Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( UK: , US: ; French : Ã, [??? ak? Uso] ; June 28, 1712 - July 2, 1778) is a Genevan philosopher, author and composers. Born in Geneva, his political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.
The novel Rousseau Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of all people for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or New Heloise is essential for the development of pre-romanticism and romance in fiction. His autobiographical writing Rousseau - Confessions , which started modern autobiography, and Dreamer Solitary Walker - exemplified in the late 18th century known as the Age < of Sensibility , and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection which was later characterized by modern writing. His Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract is a milestone in modern political and social thought.
During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular among the philosophers among the members of the Jacobin Club. He was buried as a national hero in the PanthÃÆ' © on in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.
Video Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Biography
Youth
Rousseau was born in Geneva, which at that time was a city state and a Protestant colleague of the Swiss Confederation. Since 1536, Geneva has become a republic of Huguenot and the center of Calvinism. Five generations before Rousseau, his ancestor Didier, a book dealer who might have published a Protestant treaty, had escaped the persecution of French Catholics by fleeing to Geneva in 1549, where he became a wine merchant.
Rousseau is proud that his family, of the moyen order (or middle class), has a voting right in the city. Throughout his life, he generally signed his books "Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Citizen of Geneva".
Geneva, in theory, is governed "democratically" by male "voters". Citizens are a minority of the population when compared to immigrants, called "residents", whose offspring are called "natives" and continue to lack suffrage. In fact, instead of being run by the voice of "citizen", the city is governed by a small number of rich families who make up the "Two Hundred Council"; they delegated their power to the executive group of twenty-five members of the so-called "Little Council".
There is much political debate in Geneva, which extends to traders. There is much discussion about the idea of ​​popular sovereignty, which the ruling oligarchy is making a mockery. In 1707, a democratic reformer named Pierre Fatio protested this situation, saying "a sovereign that never acts of sovereignty is an imaginary form". He was shot on the orders of the Little Council. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's father, Isaac, is not in the city today, but Jean-Jacques's grandfather supported Fatio and was punished for it.
Clock trading has become a family tradition during Rousseau's father, Isaac Rousseau. Isaac followed his grandfather, father and brother into business, except for teaching short teaching as a dance teacher. Isaac, despite his handyman status, is well educated and a music lover. "A Genevan clockmaker," wrote Rousseau, "is a man who can be introduced anywhere, a Paris watchmaker is only fit to talk about watches."
In 1699, Isaac experienced political difficulties by entering into quarrels with visiting British officers, who in response drew their swords and threatened him. After local officials came in, it was Isaac punished, as Geneva was concerned with maintaining its relationship with foreign powers.
Rousseau's mother, Suzanne Bernard Rousseau, came from an upscale family. He was raised by his uncle, Samuel Bernard, a Calvinist preacher. She took care of Suzanne after her father Jacques (who had difficulty with the legal and religious authority for fornication and had a stash) died in her early thirties. In 1695, Suzanne had to answer the accusation that she had attended a street theater disguised as a peasant woman so she could look at M. Vincent Sarrasin, whom she had a crush on despite her marriage continuing. After the trial, he was ordered by the Genevan Conservatory to never interact with him again. He married Rousseau's father at the age of 31 years. Isaac's sister had married Suzanne's brother eight years earlier, after she became pregnant and they had been punished by the Consistory. The child died at birth. Later, the young Rousseau was told a romantic tale about the situation by an adult in his family - a story in which young love is rejected by patriarchs who disagree but who applies for loyalty who, in the story, leads to conquering all love and two marriages uniting families on a day same. Rousseau never learned the truth.
Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712, and he later told: "I was born almost dead, they had little hope to save me". He was baptized on July 4, 1712, in a large cathedral. His mother died of fever after nine days of his birth, which he later described as "the first of my accidents".
He and his brother FranÃÆ'§ois were raised by their father and a paternal aunt, also named Suzanne. When Rousseau was five, his father sold the house the family had received from his mother's family. While the idea is that his son will inherit the principal as an adult and he will live out of his interest in the meantime, in the end the father takes most of the substantial outcome. With the sale of the house, the Rousseau family moved from an upscale neighborhood and moved into an apartment house in the neighborhood of silversmiths, sculptors and other watchmakers. Growing up around the craftsmen, Rousseau then compared them with those who produced more aesthetic works, wrote "important people called artists rather than craftsmen, working solely for the unemployed and wealthy, and placing arbitrary prices on the knick-knacks -their technique ". Rousseau is also exposed to class politics in this neighborhood, as craftsmen are often nervous in the campaign against the special class that runs Geneva.
