PHIL102 week 8 lecture - Rousseau

Rousseau: Key Ideas

Who was Rousseau?

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): Swiss philosopher and writer.
• Lived in France for much of his life; a controversial figure.
• Impact: political philosophy, French Revolution, Kant, Romantic movement.
• Key works: Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, Emile, The Social Contract, Confessions.

The Social Contract

• Main idea: to constitute the civil state in a way that realizes human freedom.
• Quote: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

Rousseau on the State of Nature

• Differs from Hobbes; Rousseau sees it as potentially ideal.
• Civil society corrupts the State of Nature.
• Natural man: solitary hunter-gatherer, strong, agile, self-sufficient.
• Lacks reason and language, which emerge in society.
• Private property is the origin of inequality.

Amour propre

• Natural man has ‘love of self’.
• Society introduces ‘amour propre’ (self-regard).
• Distinction between ‘real’ and ‘false’ needs.

Should we return to nature?

• Rousseau says ‘no’ in The Social Contract.
• We gain civil liberty, property, and ‘moral freedom’.
• Moral freedom: “obedience to a self-prescribed law is liberty.”

The General Will

• Key concept: the ‘general will’.
• “A moral and collective body”.
• ‘Will of all’ vs. ‘general will’ (the group's best interest as a whole).
• The general will cannot be alienated or divided.
• The general will “is always right” and aims for the public advantage.

How does this help us?

• Laws aligned with the general will lead to a ‘higher’ freedom.
• Potentially solves the problem of political authority.

Key criticisms

• Recipe for terror?
• Overly homogenous?
• Is this really ‘freedom’ at all?