JEANJACQUES ROUSSEAU LIFE BIRTH ROUSSEAU WAS BORN ON

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

LIFE

BIRTH ROUSSEAU WAS BORN ON 28 JUNE 1712 INGENEVA, SWITZERLAND (ALTHOUGH HE SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE IN FRANCE, HE ALWAYS DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS A CITIZEN OF GENEVA).

RELATIVES HIS MOTHER, SUZANNE BERNARD, DIED NINE DAYS AFTER DUE TO SOME BIRTH COMPLICATIONS. HIS FATHER, ISAAC ROUSSEAU HAPPENS TO BE A FAILED WATCHMAKER AND ABANDONED HIM IN 1722 TO AVOID HIS OWN IMPRISONMENT. ROUSSEAU WAS CARED FOR BY AN UNCLE WHO SENT HIM TO STUDY IN THE VILLAGE OFBOSEY. HIS ONLY SIBLING, AN OLDER BROTHER, RAN AWAY FROM HOME WHEN ROUSSEAU WAS STILL A CHILD.

EDUCATION HIS CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CONSISTED SOLELY OF READING THEPLUTARCH'S "LIVES" AND CALVINIST SERMONS IN A PUBLIC GARDEN.

EDUCATION, CONT. ROUSSEAU LEFT GENEVA FOR ANNECY IN SOUTHEASTERN FRANCE AT THE AGE OF 16. HE THEN MET FRANCOISE-LOUISE DE WARENS, A FRENCH CATHOLIC BARONESS. SHE LATER PROVIDED HIM WITH THE EDUCATION OF A NOBLEMAN AS ROUSSEAU WAS SENT TO ACATHOLIC SCHOOL.

EARLY WORKS ROUSSEAU BECAME FAMILIAR WITH LATIN, ARTS AND ARISTOTLE AND EARNED MONEY THROUGH SECRETARIAL, TEACHING AND MUSICAL JOBS. HE WAS A SECRETARY TO THEFRENCH AMBASSADOR IN VENICE AROUND 1743, BUT LATER HE WAS FORCED TO FLEE TO PARIS TO AVOID PROSECUTION IN VENICE. BACK IN PARIS, HE BEFRIENDED AND LIVED WITH THERESE LEVASSEUR, A SEAMSTRESS, AND FIVE CHILDREN, ALL OF WHOM WERE LEFT AT THE ORPHANAGE AFTER BIRTH.

50 -60 S TIMELINE HIS “DISCOURSE ON THE ARTS AND SCIENCES” WON HIM FIRST PRIZE IN A COMPETITION, AND HE GAINED MUCH FAME FROM IT. THE TOPIC WAS ABOUT HOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES WERE NOT MORALLY BENEFICIAL TO SOCIETY.

50 -60 S TIMELINE, CONT. IN 1754, HE RETURNED TO GENEVA, RE-CONVERTING HIMSELF TOCALVINISM AND REGAINING HIS OFFICIAL GENEVAN CITIZENSHIP. IN 1755, ROUSSEAU COMPLETED HIS SECOND MAJOR WORK, THE"DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGIN AND BASIS OF INEQUALITY AMONG MEN". PART OF IT IS ABOUT HOW NATURAL MAN ACTS ONLY FOR HIS OWN SAKE AND AVOIDS CONFLICTS WITH OTHERS, BEING SELFCONCERNED AND SELF-PRESERVED. THIS LEVERED ROUSSEAU’S PLACE UP AS AN INTELLECTUAL FIGURE IN HISTORY. IN 1762, HE PUBLISHED TWO MAJOR BOOKS"T , HE SOCIAL CONTRACT, PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL RIGHT" AND "EMILE, OR ON EDUCATION". THE BOOKS CRITICIZED RELIGION AND WERE BANNED IN FRANCE AND GENEVA AS ROUSSEAU WAS FORCED TO FLEE.

LATER YEARS HIS LATER YEARS WERE MOSTLY DONE IN WITHDRAWAL, AS HE CONTINUED TO WRITE, SUPPORTING HIMSELF BY COPYING MUSIC.

DEATH ROUSSEAU DIED ON 2 JULY 1778 OF A HEMORRHAGE (RUPTURE ON BLOOD VESSEL) WHILE TAKING A MORNING WALK ON THE ESTATE OF THEMARQUIS DE GIRADIN AT ERMENONVILLE, NEAR PARIS. 16 YEARS LATER, HIS REMAINS WERE MOVED TO THE PANTHEON IN PARIS.

