Rousseau

A detailed Summary of Rousseau

Society and civilization have corrupted natural man "the noble savage," and have brought about inequalities. If we terminate these societies and civilizations and return to our natural state, we will return to nature and natural happiness. Rousseau proposes to 4.-

explain the origin of moral and political inequality. Humans in the state of nature are free and equal. There is no dependence and there is no oppression.

There are two types of inequality. The first one being natural or physical, and the second moral or political inequality. The former refers to "difference of age, health, bodily strength and the qualities of the mind or of the soul."(1996, p.4) The latter depends upon "the authorized consent of men."(1996, p.4) This means that some individuals have a higher social position than others. As a result of these two convictions, and because Rousseau seeks to honor truth for the sake of humanity, he believes in the necessity of returning to nature. "...in nature which never lies. All that comes from her will be true; nor will you meet with anything false..."(1996, p.5)

Rousseau believed that "The happiest and most stable epoch of humanity" was comprised of self-love, mutual cooperation, and language settlements. Natural ma

However, the moment that the first man who enclosed a spot of land took it upon himself to say, "This is mine" (1996, p.22) and got his peers to believe him, this was the true founder of civil society and the beginning of modern man's misery. This is what began wars and murders. In addition, the minute that man needed the assistance of another human being and was no longer independent, he became a slave to others and needed to work by the sweat of his brow. Metallurgy and agriculture were the two arts that produced this great revolution. "It is iron and wheat which civilized man and lost the human race."(1996, p. 26)

The final point that Rousseau makes is that the extreme corruption of all types of government leads to tyranny and oppression of the ordinary man. He has now come full circle from his original premise, but he is now at the opposite end of the pole. Whereas originally the state of nature was in its "first purity", the latter is the consequence of the corruption of all of the other forms. All private persons are returned to their initial state of equality having no law but the "will of the strongest." Violence and destruction occur frequently each time a new tyrant deposes the one who preceded him.

It appears naive that man should be so content existing in this type of environment. There was not always a stream, there was not always shelter, and the fruit on the trees was not always ripe and available. Rousseau fails to take into account the reality of the natural world. There were not always perfect climactic conditions and primitive man was often a nomad wandering from place to place to find adequate shelter and nutrition. Rousseau is an idealist, not a realist.

Primitive man is healthy. When he enters society, that is when he begins to develop illnesses. Society corrupts the noble savage.

Furthermore, modern society has become so complex that it is ludicrous to thin

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Greece Rome, Hilary Clinton, noble savage, modern society complex, ancient greece rome, moral political, moral political inequality, account reality, greece rome, ancient greece, types government, easily satisfied, natural world, modern society, society complex,

Approximate Word count = 1284
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History