The Nature of Man -- Jean Jacques Rousseau

In France, the philosopher who exerted the most powerful influence on the debate about political rights was Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778).  His Discourse on the Origins of Inequality and The Social Contract (1762) were widely read and helped shape the debate over the type of constitution that should be written for France during the period of the French Revolution.  According to Rousseau, the state as it currently existed was corrupt and unjust, and was dominated by the rich and powerful who used it to further their own interests at the expense of the weak.  He argued that the ideal state would be a genuine democracy, a moral association that bound people together in freedom, equality and civic devotion.  In this ideal state each person would have to surrender unconditionally all his rights to the community as a whole and submit to its authority and the state would then be governed by the general will -- not the majority, or unanimous vote -- but rather by the plainly visible truth, easily discerned by common sense and by reason. That which was best for all. Because he advocated direct, not representative democracy, Rousseau's vision of a state was limited in size.

Like Hobbes and Locke, Rousseau was not not writing in isolation from the larger political and intellectual debates of his day.  Among his contemporaries in France were a group of men, often referred to as the Philosophes, who aspired to create a more rational and humane society through the application of ideas.  They wanted answers to such questions as: What is natural? What is right? What is the nature of man? What are the natural laws governing existence? What constitutes liberty?  They attacked the otherworldliness of the medieval thinkers, and instead sought to understand the world through reason alone, unaided by revelation or priestly authority.  For example, Denis Diderot, creator of the Encyclopedia wrote, "We think that the greatest service to be done to me is to teach them to use their reason, only to hold for truth what they have verified and proved."  The Philosophes sought to expand knowledge of nature and to apply the scientific method to the human world in order to uncover society's defects and to achieve appropriate reforms.  For example, Newton had formulated universal laws of nature that explained physical phenomena. Could not similar universal laws be found that would provide clear and certain answers to the problems of the social world?

Among the Philosophes, the individual whose work provides a direct link between French and English ideas was the aristocrat Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), who in his Spirit of the Laws (1748) , argued for the need to take into account such things as the physical geography, climate, traditions and culture of a state when making laws.  According to Montesquieu, there were three types of governments: Despotisms based on fear, Monarchies based on honor, and Republics based on virtue.  He argued for a separation of powers--legislative, executive and judicial--as the only way to preserve liberty (a system of checks and balances).

As you investigate Rousseau's political ideas, be sure to ask yourself the following questions:

1.  What was Rousseau's view of human nature?
2.  What natural laws did Rousseau believe governed human society?
3.  Given these laws, what should be the proper structure of government?
4.  What was the role of education in the development of human society?

Your source readings are listed below.  You should feel free to focus on the "extracts" rather than the full text versions of these works, but you may wish to consult the larger works when you have specific questions.   Remember, one of the great advantages of research on the web is that you can search for specific text within any document you have on your screen.

Source Documents for discussion:

Discourse on Inequality, No 2 (1755) [Full Text]
The Social Contract, (1763) [Full Text]