Rousseau does not have the memory to learn to read, but he remembers how when he was 5 or 6 years old, his father encouraged his love to read:
Every evening, after dinner, we read some parts of a small collection of love stories [stories of adventure], which belonged to my mother. My dad's design was just to improve me in reading, and he thought these entertaining works were counted to give me joy for it; but we soon found ourselves very interested in the adventure they had, that we took turns reading all night together and could not bear to surrender until the end of the volume. Sometimes, in the morning, when I hear a swallow in our window, my father, who is so ashamed of this weakness, will cry, "Come, let's go to sleep, I am more child than you." (Confessions, Book 1)
Rousseau's passage of escapist stories (such as L'Astrà ©  © e by HonorÃÆ'  © d'UrfÃÆ'  ©) has an effect on it; he later wrote that they "gave me a strange and romantic idea about human life, whose experiences and reflections can never cure me". After they finish reading the novel, they start reading the ancient and modern classic collection left by his mother's uncle. Among them, her favorite is the Plutarch Lives of the Noble Greek and Romans , which she will read to her father when she makes her watch. Rousseau sees Plutarch's work as another type of novel - a hero's noble deeds-and he will play the character he reads.
Watching locals participating in the militia made a big impression on Rousseau. Throughout his life, he would recall a scene where, after the volunteer militia completed his maneuver, they started dancing around the fountain and most of the people from the neighboring building came out to join them, including him and his father. Rousseau will always see the militia as a manifestation of a popular spirit that goes against the army of the rulers, whom he sees as an embarrassing mercenary.
When Rousseau was 10 years old, his father, an avid hunter, was involved in a legal quarrel with a rich landowner on the lands whom he was arrested without permission. To avoid certain defeats in court, he moved to Nyon in the Bern area, bringing Suzanne's aunt Rousseau with him. He remarried, and from that moment Jean-Jacques saw little about him. Jean-Jacques was left with his mother's uncle, who packed him, with his own son, Abraham Bernard, to go aboard for two years with a Calvinist minister in a village outside of Geneva. Here, boys take math and draw elements. Rousseau, always touched by religious service, even dreamed of becoming a Protestant minister.
Most of our information about Rousseau's youth comes from posthumously published "Confessions", in which the chronology is somewhat confusing, although new experts have been combing the archives to confirm evidence to fill the void. At the age of 13, Rousseau first apprentices to the notary and then to the engraver who beats him. At the age of 15, he escaped from Geneva (on March 14, 1728) after returning to the city and finding the city gate locked due to curfew.
In the adjacent Savoy, he took refuge with a Roman Catholic priest, who introduced him to FranÃÆ'§oise-Louise de Warens, aged 29. He was a protestant-born noble woman who was separated from her husband. As a public professional, he was paid by King Piedmont to help bring Protestants to Catholicism. They sent the boy to Turin, the capital of Savoy (which included Piedmont, now Italy), to complete his conversion. This resulted in his having to give up Genevan citizenship, though he would later return to Calvinism to get back.
In converting to Catholicism, both De Warens and Rousseau are likely to react to Calvinism's insistence on total human depravity. Leo Damrosch writes: "The eighteenth-century Genevan liturgy still requires believers to declare 'that we are sinful sinners, born in corruption, inclined evil, incapable of doing good'". De Warens, a deis with a tendency, is interested in the Catholic doctrine of the forgiveness of sins.
Adulthood
Finding herself, since her father and uncle had more or less fired her, Rousseau's teenagers supported herself for some time as servants, secretaries, and teachers, roaming around Italy (Piedmont and Savoy) and France. During this time, he lived and died with De Warens, whom he idolized and called him "maman ". Flattered by his devotion, De Warens tries to get him started in the profession, and organizes formal music lessons for him. At one point, he briefly attended the seminary with the idea of ​​becoming a priest.
When Rousseau reaches the age of 20, De Warens takes it as his lover, while intimate as well with the housekeeper. The sexual aspect of their relationship (actually a mÃÆ' Â © nage ÃÆ' trois ) confuses Rousseau and makes him uncomfortable, but he always considers De Warens the greatest love of his life. As a spender, he has a large library and likes to entertain and listen to music. He and his circle, made up of educated Catholic clergy, introduced Rousseau to the world of letters and ideas.
