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PHI1104- Great Philosophers > Rousseau > Flashcards

Rousseau Flashcards

1
Q

What side of the political spectrum?

A

Left side of the political spectrum

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2
Q

Besides a philosopher what else does Rousseau do?

A

He is a music composer

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3
Q

What is the idea of the enlightenment?

A

reason liberates- he believes reason can be expanded

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4
Q

Rousseau was a BLANK philosopher with some BLANK ideas

A

Rousseau was a SWISS enlightenment philosopher with some RADICAL ideas

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5
Q

The thinking of Rousseau reinvigorates…

A

the relation between the self and nature, thereby giving new life to each

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6
Q

What does Rousseau suggest in terms of the state of nature?

A

He suggested that the state of nature wasn’t all too bad, proposing that the people in it were self-sufficient, sympathetic, peaceful, innocent and capable

-He did not believe in returning to this state of nature

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7
Q

What is this period characterized by?

A

This period is characterized by a confidence in human reason, seen as the liberator and savior of mankind

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8
Q

Was he a regular contributor to the Enlightenment’s Encyclopedia project: the idea of a knowledge-based world as a means of social improvement?

A

Yes

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9
Q

How does he view man?

A

He sees man as naturally good

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10
Q

What does he discuss in his writing in the Discourse on the Science and the Arts ?

(2 pts)

A

-He questions the enlightenment idea that civilization and the universal spreading of knowledge lead to a better human condition

-In this writing civilization is a decadence, a moral degradation

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11
Q

What does he discuss in his writing in the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality?

-What does the state of nature resemble? What does he describe it as?
-How do humans live?
-What is war and is it the result of?

(4 pts)

A

-His description of the state of nature is very different from Hobbes —> His state of nature resembles earthly paradise, before the fall from grace

-The human individual lives a solitary, happy life in the virgin forests

-Humans live in harmony with nature, like healthy animals, without sickness or disease

-Rousseau writes, war is not natural to humans
-War is the result of inequality. In the state of nature, all men and women are equal and therefore there is no conflict/strife, which is opposed to Hobbes

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12
Q

For Rousseau, what is the state of nature, what does he mean by humans and freedom?

-other human authority
-Human constraints
-the conditions of nature that humans have to deal with

( 4 pts)

A

-Humans are naturally free

-Natural freedom means freedom from the authority of other humans

-In such a state, there are constraints but they are entirely natural; the conditions of nature that humans have to deal with; hunger, thirst, cold, procreation etc

-These constraints are not seen as impediments to our original state of nature, simply because they are natural rather than man-made

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13
Q

In Rousseau’s state of nature there is no BLANK, no BLANK, no BLANK, or BLANK

A

In Rousseau’s state of nature there is no fire, no tools, no reasoning, or language

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14
Q

For Rousseau, what is the only natural sentiment/natural passion?

A

-The only natural sentiment is pity, a human (or animal) who sees another human or animal injured, feels pity

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15
Q

According to Rousseau the state of nature is not a myth, so what does he believe it is?

a) hypothesis based on conjecture (speculation)

b) hypothesis based on anthropological facts

c) historical hypothesis based on conjecture

d) historical hypothesis based on anthropological facts

A

c) It is a historical hypothesis based on conjecture

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16
Q

Elaborate more on the state of nature hypothesis? What does it have to do with civilization… and accidents?

(4 pts)

A

-The state of nature hypothesis allows Rousseau to see civilization as a cumulative process that gradually removes the human being from what is it naturally

-Man does not naturally improve or evolve into something better and more civilized

-This so-called progression of human history is entirely accidental

-Civilization is a series of accidents or catastrophes that befell the natural human being

17
Q

In terms of human civilization and the state of nature, what does Rousseau mean by “an unhappy circumstance”?

A

-The natural calamites like floods and earthquakes that force humans into a primitive social condition, where they must establish permanent, yet rough settlements, without laws, where vanity, pride, jealousy arise

18
Q

Why is agriculture unnatural? What is its connection to inequality and society?

