Rousseau Flashcards
Why is man best equipped to survive? (origins of inequality)
-Able to use every instinct to survive and live amongst different foods
Why does savage man stop being scared of other animals and wild beasts (origins of inequality)
- He begins to compare himself with other animals and realises he surpasses them in adroitness (cleverness/skill)
- Even if animals stronger, savage quicker and will be able to find refuge
Which other enemies does savage man have which he is not provided with means of defence for? (origins of inequality)
- Infancy
- Old age
- Illness
Why are most ills actually avoidable? (origins of inequality)
- Most of our ills are our own making, the great inequality in living creates them
- We can avoid these ills by prescribing to the life nature assigned to us
Why is medicine not that useful to savage man? (origins of inequality)
-The savage when sick leaves himself to nature and has nothing to fear but his own disease, which renders his situation often preferable to ours
why can’t we compare man and savage man? (origins of inequality)
-As man grows sociable and a slave, he grows timid and servile
How do men and animals differ in terms of ideas? (origins of inequality)
- Every animals has ideas
- But when nature speaks to animals they obey
- Men have same impulsion but at same time know he is at liberty to resist or accept
- It’s the conciousness of liberty that displays the spiritually of the soul.
What is one of the key defining factors between men and brutes? (origins of inequality)
-Self improvement
Why is hobbes wrong in saying man is naturally wicked? (origins of inequality)
- The state of nature sees caring for our own preservation as the least harmful to others, and the best calculated to promote peace
- Hobbes missed that the desire for self-preservation is tempered by innate repugnance at seeing others suffer.
What are many of the differences that distinguish men? (origins of inequality)
- Many are merely the effect of habitat and different methods of life men adopt in society
- Mental differences extended differences between people through education
Why must differences between men be caused by the inequalities of social institutions? (origins of inequality)
-Difference between man and man is much greater in state of society, than within state of nature
Who was the founder of civil society? (origins of inequality)
the first man to enclose ground, tell people it was his and people believed him
What natural elements created differences in men? (origins of inequality)
- At sea they invented the hook and line and became fishermen and fish eaters
- In forest they made bows and arrows and became huntsmen
- In cold countries they clothed themselves in skin of slain animals
why was man in a position to distinguish which mutual interests might justify assistance of others? (origins of inequality)
-being taught that the low of well-being is the sole motive of human actions
What technological advancements occurred and what impact did they have? (origins of inequality)
- Implements of hard and sharp stones to dig up earth made and implements to cut wood and make huts out of branches
- this established and distinguished families and introduced some kind of property
What did living under one roof give rise to?` (origins of inequality)
- Feelings of humanity
- Conjugal love
- Paternal affection
- Every family became a little society
- Different sexes adopted different roles of living
Which man is most gentle? (origins of inequality)
-Man in his primitive state, he is placed at good distance from stupidity of brutes and ingenuity of civilised man
What happened the moment one man desired provisions of two? (origins of inequality)
- Equality disappeared
- Poverty introduced
- Work became essential
- Slavery and misery began to germinate