Jean-Jacques Rousseau
By: Julissa Molina-Vega
Biography
Birth: June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland
Death: July 2, 1778 Ermenonville, France
Baptized in the Cathedral: July 4, 1712
He was a philosopher, writer and composer of the 18th century.
He influenced the Enlightenment in France and Europe and the overall
development of modern political and educational thought through his political
philosophy.
He wrote seven operas and other forms of music.
Some of his works
Emile - Deals on the education of the whole person for citizenship
Julie - Importance to the development of pre-romanticism
Confessions- Initiated modern autobiography
Reveries of a Solitary Walker - Focused on subjectivity and introspection
Discourse on Inequality & The Social Contract - Formed modern political and
social thought
Childhood
Rosseau loved to read and he started reading escapists stories that affected his
life as well as the collection of ancient and modern classics.
His mother died shortly after giving birth to him
After being left by his father, he was raised by an aunt and uncle. He went aboard
for two years with a Calvinist minister. During his years there he felt a connection
with the religious services and even dreamed of becoming a Protestant minister.
He seeked help from a Roman Catholic priest after running away who introduced
him to Francoise-Louise de Warens, his future love of his life.
Adulthood
He worked as everything including a servant, footman, assistant, secretary, and tutor in Italy and France.
He was introduced to the world of letters, ideas, and music by de Warens and members of the Catholic clergy.
He began his interest in the study of philosophy, mathematics, and music.
In 1742, he tried to present a new system of numbered musical notation that he believed would make him rich, but his
proposition was rejected.
In his return to Paris, he had a son and more children with Therese Levasseur.
He persuaded her to give up their children to an orphanage because of honor, and he didn't have enough money, but
in reality he didn’t want to raise his children who wouldn’t get the best education growing up in that society.
He started a romantic attachment with Sophie d’Houdetot and she inspired him to write his novel Julie which was
published in 1761 with immense success.
Continued..
Rousseau lived at Motiers reading, writing, and meeting visitors. He was denounced publicly as the
Antichrist for some of his writings. He was advised to leave town and decided to move to a tiny island, but
was later asked to leave and he went to England. If he didn’t do so he was going to be put in jail.
He was involved in a quarrel with Hume after a scandal with Rousseau's mail. Rousseau denounced him
after Hume had implied that Rousseau was losing his mental balance.
He was accused of destroying a theatre at Geneva by Voltaire. By 1767, Rousseau as developing
feelings of paranoia anxiety, and of planning something against himself. He started to regret leaving his
children.
He died of cerebral bleeding which lead to an apoplectic stroke. It was falsely said that he committed
suicide because he was insane by then. He wasn’t right in his mind, but he died from a stroke. He was
buried on the Ile des Peupliers on July 4 1778.
Influenced:
&
Influenced By:
Maximilien Robespierre
Voltaire
Jacques Derrida
John Locke
Maria Montessori
Montesquieu
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Thomas Hobbes
Louis Althusser
Denis Diderot
David Hume
Plato
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Rene Descartes
Immanuel Kant
Aristotle
Discourse on the Arts and Sciences
Contract
&
The Social
What was his argument? He argued that the
advancement of art and science had not been
beneficial to mankind, but the progress of
knowledge had just made governments more
powerful, and corrupt.
What did it describe? The relationship of men
with society
What was his conclusion? Material progress
undermines sincere friendship, while being
replaced with jealousy, fear, power, and
suspicious.
It talked about the agreement among men to set
the conditions in joining together and forming a
society
He described the state of nature as a condition
without law or morality
For example he viewed that men were
frequently in competition with each other but
they also dependent on each other which set a
pressure between their survival or their freedom
Private property
He was one of the first writers to attack the institution of private property and is considered a modern
socialism and communism.
Property made law and government necessary as a means to protect the property which was another step
into inequality. This referred to the rich as they were the ones who had possession while the poor didn't.
He believed society made people hate each other
As society advanced, divisions of labor and private property required people to adopt institutions of law
which was the opposite of what he believed was the best for people.
What did he question? The assumption that the will of the majority is always correct . He argued that the
government should secure freedom, equality, and justice for all within the states regardless of the will of
the majority. He didn’t support the idea of majority rules or majority is always right
Political philosophy
What did he believe?
Politics and morality should not be separated
Morality is something separate from an
individual happiness
People should be loyal to the good of all and
not try to oppress one another.
He argued that the power to make laws should
be in the hands of the people. However, he
knew the government enforced the general will
and the power to make laws was ideally decided
by democracy. He opposed the idea of making
law through a representative assembly.
His view was that one shouldn't see themselves
as the center of the universe, but rather on the
outside with everyone realizing we all have a
common center, rights and values
One principle of Rousseau was freedom and the
states are meant to preserve.
He emphasized that the general will existed to
protect individuals against the majority, but
people shouldn’t sacrifice or let someone
manipulate them. He believed people were
giving up their natural rights in return for civil
rights and he didn't think that was the correct
way of doing it.
Education
He didn’t give much important to book reading, but
instead recommended that a child’s emotions should
be educated before his reason.
Rousseau's’ description of a child:
1. 0-12 - children are guided by emotions
and impulses
Main emphasis? To learn by one’s experience
2. 12-16 - reasons start to develop
He wanted to emphasize the development of one’s
character and moral sense so they can learn to
control themselves and remain virtuous during
unnatural and corrupt society in which we all live
He believed someone learns through the rights and
wrongs of their actions and the consequences of
their actions rather than the physical punishments
and teachings of experiences
3. 16-to adult - reasons develop and life
experiences have taught that person
Ideas
What did he want to accomplish? He wanted to get a hold of both emotional and passionate side of man
which had not been included in previous philosophical thinking
In his writing he said man were essentially good in the state of nature and that they are corrupted and
made unhappy by their experiences in society. He saw society as “corrupt” and it resulted in the
unhappiness of all. He believed men would be wise, free and good in the state of nature, but it was
corrupted by the limitations of civilization.
He believed society was united by a general will which was a conflict because an individual had a single
will for themselves, but a society had multiple people with their wills which caused conflicts between the
separate wills and the individuals.
He believed there were two kinds of inequalities; natural and artificial (differences in strength,
intelligence,etc & the the conventions that govern societies)
Religion
He affirmed the necessity of religion
He believed the presence of God was good
because God is good.
He wrote that freedom of discussion in the
religious matter is more religious than
attempting to force the belief of any religion.
He believed all religions are equally worthy and
therefore should conform to the religion they
were raised with since birth.
&
Laws
Actual law- It simply protects the states and its
affairs
True law - It is made by the people in their
capacity as sovereign and obeyed by the people
in their own individual capacities. These laws
can not be unjust or corrupt because they are
made by the people and for the benefit of the
people.
Recap of his Ideas
1. Society vs. human nature
2. Harmful effects of modern civilization
3. Political inequality
4. Developing a method of education
5. Politics and government control affects people
6. Humans should act for the good of all and not just oneself
7. The advancement of arts and sciences were not beneficial
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself
the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they”.