Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the Enlightenment. His ideas on human nature, on education, and on political legitimacy influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political thought.

Early Life

Rousseau was born in 1712 in Geneva, then an independent republic. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was raised by his father and by relatives.

He left Geneva as a young man and wandered through France, Italy, and Switzerland. He earned his living as a tutor, a secretary, and a copyist of music.

He met Thérèse Levasseur, with whom he had five children; all were placed in a foundling hospital. The decision troubled him throughout his life.

The Discourse on Inequality

Rousseau won a prize from the Academy of Dijon in 1750 for his discourse on the arts and sciences. He argued that civilisation had corrupted the natural goodness of humanity.

In the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, published in 1755, he described the state of nature and the emergence of private property, of society, and of inequality. The work established his reputation as an original thinker.

He argued that human beings are naturally good and that society is responsible for their corruption. The thesis was a challenge to the prevailing view of human nature.

The Social Contract

The Social Contract, published in 1762, is his most influential work of political theory. It opens with the celebrated sentence that man is born free and everywhere is in chains.

Rousseau argued that legitimate authority rests on the general will of the people. The general will is not the sum of individual preferences but the common good of the community.

The theory influenced the French revolutionaries and the development of democratic thought. It has also been criticised for the use made of it by authoritarian regimes.

Emile and Education

Emile, or On Education, published in 1762, is a treatise on the education of a child. Rousseau argued that education should follow nature and should allow the child to develop his faculties.

The book includes the Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, which sets out a natural religion based on sentiment. The work was condemned by the authorities in Paris and in Geneva.

Rousseau was forced to flee and spent years in exile. He was later allowed to return to France and lived in retirement near Paris.

The Confessions

The Confessions, published after his death, is one of the first great autobiographies. Rousseau describes his life with unusual candour and examines his motives and his faults.

The work influenced the development of the confessional mode in literature. It was followed by the Dialogues and by the Reveries of a Solitary Walker.

He died in 1778 at Ermenonville, near Paris. His remains were moved to the Panthéon during the Revolution.

Legacy

Rousseau's influence on political thought, on education, and on literature has been immense. The Social Contract is one of the founding texts of democratic theory.

His ideas inspired the French Revolution and the romantic movement. His emphasis on sentiment and on nature shaped the culture of the following century.

His legacy is complex, and his political ideas have been used for opposing purposes. He remains one of the most important thinkers of the modern era.

The Discourse on the Arts and Sciences

Rousseau's first discourse argued that the progress of the arts and sciences had corrupted morals rather than improved them. The thesis was paradoxical and provocative.

He defended the thesis by contrasting the virtue of the ancient republics with the luxury of modern societies. He associated civilisation with inequality and with dependence.

The essay won the prize and made him famous. It established the themes of his later work and his opposition to the philosophy of progress.

The Confessions and the Autobiographical Work

The Confessions is an account of Rousseau's life written in the first person. He describes his childhood, his wanderings, his loves, and his faults with unusual candour.

The work was published after his death and was a literary sensation. It created a new kind of autobiography, based on introspection and on the confession of personal weakness.

He also wrote the Dialogues, in which he defends himself against his enemies, and the Reveries of a Solitary Walker, a series of meditative essays. The Reveries is one of the first works of romantic introspection.

The Political Influence

The Social Contract influenced the French revolutionaries, particularly the Jacobins. Robespierre was a devoted admirer, and the cult of the supreme being reflected Rousseau's civil religion.

The doctrine of the general will was used to justify both democratic participation and the suppression of dissent. Its interpretation has been a subject of controversy.

Rousseau's ideas also influenced the development of nationalism and of the theory of popular sovereignty. His work is a foundation of modern democratic thought.

Education and the Family

Emile set out a theory of education that followed the natural development of the child. The tutor controls the environment so that the child learns from experience.

The work was condemned for its religious views and was burned in Paris and in Geneva. It influenced educational reformers, including Pestalozzi and Froebel.

Rousseau's own family life, in which he placed his children in a foundling hospital, has been contrasted with his theories. The discrepancy has troubled his biographers.

Music and Other Work

Rousseau was a composer and a music theorist. He wrote the opera The Village Soothsayer and contributed articles on music to the Encyclopédie.

He was involved in the querelle des bouffons, a debate about the merits of French and Italian opera. He championed the Italian style against the French.

He also wrote on botany and on languages. His work is characterised by a combination of systematic theory and personal reflection.

See also

• Social contract
• Romanticism