In his 1755 discourse on 'The Origins of Inequality', Jean-Jacques Rousseau argues his conception of the natural state of mankind, and its subsequent corruption throughout the progress towards civil society. Whilst Rousseau's idealism can be targeted as unrealistic, and his criticisms of the state potentially destabilising to certain societies, ultimately he makes a valid philosophical argument against tyranny which helps found republican political values.…
“The Declaration of Independence,” written by Thomas Jefferson, is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. “The Origin of Civil Society” is an article written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jefferson writes about human rights because all men shall be equal and free; Rousseau writes about social contracts because by understanding the concepts of social contracts, the people will live with better security and significance. By analyzing these two articles, readers can see how important it is for a writer to understand the concepts from previous generation of writers, how much Rousseau’s ideas have influenced Jefferson’s statement, and how Jefferson has expanded Rousseau’s concepts.…
Rousseau concludes that the progression of the sciences and arts are the cause of the corruption of virtue and morality. This discourse won Rousseau fame and recognition, and it laid much of the philosophical groundwork for a second, longer work, The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. Rousseau’s praise of nature is a theme that continues throughout his writing career.…
Ethnocentrism is a concept that is referred to a lot in “Society Explained” by Nathan Rousseau. The author describes ethnocentrism as when we think that what we know and are used to is better or more right than something new that is put in front of us. This concept can be applied to many life events. For example ethnocentrism can be applied to my life when talking about college and picking which school I wanted to go to.…
All of these authors share some similar points, but the majority spoken is disagreement. I would expect this when there are men and women speaking their views during enlightenment. Of course, the men see women as objects to look good for them while requiring no education or the ability to reason.…
Discourse on the Arts and Sciences is an award winning proposal by Jean-Jacques Rousseau conceived with the intent of addressing the “potentially purifying effects upon morals through the restoration of the arts and sciences.” [p. 1] Rousseau examines the concept of measuring our own self worth with the ability to perform in a manner deemed worthy of the rest of societies approbation. This is explored as Rousseau describes the consequences of “perceiving the principal advantage of an intercourse with the Muses” [p. 3] as creating a more sociable society which will strive to achieve the acceptance of those they coexist alongside. In doing so, Rousseau incorporates the idea that the arts and sciences “stifle in men the sense of original liberty, cause them to love their own slavery, and make of them what is…
After explaining how the state of nature evolved into civil society when people began to rely on each other for resources, Rousseau concluded that the social contact that made civil society possible is more important that the individuals who created it. Although civil society created inequality, it also created freedom, morality, and rationality, which make people human. On the other hand, Locke explained that the state of nature evolved into civil society because people wanted to protect their property and liberties. He concluded that civil society exists to benefit the people; if the present government fails to do so it should be overthrown.…
Whereas Madison asserts that the State has no say over a person’s relationship with the Creator, Rousseau only rejects certain State religions on technical grounds and eventually concludes that society should demand a significant religious test. It is surprising that given Madison and Rousseau’s uniform goal, a stable society, they should come up with such widely varying methods for achieving it. One may be tempted to suggest that, unlike Rousseau, Madison considers individual rights to be more important than the proper functioning of society. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that Madison and Rousseau's general disagreement on State power stems from a more fundamental dispute over how society works. According to Madison, society exists with a certain power and then instills this power in the government, while Rousseau argues that it is the creation of a government which makes society materialize. These disparate views on the directionality of government and society directly lead to Madison and Rousseau’s other…
The story ' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' is about the fifteen year old Connie who is a girl struggling with her sexuality. The girl tries to be an adult and attractive, but at the same time, she hides her sexual side from her family. These two sides cannot remain separate from each other at all times and collide with each other, which this short story depicts. The main idea in this short story is the sexuality of Connie and her struggle to keep her sexual and non-sexual side separate. The narrative details that contribute to this main idea are firstly Connie acting differently than she does while with her family, which shows that she hides her sexual side, secondly, one of the main characters Arnold Friend, the antagonist and thirdly Connie’s reaction when she is confronted by Arnold Friend, showing that she is far from ready to fully embrace her sexuality.…
In the article that I read Philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that people must surrender their freedom to a ruler. In the article, french philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau states that people should come together in societies and the solution was to form a social contract with general will or the common good.…
Jean-Jacque Rousseau was a prize winning essay writer who would later become an inspiration to many others. During a time of inspiration, he realized that “Human beings in a state of nature were compassionate and good; it was society itself that was to blame for creating inequality, greed, and aggression,” (382). Many of Rousseau’s published works espoused radical views that government should rest with the will of the people and equality for all human beings. Rousseau’s autobiography entitled Confessions, “help to revolutionize notions of what a life was and what it meant,” (385). Rousseau’s autobiography was an intimate look at the author’s emotional life. He bared his soul, talking about all aspects of his life, from the sexual pleasure that he received from getting a spanking to an emotional relationship he had with a teacher who was influential in his life.…
Rousseau describes the conception of inequality in A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by asserting, “there is hardly any inequality in the state of nature, all inequality which now prevails owes its strength and growth to the development of our facilities and the advance of the human mind…” (Rousseau, p. 116). Within the state of nature, Rousseau explains “equality might have been sustained, had the talents of individuals been equal…but, as there was nothing to preserve this balance, it was soon distributed…” (Rousseau, p. 94). Eventually, property rights “gave rise to the first rules of justice…” (Rousseau, p. 94) and “[man] perpetually employed in getting others to interest themselves in his lot…[and] find their advantage in promoting his own” (Rousseau, p. 95-96). He further explains that this inequality is made “permanent and legitimate by the establishment of property and laws.” (Rousseau, p. 116). Rousseau contends that the rich in society began to…
Sparta taught its people for only practical reasons. All their education was directed toward prompt obedience to authority. I believe Sparta is the best place to live in the world. Sparta offers women more freedom. Some people think that the Spartan government is cruel. Sparta is feared by other city-states due to its strong military.…
On Christmas Eve of 1809, Christopher Houston Carson was born in Madison County of Kentucky. He would be the eleventh child out of fifteen children in his family. When he was younger, the Carson family bought the famous Boone family's farmland to live on because Carson's father was a farmer and pioneer just as the Boone family was. His father wanted to emulate Daniel Boone. Christopher and his family were of Irish and Scottish descent, therefore they belonged to the Presbyterian church. Later in life, Christopher took on the nickname Kit, and lived as "Kit Carson" until his death in 1868.…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau of France believed that in the state of nature, people would get along and work with each other. However, Rousseau thought that by interacting with each other, people would eventually become corrupt and…