Rousseau's Influence On America

The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers rippled throughout the globe, however, they seemed to have the most interesting effect on France. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major contributor to Frances political and social structure post-French revolution. These ideas weren’t the only triggers for the French Revolution. A combination of strangling taxes, economic disparity, and an impotent ruler led to the development of an intense need for reform in France. “France spent an enormous amount of money during the American war which put them on the verge of bankruptcy” (McKay et al., pg. 662). To make up for this immense national debt, taxes were raised which put more pressure on the already struggling working class in France. The privileged classes

Thomas Jefferson considers himself a contributor to the Age of Enlightenment. Through many of his writings he expands on the philosophies of the great European writers of that era - Rousseau, Locke, Hume, and Leibniz. In “The Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson directly adopts several themes found in the work of French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau’s “The Origin of Civil Society,” provides a foundation for most of Jefferson’s ideas in “The Declaration of Independence.”

The United States of America was established in the Enlightenment period. No other country has the imprint of this period like the United States. “The contributions of men like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to the founding and development of America and its ideals are inconceivable outside of an Enlightenment context,” (Staloff, 3). The ideals of liberty and equality echos the language of the Enlightenment and conveys the most intense thoughts about the political life and the rights of mankind. It was through this Enlightenment that they wrote the Declaration of Independence and founded the United States of America.

The 1700s saw the waxing and waning of Enlightenment philosophies and a greater fascination in reason and logic. The individual became supremely important and the idea of selfhood was much debated by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The idea of the individual also led to greater fascination with culture in many areas in Western Europe, leading to an increase in nationalism. This increase on the emphasis of individual and that individual’s relation to the state led many to begin traveling widely across Europe and record their travels. Though stories of vampires began trickling from Eastern Europe to Western Europe as early as the 1690s, vampires did not gain true traction in Western Europe until the 1700s (Nelson). For less

One of the most important writers of the Enlightenment was the philosopher and novelist Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). The work of Rousseau has influenced a generation and beyond and it is argued that the main ideals of the French and American revolutions arose from his works, for example The Discourse on Equality. The main concept of Rousseau's thought is that of 'liberty', and his belief that modern society forced humans to give up their independence, making everyday life corrupt and unfree. One of the central problems Rousseau confronted is best summed up in the first line of arguably his most important work, The Social Contract.

Rousseau’s assumptions and beliefs of his era are society and the growth of social interdependence. He was from 1700, (1712-78) it was very different compared to our beliefs.

Rousseau and Jefferson are two very compelling philosophers, that both have had a great influence on the revolution. The two authors share several key concepts with one another, such as their views about human right, the freedom and protection of them, the strengths of man himself, and the difference between where their style of writing came from, considering Rousseau came from Switzerland and Jefferson the United States.

“This fame study of original man, of his real wants, and of the fundamental principle of his duties, is likewise the only good method we can take, to surmount an infinite number of difficulties concerning the Origins of Inequality, the true foundations of political bodies, the reciprocal rights of their members, and a thousand other familiar questions that are as important as they are ill understood.” (Rousseau, Preface lviii)

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

What does Rousseau say happens in the transition from the state of nature to civil society?

I agree with Rousseau analysis of civilization which looks into the foundations of inequality among men, and to decide whether this inequality is authorized by natural law. In this essay I am going to focus on the concept of Rousseau and what he believed held the notion that humans are mobilized by two distinct kinds of self love: amour de soi, a benign concern for one’s self-preservation and self-interest; and amour-propre, a sense of one 's own worth and selfish interest.

Henri Julien Felix Rousseau was born May 21, 1844 in a small town in northwestern France called Laval. Rousseau grew up in a very tough, poor background with many struggles that which created who he is. With his father being in great debt, he had to move out from his town. There he went to school with below average grades, but still received prizes for his drawing and music skills. After his father’s death, Rousseau moved to Paris to help his widowed mother out. While in Paris, he found a girl who he eventually married, but later ended up dying to tuberculosis. His wife’s death is when he began taking painting seriously, in which he later quit to paint only. Rousseau claims that he had “no teacher other than nature” although did receive some tips from Felix Auguste Clement and Jean-Lean Gerome. With Rousseau self-teaching himself, he obtained a unique technique in his art work.

Jean Jacque Rousseau was born in the city state of Geneva, Switzerland in 1772. Rousseau is primarily known for major works like- The Social Contract, Emile, Discourse on the origin of Inequality, the Constitutional Project for Corsica, and Consideration on the Government of Poland. What makes Rousseau such an important figure in the history of philosophy is because of his contribution to both political and moral philosophies and his concept of ‘general will’, which also gained him a lot of criticism. Apart from his philosophical and political contribution, he was also a novelist, an autobiographer, botanist, composer and also a music theorist. Rousseau’s his political philosophies flows through his moral philosophies. In order to understand

In the “Discourse on the Origin of Inequality”, Rousseau outlines the course of societal developments which, he states, were the ultimate result of moral inequality.  He prides the intermediate stage between the state of nature and civilized society, attributing it to being the happiest period, where human beings had a primitive sense of self as well as others. Claiming that the fatal turning point took place upon the division of labour and thus the establishment of private property, he argues that once people built a dependence upon others for survival it marked a loss of natural freedom. To Rousseau, man who had become aware of power’s benefits grew greedy and brought forth corruption in society. Though there are clear disadvantages in the progression of an enlightened civilization, such as unequal access to various luxuries and opportunities due to one’s social status, I believe that these societal advancements are mainly a good thing. Through the division of labour, humans have been able to specialize in specific fields where they excel and in turn contribute to the overall enhancement of society. Unlike natural man who had to fend for himself since his sole option was self-preservation, civilized individuals have the alternative of obtaining various necessities without directly sacrificing their own time or effort. If primitive man was incapable of acquiring basic necessities due to his or her natural impediments they would be destined for death. However, in civilized

Source I is a set of socialist principles explaining that everything in society belongs to everyone. There is no individual possessions or personal belongings. All resources are collective and everyone has to contribute to the community. This ideology aligns with the ideas of Thomas Hobbs, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in that the government should have a high level of control over the society. The source also reflects the ideas presented in collectivism, the “common good” and fairness among the people in this society.