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Jean Jacques Rousseau. Raja Atluri , Robert Annen , Brian Kenez, David Berkinsky. Biography. Born June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. Died July 2, 1778 in Ermenonville , France. Mother, Suzanne Bernard, died during childbirth. Only child, ran away from home when he was a child.
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Jean Jacques Rousseau Raja Atluri, Robert Annen, Brian Kenez, David Berkinsky
Biography • Born June 28, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. • Died July 2, 1778 in Ermenonville, France. • Mother, Suzanne Bernard, died during childbirth. • Only child, ran away from home when he was a child. • Father, Isaac, a watchmaker, educated Rousseau. • Father abandoned Rousseau; Isaac left Geneva to escape imprisonment after getting into a quarrel with a captain. • Studied in the village of Bosey, but did not have a formal university education.
Biography • Converted to Catholicism (after two baptisms) but later reconverted to Calvinism. • Moved to Paris to become a musician and composer, but failed to succeed in both. • Met Denis Diderot, a prominent Enlightenment Age thinker, and collaborated with him on the Encyclopedie. • Dyslexic, a lousy linguist, even resorted to petty theft at one point. • Unfit to be a secretary, monk’s interpreter, tutor, or bureaucrat.
Biography • Begin writing, the substance of his career, at the age of 40. • His novel Julie was the best-selling novel of the century. • He also wrote Emilie, a guide to family values and child raising. • The Social Contract was one of his most influential works; it turned the political system of England on its head. • However, he was heavily persecuted for The Social Contract and was forced to flee to England as a result. • Other notable works include: Confessions, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, Le Devin du Village, Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men
Philosophical Ideas • Human nature is intrinsically good and innocent. • Believed that events of present day society corrupted human nature. • Progression of sciences and arts corrupted virtue and morality. • “Man was born free and everywhere he is in chains” – The Social Contract, 1754, Rousseau • Believed men are stronger and more independent than women but that women are cleverer than men and excel in practical reason.
Philosophies & Beliefs • Believed in sovereignty, or self-government, but only under the condition that it acts for the good of the community as a whole. • Rousseau’s theory of General Will: in a democratic society, government represents the general interests of the citizens. By obeying government’s laws each citizen is pursuing his individual interest. • Rousseau supported the concept of democratic self-representative government. • Believed that if it did not favor one party over another, government was favorable to citizens.
Beliefs in Government • Modern society has tainted the human ability to self-rule. In the early days, government was unnecessary. • Proponent of collectivism: Individual finds his true being in the support of community. • Balance between citizens and government should be based on a social compact, e.g. a constitution. • If that contract is broken, then government is ineffective and not needed. • Believed government should benefit all citizens, not just the very wealthy, unlike government in England, where 1/3 of the population lived in squalor.
Our Opinion • Rousseau revolutionized the way of thought about government: • Pronounced the people sovereign • One citizen is just as equal to another • Considered theocratic government akin to tyranny • Rousseau’s groundbreaking beliefs could have provided motivation for Jefferson’s belief of certain inalienable rights. • His beliefs could have motivated the American constitution and caused anger in the American people as they did not receive such rights from England.
Our Opinion • In the Social Contract Rousseau outlined a plan for democracy in which all citizens would actively reduce the need for and the presence of special interest groups like the very wealthy. • This form of democracy heavily influenced the founding fathers and the American constitution.
Our Opinion • Rousseau believed any form of government that does not guarantee rights to all citizens has broken the implied social contract between government and citizens. • Americans who were influenced by Rousseau could have felt entitled to such a contract. • After being oppressed by the Navigation Laws and the like, Americans could have felt the need to annul this “contract.” • This idea provided by Rousseau could have planted the seed of rebellion.