(7 pts)

-Discuss laws and inequality
-Status quo
-Society being divided

A
  • It is unnatural since it causes the earth to be cut up into separate properties belonging to different individuals or groups

-This is the first cause of civil society and inequality

  • “The first person who built a fence around and states ‘this is mine’ and found others simple enough to believe founded civil society”
  • Society is divided into those who have and those who have not, into rich and poor
  • In order to protect what they have and prevent robbery, the rich make laws to maintain the peaceful status quo

-Rousseau claims that laws are there to give more strength to the strong and more shackles for the weak

-Laws destroy natural freedom by institutionalizing property and equality

19
Q

Compare what the thinkers of enlightenment believed to what Rousseau believed?

A

-Thinkers of enlightenment believed: that humankind could progressively improve itself, raise its condition through reason and knowledge and civilization

-Rather Rousseau believed the opposite: reason, knowledge and civilization are the sources of inequality and evil

20
Q

What is Rousseau’s famous statement?

A

“Man is born free and he is everywhere in chains”

21
Q

Rousseau’s idea surrounds the idea that our BLANK natural state is no longer there for us; we were BLANK out of this BLANK by BLANK itself, by a series of BLANK

We must BLANK society in such a way that within it, BLANK can be as BLANK as possible

A

Rousseau’s idea surrounds the idea that our ORIGINAL natural state is no longer there for us; we were DRIVEN out of this STATE by NATURE itself, by a series of ACCIDENTS

We must TRANSFORM society in such a way that within it HUMANS can be as NATURAL as possible

22
Q

Rousseau’s solution our original natural state no longer being there for us to but still transform society so that humans to be as natural as possible, takes 3 forms or expressions, what are they?

A

The three expressions/forms that represent the solution to our original natural state no longer being there for us but still allowing humans to be as natural as possible is;

-The Social Contract

-Education

-The Cultivation of Sentiment, or Feeling

23
Q

In Rousseau’s solution, what is The Social Contract?

-Whose idea does he disagree with?
-What is his idea about freedom?
-How can we live in a modern society and remain free?
-General…
-What is the social contract?
-How is law expressed?
-What is the goal?

(9 pts)

A
  • Rousseau disagrees with Hobbes idea to of a contract between the citizens surrendering their freedom/rights to the the leviathan
  • Freedom is an essential human quality, which cannot be freely given or contracted away
  • He writes “A man who surrenders his freedom is no longer human”
  • But how can we live in a modern society and remain free? —> his answer to this is general will
  • The general will is a community where selfish desires dissolve into the community at large
  • Through the social contract, each member does surrender his or her individual rights to the community

-The social contract is different from surrendering one’s rights to an individual ruler

-Law is the expression of the general will, of general freedom

-His social contract is meant to create a human condition that is as natural as possible, as close as possible to the natural condition where selfishness, greed, suspicion and conflict did not exist where the only constraints to freedom were those causes by natural occurrences

24
Q

In Rousseau’s solution, what is Education?

(5 pts)

A

-His book Emile is a form of education meant to nurture and develop the abused and damaged natural qualities of man

-Education should encourage and allow people to rediscover a type of natural innocence and goodness

-Education should cultivate and nurture natural feelings

-The student should be encouraged to develop their own natural curiosity, free from the domination of the teacher

-This idea is also to get away from the traditional educational model of the time, which was based on transmission of knowledge and a hierarchical relationship where the teacher is the master and the student is a type of slave

25
Q

In Rousseau’s solution, what is the Cultivation of Sentiment, or Feeling ?

(5 pts)

A

-In the state of nature, the basic human sentiment is pity, when faced with the suffering of other humans or animals

-Pity is a gentle passion that should be nurtured through education

-Feeling is an inner experience that comes directly in contact with what is natural within us

-Nature is the source of goodness, truth and beauty, to which we have access through our inner feelings

-To the extent that we believe feelings are a source of truth and that nature is essentially good and beautiful, must be protected

26
Q

Rousseau’s solution of the social contract does seem impossible why?

A

Because we live in an age of multiculturalism and community rights in modern society.

27
Q

In terms of education, what approach did Rousseau (and Socrates) likely become principal architects of ?

A

Student centered approach where the teacher is a guide and facilitator, encouragement of self-expression, self-esteem, open classrooms etc

28
Q

In terms of cultivation of sentiment of feeling, what is the relationship between god, feelings and man?

(4 pts)

A

-Inner feelings put us directly in contact with God

-As Rousseau writes, “Feelings eliminate the men between God and me”

-Men as in the religion of priests, another form of authority/enslavement

-Relationship with God is individual and personal

PHI1104- Great Philosophers (13 decks)

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