Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Dawson Furnish)
The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was
influential and controversial in his thoughts and covered many topics during
the Enlightenment such as man’s condition, nature vs. society, politics, etc.
Born in Geneva, Switzerland in the year 1712, Rousseau was soon an orphan since
his mother died in childbirth and his father fled the country. He eventually
made his way to France at the age of six-teen in pursuit for better life (Great
Thinkers). In France, he would become employed by Francoise-Louise de Warens
who would eventually become his mistress and converter to the Roman Catholic
faith. During this time, she also had him educated which would start his
pursuit in philosophy rather than just music (Great Thinkers). Rousseau
eventually left for Paris where he would meet Denis Diderot who was also a
philosopher and editor for the Encyclopedie
which was a work that contained much information on arts, sciences, and
philosophies in which Rousseau contributed articles that dealt with subjects
about music. He later wrote his first essay that would gain him recognition, A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts,
and won in a competition held by the Academy of Dijon for it. The essay
expresses his thought that human’s progression in arts and sciences had
corrupted their morals and values. This essay would lead to is second and
larger work, The Discourse on the Origin
of Inequality. This second and longer essay made his name an often
mentioned one when talking about philosophical people. This work shows Rousseau
trying to trace man’s evolution from their natural state and along with it the
origin of inequality. He comes to the conclusion that people are naturally good
beings; however, as they grow up within a society, they are influenced to do
evil. Years later, he had written and published a successful novel by called Julie. This novel was based around a
young girl who was in love with her tutor but had also had a suitor who would
take care of her. Through this dilemma, Rousseau explores what would be the
right or moral choice for the girl to make. He quickly follows this novel with
another one called Emile. This work,
translated into English, is called On
Education. Rousseau writes on how a parent can help their child stay
naturally good and not be corrupted by society. Through this lucrative novel,
he covers topics such as how men and women should be educated differently and
encourages mothers to breastfeed their children. Published in the same year,
Rousseau had written On the Social
Contract which critiqued monarchies and encouraged a “social understanding”
conducted by all members of society. This work was full of democratic ideals
and a huge stepping stone for the lead to the French Revolution. Even though
both of these works were widely popular, they were also controversial. Emilie was banned in France while both
of his works from that year were also banned in his home city of Geneva.
Rousseau eventually moved to England to stay with David Hume, but this did not
last long due to him thinking Hume had published an anonymous pamphlet that had
insulted him. After this drama, he had moved back to France and died in 1778.
Four years after his death, his autobiography was published titled, Confessions. This autobiography stood
out to readers since he wrote about his flaws and personal affairs and gave an
open and accurate story of his life.
Works cited
Bertram, Christopher. “Jean Jacques Rousseau”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford
University,
26 May 2017, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/.
Delaney, James. Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
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