Hum Quiz

Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who believed that man was born with a pure heart and good intentions; however, society inevitably corrupted man. He believed that any desire to be a good person must be internally initiated from the one seeking it. Once man has immersed himself into society, he allows himself to be persuaded that being good is not the only way of life.

Rousseau, in his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality of Men, discusses the beginning and development of inequality of individuals. Rousseau seeks to discern whether the unequal treatment of men is dictated by natural laws or if it is a man made creation. When Rousseau analyzes humans in the state of nature, he claims we are all animalistic by nature. Humans in the state of nature are motivated by self-preservation much like animals and also pity. The difference between man and animals according to Rousseau is man’s perfectibility. Because man has very minimal needs in the state of nature, no concept of morality and limited interaction with other individuals, he is generally happy. Because in the state of nature man embodies the quality of perfectibility, he is able to adapt with his environment. As nature drives men to leave certain areas it forces them to learn new skills as they come in to contact with one another more often. As man connects with more and more individuals around him he becomes aware that he has more needs. As men begin to live in societies with more people they start comparing themselves to those around them and self-preservation and pity are no longer their main goals. Now, they have to do more work in order to be happy such as raise to greater heights then their fellow humans. Moral inequality is created as division of labor and property rights are invented. Owning property allows the rich to take advantage of the poor, leading to unstable relations

     Jean Jacques Rousseau stated that the view of science, art, and social institutions has corrupted humankind. He also stated that natural state is morally greater than civilized state. Later he stated that it is more important to express yourself than to hold back on becoming a unique individual (Hampshire, 149).

3. '82: Compare and contrast the cultural values of the Enlightenment with those of the

The righteousness it takes to try and give the essence of love through words is insurmountable. John Muir and William Wordsworth articulate relationships with nature similar to that of a human friend; in correspondence, they would use metaphoric expressions and rhythmic structure, respectively, to parallel in their approach. John Muir related the Calypso borealis as “it was more memorable and impressive than any of my meetings with human beings.” Comparatively, William Wordsworth, as a romantic poet, related to daffodils more so as a man to dancing women “A poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company.” Fortunately, while these great writers bask in their glory, they remembered to take note, and in that wake, sprout the nobility of the messages they wrote which grew into an excellent virtue of life.

It is also clear that the human heart and mind is deeply touched in the form of spirituality and joy by the beauty of nature. Finally, it is evident that by use of language devices, that writings regarding the natural world truly can fill the reader with a sense of the beauty, and awe of the natural world. Therefore, while both of these writers have deep relationships with nature, Wordsworth has expressed his relationship with nature as being that of a source of happiness using poetic syntax and tones of admiration, while

Rousseau’s state of nature differs greatly from Locke’s. The human in Rousseau’s state of nature exists purely as an instinctual and solitary creature, not as a Lockean rational individual. Accordingly, Rousseau’s human has very few needs, and besides sex, is able to satisfy them all independently. This human does not contemplate appropriating property, and certainly does not deliberate rationally as to the best method for securing it. For Rousseau, this simplicity characterizes the human as perfectly free, and because it does not socialize with others, it does not have any notion of inequality; thus, all humans are perfectly equal in the state of nature. Nonetheless, Rousseau accounts for humanity’s contemporary condition in civil society speculating that a series of coincidences and discoveries, such as the development of the family and the advent of agriculture, gradually propelled the human away from a solitary, instinctual life towards a social and rationally contemplative

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is known as one of the most influential Enlightenment and French Revolution philosophers of the eighteenth century. In 1749, Rousseau read a copy of a newspaper, The Mercure de France that contained an advert for an essay contest asking readers if recent advances in the arts and sciences were making the world a better place. Rousseau’s published response, A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, argued that civilization and progress had not improved people, but instead, corrupted their virtue and morality. It was this discourse that brought Rousseau fame and the foundation to write a second discourse, The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. In his second dissertation, Rousseau argued that humans are naturally good,

Rousseau’s beliefs in human nature are that all humans are born with good intent. Rousseau says “Hence although men had become less forebearing…… the development of human faculties, maintaining a middle position between the indolence of our primitive state and the petulant activity of our egocentrism……. the subsequent progress has been in appearance so many steps toward the perfection of the individual, and in fact toward the decay of the species.” (Wikipedia. Theory of human nature) as he says the steps toward perfecting one can lead to the downfall of an entire species. Rousseau believed that the savage stage was not the first stage of human development. But it was indeed the third. It was the middle between the brute animals and/or animal-like “ape-men and complete civilized life (Wikipedia. Theory of human nature). That is Rousseau’s beliefs about human nature.

In contrast, Rousseau had a generally positive view on human nature though a rather negative view on modern society. He proposed that humans had once been solitary beings and had learned to be political. He believed that human nature was not fixed and was subject to changed. Likewise, he believed that man was good when in a state of nature, but was corrupted by society as shown in his quotation, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Also differentiating himself from other humanists, Rousseau taught that the sciences and the arts were not beneficial to man. Rousseau believed the general will must always be right and to obey the general will is to be free.

Thesis Famous philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau beliefs that revolutionize today's thinkers are… All men are born good. “Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains” There should be a society without government.

According to Rousseau man was born “naturally good”. However, when man began to acquire private property it created a society where the naturally good of individuals became corrupted. Modern institutions like private property are the driving force behind an immoral

Rousseau’s mark is that human beings living in this primitive state cannot be unhappy since their needs are

Rousseau starts his discourse with the quote, “What is natural has to be investigated not in beings that are depraved, but in those that are good according to nature” (Aristotle. Politics. II). It is this idea that Rousseau uses to define his second discourse. Rousseau begins his story of human nature by “setting aside all the facts” (132). Rousseau believes the facts of the natural state of humanity are not necessary to determine the natural essence of human nature, and adding facts based on man’s condition in society does not show man’s natural condition. The facts don’t matter for Rousseau because to understand the essence of human nature requires looking to how man is in a completely natural state. Since man is no longer in this state,

The nature of human beings in my opinion, as well as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is that all human beings are born innocent. We are born into the world without the