This objection which states that Rousseau insists upon the limiting of one's needs so that they can be easily met, misunderstands his views on strength and happiness. According to Rousseau, intrinsic to man are certain natural needs, and along with these needs come the exact faculties to fulfill them. It follows that strength is the ability to fulfill these needs, and happiness comes when one has done so. Rousseau never insists that the key to strength and happiness is limiting one's needs- they are dictated by nature. Rather, he argues that one should order these needs in accordance with his own nature. In other words, Rousseau concerns himself not with limits, as suggests above, but with balance. This harmony, or balance, permits the full realization of one's own potential and the whole self. It is only in this state of harmony, that one accomplishes anything at all.

This is not to say that Rousseau's argument is successful. A valid critique is that Rousseau's good examples of successful balancing of needs and desires leading to happiness and strength are mostly based on young children or primitive people. These beings have not yet come into contact with the complexities introduced when one can no longer avoid social interaction.

Yet, Rousseau claims "taste is natural to all men," (p.340) and this is how he ties taste into the achievement of the natural state: "I have said elsewhere that taste is only the art of knowing all about petty things, and that is very true. But since the agreeableness of life depends on a tissue of petty things, such concerns are far from being matters of indifference. It is through such concerns that we learn to fill life with the good things within our reach" (p.344). Objects of taste do matter; an agreeable life depends upon it.

A key part to balancing our needs and desires now becomes achieving "good taste." Decisions of good taste are based on those needs for agreeableness that would emerge were the majority to follow their individual natural sentiments. Taste is an essentially social concept, but one can only achieve good taste by ignoring the corruptive power of popular opinion. One must recognize that what is generally agreeable is independent of opinion. And so, good taste is independent of opinion: "One has pleasure when one wants to have it. It is only opinion that makes everything difficult and drives happiness away from us" (p.354). Rousseau has now placed man with in a society, yet continues to insist that our ability to achieve happiness is contingent upon ignoring the corruptive force of society. We should instead reunite with our natural state. <

Some common words found in the essay are:
Passions Rousseau, According Rousseau, , rousseau insists, strength happiness, key strength happiness, objects taste, rousseau insists key, insists key strength, life depends, restrict desires, independent opinion, self preservation, dictated nature, previous discussion, limiting one's,
Approximate Word count = 1189
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)