Lecture 2 - Rouseau Flashcards
What are 4 ways in which Rousseau differs from other philosophes?
- He was a protestant and a citizen of Geneva
- He didn’t have a middle- or upper-class background, nor formal education
- He was an ancien, rather than a moderne
- Rousseau argues that the progress in the arts and sciences has not led to growth from an ethical perspective
What are ‘anciens’ and ‘modernes’?
Modernes: thought that it was no longer a good idea to try to emulate the classics -> the 17th century should ‘find its own voice’
Anciens: still see value in emulation of the classics
In which way does it show that Rousseau was an ancien?
He frequently references Athens, Sparta and Rome
In which work did Rousseau launch the thesis that progress in the arts and sciences has not led to growth from an ethical perspective?
Discours sur les arts et les sciences
How does Rousseau argue that progress in the arts and the sciences had not led to growth from an ethical perspective? What example does he provide to provide his point?
This progress alienates us from our orignal nature: culture does not civilize, it corrupts. Humans let themselves be guided by artificial inventions, leading to alienation from their nature.
Example: Athens was civilized, Sparta was rough, yet Sparta survived longer
What is the idea of the ‘noble savage’?
People who are real, authentic and live close to nature, without the alienation that (complex) society brings
What does Rousseau argue in his Discourse on Inequalty among Human Beings?
That humans have a natural equality
Who does Rousseau attack in his Discourse on Inequality among Human Beings, and how does the do so?
Thomas Hobbes, especially his Leviathan
Hobbes had destroyed natural law tradition by arguing that humans are by their nature not sociable, and that life is a struggle of all against all to survive. Roussea felt that this was a perverse way of thinking: only when we a state of law and gain possesion, do we have something to quarrel over.
What is natural law tradition?
The belief that the fact that human beings live together should be accounted for by the fact that they are by their nature sociable
For which two reasons did the Discourse on the Arts and the Sciences + the Discourse on Inequality Among Human Beings have major influenc?
- Rousseau rejected the idea of European superiority: all men are essentially equal
- Rousseau sees the natural arch that many see as progress (hunter-gatherer -> agriculture -> commerce) not as one of progress but of alienation from natural freedom & equality
Rousseau feels that it was time to get back to our own nature. Of which philosophical school is this reminiscent?
Sturm und Drang
Which two elements did Rousseau introduce to get back to our own nature?
- Du contrat social: on the political background
- Émile, ou de l’éducation: on the importance of education
What is Rousseau’s answer to subjugation to society without ending up as slaves?
Subjugating to ourselves by subjugating our will to the volonté générale
What is the volonté générale? How does it differ from the will of all?
General will, aimed at the good of the people (bien public)
This differs from the will of all, which is a mere sum of the particular wills
What is a major debate when it comes to Rousseau’s Social Contract? What is the danger of this?
What is the bien public, and who determines what it looks like?
This could lead to a totalitarian element: Rousseau argues that it could be necessary to enforce people who are unwilling to recognize what is good for them
Who used Rousseau as an argument for a totalitarian government?
Robespierre used this element of Rousseau to justify the Terror
What is the main message of Rousseau’s Émile?
Orignal authenticity can be recuperated through educating, by ensuring that a child’s character remains pure and intact.
What is Rousseau’s stance on the moral decline that occurs when we become part of civilization?
This moral decline is in many ways inevitable when we enter civilization and leave our pure nature, as it is a result of amour de soi
What is amour de soi? How does it contrast with amour propre?
Amour de soi is the degree of self-love needed to survive
Amour propre is a dangerous amount of self-love
Which virtue should be coupled with amour de soi?
Pitié -> empathy, being able to see and feel things thorugh the eyes of another
What should be the goal of proper education? What does this lead to?
The combiation of amour de soi and pitié -> leads to the capacity to fruitfully live together with human beings because you are able to put yourself in their position
What is Rousseau’s major literary succes, which brought him great fame?
Julie ou la nouvelle Héloise
What does the Nouvelle Héloise consist of? Of which phenomenon is this an exponent?
Consists of sentimental letters; this kind of work is an exponent of the so-called culture of sensibility
What is the culture of sensibility?
A phenomenon during the Enlightenment in which feelings start to become very important, becoming an imortant attitude in literature and high society