HOW DID HIS LIFE INFLUENCE HIS IDEAS? ROUSSEAU’S FATHER ABANDONED HIM AS A FAILED WATCHMAKER, HIS ONLY SIBLING RAN AWAY FROM HOME WHEN HE WAS A CHILD, ANDROUSSEAU SPENT THE MAJORITY OF HIS EARLY LIFE IN SOLITUDE, READING BOOKS ON PLUTARCH’S “LIVES” AND CALVINIST SERMONS, WHICH MAY DEVELOP HIS IDEAS FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, ABOUT HOW ONE SHOULD GOVERN ITS OWN SOVEREIGNTY. THIS MIGHT BE CONNECTED ON HOW HIS IDEALSTATE OF NATURE IS ABOUT THE PREHISTORIC ERA, WHERE PEOPLE LIVE A SIMPLE SOLITUDE LIFE AND UNDERSTANDS THEIR OWN MIND.

HOW DID HIS LIFE INFLUENCE HIS IDEAS? CONT. AS A FORMER FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN VENICE WHEN HE WAS AROUND 30, ROUSSEAU LEARNED THE INNER WORKINGS OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN NATIONS, WHICH HELPED HIM FORM OUT THE WELLRENOWNED “SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY”.

ROUSSEAU’S IDEAS

“STATE OF NATURE” • - FOR ROUSSEAU, STATE OF NATURE MEANS • MORALLY GOOD AND PEACEFUL CONDITION • UNCORRUPTED BY CIVILIZATION AND THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS • ROUSSEAU THOUGHT THAT CONSTANT STATE OF WAR, LAWS, GOVERNMENT ARE NOT NATURAL BUT THEY RATHER DEVELOP HISTORICALLY • INDIVIDUALS ACT ACCORDING TO THEIR BASIC DESIRE • EX: LOVE, HUNGER

HUMAN ARE BORN GOOD! • THE BABY IS LIKE A BLANK SHEET OF PAPERT. HE BABY WILL BECOME MORALLY GOOD OR BAD PERSON IS DEPEND ON THE ENVIRONMENT (PARENTS, SOCIETY) • HE THINKS THAT CIVILIZATION CORRUPTED PEOPLE WITH SIN, PRIDE, AND JEALOUSY • IN THE 18 TH CENTURYH , E THINKS THAT PEOPLE IDENTITY DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON STATUS AND MONEY. • RATHER THAN WHAT THEY DESIRED

GOVERNMENT = NOPE! • SINCE PEOPLE ARE GOOD BY NATURE… • THE LESS THEY INVOLVED WITH PEOPLE LIVES = BETTER! • ACCORDING TO ROUSSEAU, THE ONLY JOB FOR THE GOVERNMENT IS TO SECURE PEOPLES LIBERTY AND NOTHING ELSE!

ROUSSEAU’S WORKS

THE DISCOURSES • THE FIRST ONE IS DISCOURSE ON THE SCIENCE AND ART • THIS BOOK SHOW HIS IDEA AS ACOUNTER-ENLIGHTENMENT THINKER • IT TRIES TO PROVE THAT PROGRESS IN FIELD OFART AND SCIENCE DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE PURIFICATION OF MORAL • THE SECOND ONE IS DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGIN OF INEQUALITY • HE TRIED TO EXPLAIN HIS IDEA OF S “ TATE OF NATURE”, THE ORIGIN OF HUMANITY

ON EDUCATION • THIS WORK GAVE DETAIL ON ROUSSEAU’S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. • LIKE HIS OTHER BOOKS, IT ROOTED FOR HIS IDEA THAT HUMAN BEING ARE GOOD BY NATURE. • IT SHOWS THE WAY TO ENSURE THAT PUPIL’S CHARACTER WILL BE DEVELOP IN A WAY THAT HAVE A HEALTHY SENSE OF MORALITY, NOT ONLY ENSURING THAT PUPIL WILL ABSORB INFORMATION AND CONCEPT. THIS ALLOW THE PUPIL TO BE VIRTUOUS EVEN IN THE UNHEALTHY SOCIETY. Rousseau = BEST TEACHER!

• THE VIEW THAT PERSON’S MORAL OR POLITICAL OBLIGATIONS ARE DEPENDENT UPON A AGREEMENT AMONG THEM TO FORM THE SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVE • ROUSSEAU’S THINK THAT AS SOCIAL CONTRACT THE PRIVATE PROPERTY WAS INTRODUCED, INEQUALITY BECAME MORE CLEAR AND GOVERNMENT WAS CREATED TO CONSTANTLY KEEP THOSE INEQUALITY IN PLACE. • DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS

SOCIAL CONTRACT (CONT. ) • THE FIRST PART TALKS ABOUT THE MORAL AND POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS OVER TIME, FROM A STATE OF NATURE TO MODERN SOCIETY. HE THOUGHT THAT, IN THE PAST, IT WAS A PEACEFUL TIME AS PEOPLE LIVE SOLELY, UNCOMPLICATED LIVES. THERE WAS NEVER A COMPETITION BECAUSE A PERSON RARELY SAW ONE ANOTHER. BUT AS TIME PASSED, OVERALL POPULATION INCREASE AND THE MEAN THAT WILL SATISFY THEIR NEEDS CHANGE.

