Jean Jacques Rousseau By Natalie Loos Sam L

Jean Jacques Rousseau By Natalie Loos, Sam L, KJ Fuentes, Amy Anaya, and Lena Brün

Early Life - Jean Jacques Rousseau was born on July 28 th, 1712, in Geneva, Switzerland. His parents were Isaac Rousseau, a clock maker, and Suzanne Bernard. Just nine days after having him, his mother died. - By age 3 he was already reading novels, and took an interest in music because of his aunt. - His father fled Geneva in 1722 in order to escape imprisonment, and left his son behind. Luckily, Rousseau’s uncle was able to support him after his father left. - At 13 he finished his education, and began working as a watchmaker, but he didn’t enjoy it, so left the city without money or belongings.

Early Life - By 1725 he had begun to work many different jobs, such as an engraver, a teacher, and a secretary. - In 1742 he moved to Paris, and wound up working with Denis Diderot as a contributor to a popular magazine at the time, Encyclopédia. - He wrote his first opera in 1742, titled Les Muses galantes, and in 1752 he composed Le Devin du village, which gave him much fame.

Main Beliefs ● Rousseau formulated the social contract theory, or contractarianism. - This theory was different from Thomas Hobbes’ social contract theory because rather than saying that men can only follow a strict authority, he thought that humans should agree to come together in a society (consent of the governed) and that only then would there be order. ● Rousseau also believed that humans were naturally good before civilizations developed. - He said that the “artificiality of society and the growth of human interdependence” (philosophybasics. com) corrupted and changed the

Published Work Discourse on the Arts and Sciences - written in 1750, this was one of the first of Rousseau’s works. Here he argued that the arts and sciences corrupt humans and their morals. The Social Contract In this work, published in 1762, he explained that the government should work in a way that keeps individuality, character and equality of citizens in tact. Julie or the New Eloise Published in 1761, this is one of his most famous works of fiction. This story was centered around an impossible and doomed love.

The Social Contract Rousseau’s theory of the social contract differed from other ideas of his age, because, while adopting the fashionable idea of government as a constraint, Rousseau alone employed the interesting concept of man being at his best in nature. Most philosophes of the time thought that: - All development and progress was good for humankind, and that - Civilization was a structure needed by humans to survive

Published Work Émile - Published in 1762, in this book he set forth his ideas about education. He considered it to be the “best and most important, ” of his writings. He said that the point of education is to learn how to live and survive in the world. He valued hands -on experiences far more than book smarts.

Influences and Legacy Rousseau's works and thinking had great impact on later philosophers and political theorists. He was one of the first writers to publicly be against and seriously attack the institution of private property, and is thus thought as a forebear of socialism, Marxism, which was a political and economic theory that was later the basis for communism, and anarchism, which is an idea where the government is not the main power, but rather it comes from the cooperation of the people. He can also be thought of as a inspiration of liberal theories, communitarian ideas, civic republicanism, and in theories of deliberative and participatory democracy.

Influences and Legacy Rousseau’s most important philosophical impact was on Immanuel Kant, a German Philosopher. Examples of Rousseau’s direct influence is Kant’s idea of categorical imperative, in which the third formulation recalls Rousseau’s discussion of the general will. Rousseau’s influence is also apparent in Kant’s moral psychology, in works such as Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone.

Influence on the French Revolution As early as 1790, Edmund Burke saw Rousseau as the possible face of the impending French Revolution. After reading his books and listening to his theories, Burke was fascinated with the idea of a nation being sovereign over itself. After Montesquieu was replaced by Rousseau as the philosophe in charge of the revolution, the meaning of freedom changed to “living under a law which one has oneself enacted” (History. Today). During the revolution itself, Rousseau was viewed as a man of the people, and was n generally liked by everyone.

Fun Facts and Famous Quotes “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. ” and “No man has any natural authority over his fellow men. ” are two famous quotes by Rousseau. Fun Facts - Rousseau usually signed his books as “Jean Jacques Rousseau, Citizen of Geneva”. - At age 15, Rousseau was converted to Roman Catholicism. - Rousseau was a big fan of Italian music and opera, and actually composed some music himself. - Rousseau later went back to Calvinism during a period of moral reform in his life

Works Cited Beck, R. (2012). The Enlightenment In Europe. In World history: Patterns of interaction [full survey]. Orlando, FL. : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015. Jean Jacques Rousseau Life Work. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015. Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Biography. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015. Julie; or, The New Eloise | work by Rousseau. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015. Rousseau: Social Contract. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015. Jean-Jacques Rousseau By Individual Philosopher Philosophy. (n. d. ). Retrieved October 27, 2015.