily
corruptible.

In its corrupted form, amour-propre is the source of vice

and misery, and results in human beings basing their own
self worth on their feeling of superiority over others.

Although the human being is naturally good and the

“noble savage” is free from the vices that plague
humans in civil society, Rousseau is not simply saying
that humans in nature are good and humans in civil
society are bad.
Humans are born free, autonomous, and naturally
virtuous. For example, in the state of nature (apart from
all social organization) we are naturally interested in
our own welfare and are naturally compassionate
about the suffering of others.

However, civil society encourages us to think that we are

superior to others and perverts our natural virtuous
feelings, changing them into selfishness, pride, and
delight in the misery of others. In civil society, being
"civil" means being polite, lacking sincere motivation to
care about doing what one naturally feels is the right
thing.
• In order to counteract the perverting effect of civil
society, we should allow children to develop their
natural virtues through trial and error, sensations
and feelings, not theories and abstractions. Only in
this way can they develop sincerity and genuine moral
sensitivity in their social relations instead of acting
simply for show.
• Civil society moral distinctions are developed in order to
handle conflicts (especially about the private property that is
used to identify individuals)
• Government is needed to enforce the laws concerning
private property, and this typically has the effect of
institutionalizing moral and political inequalities.

However, civility does not have to make people superficial and

insincere: through public education it can guide people to
resist the negative influences of society (e.g., valuing
luxuries). That is why people should form a social contract,
to develop their natural virtues to even greater heights than
would have been possible in the state of nature.
 – his influential 1762 treatise The Social Contract, outlined a
different version of social contract theory, as the foundations of
political rights based on unlimited popular sovereignty.(Rule by
the People)
• The social contract is the tacit agreement to abide by the general
will, which is what I and all others living in a community will for
ourselves (even when we disagree with particular legislation).

• We find out what is in accord with the general will by popular votes
over the course of time.
• That means that, on rare occasions, the majority in a popular vote
will not be consistent with the general will.
• In order to be free as a citizen, I will the law for the
common good. I am thus obligated to obey the law not
because it is imposed externally but because I impose
it on myself directly and not through an elected
representative.

• A political society is like a human body. A body is a

unified entity though it has various parts that have
particular functions. And just as the body has a will that
looks after the well-being of the whole, a political state
also has a will which looks to its general well-being.
• The major conflict in political philosophy occurs when the
general will is at odds with one or more of the individual wills of
its citizens.
Rousseau articulates three maxims which supply the basis
for a politically virtuous state:

(1) Follow the general will in every action

(2) Ensure that every particular will is in accordance with the
general will
(3) Public needs must be satisfied.

Citizens follow these maxims when there is a sense of equality

among them, and when they develop a genuine respect for law.
• This again is in contrast to Hobbes, who says that laws
are only followed when people fear punishment. That
is, the state must make the penalty for breaking the law
so severe that people do not see breaking the law to be
of any advantage to them.

Rousseau claims, instead, that when laws are in

accordance with the general will, good citizens will
respect and love both the state and their fellow citizens.
Therefore, citizens will see the intrinsic value in the law,
even in cases in which it may conflict with their individual
wills.
Rousseau's Typology of Religion
"Religion, considered in connection with societies, whether general or
particular, can be divided into two categories, the religion of the man
and the religion
of the citizen."

First, there is the "religion of man," which is a personal

religion, linking the individual to God. Rousseau admires
this kind of religion (and indeed professed to practice it)
but suggests that by itself, it will hurt the state.
A pure Christian is interested only in spiritual and other-
worldly blessings, and will happily endure hardships in
this life for the sake of heavenly rewards. A healthy state
needs citizens who will struggle and fight to make the
state strong and safe.
Second, there is the "religion of the citizen," which is
the official religion of the state, complete with dogmas
and ceremonies.
This religion combines the interests of church and state
teaching patriotism and a pious respect for the law.

However, it also corrupts religion, by replacing true,

sincere worship with official, dogmatic ceremony. It also
breeds a violent intolerance of other nations.
Third, there is the kind of religion that Rousseau
associates with the Catholic church, among others, which
he condemns forcefully. In trying to set up two competing
sets of laws--one civil and one religious--it creates all
sorts of contradictions that prevent the proper exercise of
any kind of law.

Catholicism is Rousseau's favorite example of this kind

of religion.
• So long as it does not disturb the public interest, the people are
free to worship whatever and however they please. However,
all citizens should also pledge allegiance to a civil religion with
a very few basic precepts:

• the existence of a God

• the belief in an afterlife
• justice for all
• the sanctity of the social contract and the law
• and the prohibition of intolerance, which should prevent friction
between members of different religions.
the end