SOCIAL CONTRACT (CONT. ) • THE SECOND ONE TALKS ABOUT IDEALIZED THEORY OF SOCIAL CONTRACT. • IT TALKS ABOUT HOW TO DECREASE THE PROBLEM THE MODERN SOCIETY HAS CREATED FOR US. • AS THE CIVILIZATION GROWTH, THE PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO GROW • HE THOUGHT THAT WE COULD CLEAR OFF THIS PROBLEM IF WE RECONSTRUCT OURSELVES WITH POLITICALLY STRONG DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.

SOCIAL CONTRACT (CONT. ) • THE SOCIAL CONTRACT TRIED TO ANSWER, HOW CAN WE BE FREE AND LIVED TOGETHER? • BY GIVING IN INDIVIDUAL WILL TO THE GENERAL WILL • BE ALTRUISTIC, NOT SELFISH

OTHER WORKS: • JULIE OR THE NEW HELOISE: EVEN THOUGH NOT A PHILOSOPHICAL WORK, IT STILL CLEARLY SHOWN THE CLEAR IDEA OF HIS THOUGHT: THE STRUGGLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AGAINST SOCIETY NORM. • REVERIES OF THE SOLITARY WALKER: A REFLECTION OF HIS LIFE AFTER THE PUBLIC REJECTION, LEFT HIM FEELING BETRAYED. IT PROJECTED HOW HE AND HIS WORK HAVE BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD. • ROUSSEAU: JUDGE IF JEANJACQUES: IT IS ABOUT HIMSELF JUDGING HIS OWN CAREER, SUCH AS HOW HE FELT VICTIMIZED BY THE SOCIETY.

INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY

INFLUENCE, ON SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY AND DEMOCRACY HE IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS “SOCIAL CONTRACT” THEORY, A WIDELY INFLUENTIAL THEORY WHICH OUTLINED THE CONDITIONS FOR A LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT. ONE OF ROUSSEAU’S MAJOR ARGUMENTS WAS THAT THE POWER TO SHAPE A SOCIETY’S LAWS BELONGED TO THE CITIZENRY. TODAY, THIS IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. BRIEFLY, SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY IS ABOUT HOW A PERSON’S MORAL OBLIGATIONS ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO A “CONTRACT” OR AGREEMENT IN THEIR SOCIETYR. OUSSEAU BELIEVED THAT LONG AGO, HUMAN LIVED BY AND WITH THESTATE OF NATURE, BUT PROGRESSED INTO MODERN SOCIETY WITH AN INCREASED POPULATION AND AN INVENTIVE TECHNOLOGY, LEISURE BECAME THE NORMATIVE AS PEOPLE STARTED TO COMPARE EACH OTHER RESULTING IN ENVY, PRIDE AND CONTEMPT. ROUSSEAU BELIEVED THAT THE MODERN SOCIETY IS LED BY GREED AND INEQUALITY AS ALL FELL AWAY FROM THE STATE OF NATURE - A QUIXOTIC REALM FOR ALL. WITH PRIVATE PROPERTY, THE INEQUALITY BECOME MORE NOTICEABLE AS PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO WORK FOR THESE ONCE-FREE HUMAN NEEDS, AND THUS IS ONE OF HIS MOST INFLUENTIAL THEORY.

INFLUENCE, ON FRENCH REVOLUTION APART FROM HIS INFLUENCE ON DEMOCRACY ITSELF, ROUSSEAU’S IDEAS WERE ALSO USED IN FRENCH REVOLUTION, AS HIS CONCEPT OF THE MEANING OF LIBERTY REPLACED THAT OF THE OLD ONES. WHERE PEOPLE HAD PRIOR UNDERSTOOD FREEDOM AS BEING NOT CONSTRAINED NOR HINDERED IN THEIR CHOICES UNDER THE LAW, ROUSSEAU DEFINED FREEDOM AS RULING UNDER THE LAW ONE HAS MADE. FOR ROUSSEAU, PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP THEIR SOVEREIGNTY AS THEIR OWN, AND IN ROUSSEAU'S CONCEPTION OF A CONSTITUTION, THE NATION BECAME SOVEREIGN OVER ITSELF, RATHER THAN, SAY, DEPENDING ON OTHER NATIONS TO BE SOVEREIGNT. HIS IDEA LED TO THE COMINGS OF THEFRENCH REVOLUTION.