Rousseau's First Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Flashcards
What does the Discourse examine?
emergence of society out of a state of nature
What does the Discourse attempt to trace?
psychological and political effects of modern society by reconstructing natural man
If we are to learn about the sources of inequality, what do we need to do?
Distinguish that which is fundamental in man’s nature from those changes and additions modified in primitive condition
Rousseau creates an elaborate metaphor in an attempt to present an account…
free from the prejudices and errors that other thinkers have made.
What type of enquiry is this?
Intellectual enquiry that is purely hypothetical and has its bases in tenuous empirical evidence
What is the story of man in a state of nature?
Man once lived in a state of nature in a primitive condition where he did not possess any artificial faculties. He was independent, happy and peaceful.
Did Man’s desires exceed his needs?
His desires did not exceed his capacity to fulfill his needs. Did not look upon anything that was not immediately available
Describe the type of pride and pity man possessed in a state of nature?
Innate sense of pride but no desire to dominate others and he felt a natural sympathy towards others
But then man developed sociability. What happened next?
Man became increasingly sociable and so resulted in increased human interaction. Then man developed amour propre which requires man to make comparisons in order to feed own self esteem
Why is Rousseau’s theory developmental?
Human nature undergoes fundamental changes and this corresponds to development of inequality amongst men and self interest
Why does Rousseau think other historical narratives have failed?
Philosophers have not gone far enough. They have read too much capacity of understanding and attitudes in man that could only be drawn from society
What did Hobbes say?
Man is naturally intrepid and is intent upon attacking and fighting
But Rousseau says Hobbes is not abstract enough. Why is Rousseau so successful?
Because he recognises task is not an easy one but strips away all of man’s artificial attributes
What does the success and vallue of this text reside in?
Its hypothetical nature
Rousseau does not mislead us into believing this is a piece of historical research. How does he use facts and the empricial?
Expresses a disdain for facts but shows an accquaintance with a broad range of empricial evidence and scholary studies.
What would readers describes this Discourse as?
fiction with dubious claims to scientific facts
So if it does not rely on empricial evidence to make the text persuasive, what does it use?
Arguments he puts in place rather than the conclusions he reaches which are important
Why does Rousseau want us to think criticially about history?
To expose the origins of particular human institutions, modes of thought and structures of authority that society makes legitimate which are actually unnatural
Why does he place so much emphasis on the past and present?
So that we can see that we take a lot for granted and assume things are natural when they aren’t
What are most parts of society the result of?
Obscure, accidental historical events where particular decisions have been made by particular people. Shows a significant departure from the way things used to be when man was in a state of nature
Therein lies the value of this hypothetical discourse…
encourages us to start to think about modern society critically
So the methodology forces us to think about aout history in a way that de-legitimises modern claims to
authority
So the methodology drops…
out of consideration
What does primitive man’s happiness come at the expense of?
Anything we place value on in modern society: literature, language, competitive striving and social recognition
