Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (b. 1712–d. 1778) is one of the most influential figures of the 18th century and French Enlightenment period, As a philosopher (though he himself claimed he did not embrace that label for himself), his works broach topics in ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education. He is probably most famous for his social and political philosophy. Rousseau’s work was not limited to philosophy however. His first love, he claimed, was not philosophy but music. He wrote a successful opera, and designed a new system of musical notation. He also wrote a successful novel, Julie or the New Héloïse. It is difficult to categorize Rousseau’s philosophical thought. He is often characterized as an Enlightenment thinker, and he does express some core Enlightenment ideals such as the rejection of certain established dogma. However, his work is also counter-Enlightenment in important ways. In his first successful work, the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, he argues that morality and virtue can actually be corrupted by progress. Additionally, Rousseau understands the creation of civil society itself as the source of the worst of human vices. The theme of nature, and specifically human nature, as inherently good is one of the most important in his writings. Against the criticism that his works are inconsistent with one another, he claims that this is the central idea underlying the system of his thought. In one of his principal writings, the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, he explains how the primitive “savage man” gradually moves from the pure state of nature to the state of civilized society through a long and complex historical process. Current society, however, is united under a specious social contract put in place by those in power to keep their advantage. It is nearly impossible to achieve virtue in such a society. Two later important works, the Emile and the Social Contract, are Rousseau’s attempt to show how this difficulty can be overcome. The former focuses on the moral education of an individual in a corrupt society. The latter is Rousseau’s vision of an ideal political regime that can preserve equality and freedom for its citizens. This article focuses primarily on these and related philosophical themes, showing how others of Rousseau’s works have been shown to have influence on them.