Rousseau has been an indifferent student, but during his 20s, characterized by a long hypochondrial attack, he applied himself earnestly to study philosophy, mathematics, and music. At the age of 25, he got a small inheritance from his mother and used some of it to pay De Warens for his financial support. At 27, he took a job as a teacher in Lyon.
In 1742, Rousseau moved to Paris to present the Acadà ©  © nie des Sciences with a new system of musical notation that he believed would produce his wealth. The system, intended to be compatible with typography, is based on one line, displaying numbers representing intervals between notes and dots and commas that show rhythmic values. Believing the system to be impractical, the Academy rejected it, though they praised its mastery over the matter, and urged him to try again.
From 1743 to 1744, Rousseau had an honorable but unfortunate post as secretary to the Comte de Montaigue, the French ambassador to Venice. It awakens in her lifelong love for Italian music, especially opera:
I have brought me from Paris, the city's prejudice against Italian music; but I have also received from nature a sensitivity and kindness distinction that can not be restrained by prejudice. I immediately contracted the passion for Italian music that inspired everyone who could feel its superiority. In listening to the barcaroles, I find I do not yet know what it is to sing...
Rousseau's employers routinely receive his ransom of one year late and pay his staff irregularly. After 11 months, Rousseau quit, taking away from a very unbelieving experience of government bureaucracy.
Return to Paris
Returning to Paris, Rousseau has no friendship money and becomes a lover of ThÃÆ' Â © rÃÆ'¨se Levasseur, a tailor who is the only support of his mother and many siblings who are not good. At first, they did not live together, though then Rousseau took ThÃÆ'Â © rÃÆ'¨se and his mother to live with him as his servant, and himself bears the burden of supporting his extended family. According to his Confessions , before he moved with him, ThÃÆ' Â © rÃÆ'¨se gave him a son and as many as four other children (no independent verification for this number).
Rousseau writes that he coaxed ThÃÆ' Â © rÃÆ'¨se to give each newborn to the hospital, for his "honor". "His mother, who was afraid of the discomfort of a child, came to help me, and he [ThÃÆ'¨ rÃÆ'¨se] let himself be overcome" ( Confessions ). In his letter to Madame de Francueil in 1751, he first pretended that he was not wealthy enough to raise his children, but in Book IX of Confessions he gave the real reason for his choice: "I was trembling thinking about putting them in a raised family, to be educated worse.The hospital education risks found far less. "
Ten years later, Rousseau made inquiries about the fate of his son, but no records could be found. When Rousseau was later celebrated as an educational and parenting theorist, his neglect of his children was used by his critics, including Voltaire and Edmund Burke, as the basis for the ad hominem attacks.
While in Paris, Rousseau became a close friend of the French philosopher Diderot and, beginning with several articles about music in 1749, donated numerous articles to Diderot and D'Alembert's great
Rousseau's idea is the result of a nearly obsessive dialogue with writers in the past, who filtered in many cases through conversations with Diderot. In 1749, Rousseau paid a daily visit to Diderot, who had been thrown into the Vincennes fortress under lettre de cachet for his opinion in his book "Lettre sur les aveugles", which implies materialism, belief in atoms, and natural selection.
According to the science historian Conway Zirkle, Rousseau looks at the concept of natural selection "as an agent to enhance the human species."
Rousseau has read about an essay competition sponsored by Acadà © mac de Dijon to be published in the Mercure de France on the theme whether the development of art and science has been morally beneficial. He writes that while walking to Vincennes (about three miles from Paris), he gets the declaration that art and science are responsible for the moral decline of mankind, which is basically good by nature. Rousseau 1750 The Discourse of Art and Science was awarded the first prize and gave him a significant fame.
Rousseau continues his interest in music. He wrote both his opera words and opera du Leidin village ( The Village Soothsayer ), which was performed for King Louis XV in 1752. The king was very pleased with the work which he offers to Rousseau as a lifetime retirement. To the despair of his friends, Rousseau rejected the great honor, making him famous as "the one who rejected the king's retirement". He also rejected some other lucrative offers, sometimes with brusqueness bordering on truculence that gave offense and caused him problems. That same year, the visit of a group of Italian musicians to Paris, and their performances from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi La serva padrona , encouraged Querelle des Bouffons, who pitted the French music protagonists against Italian-style supporters. Rousseau as mentioned above, is an enthusiastic supporter of Italy against Jean-Philippe Rameau and others, making an important contribution to the Letter on French Music .
Return to Geneva (1754)
Returning to Geneva in 1754, Rousseau returned to Calvinism and regained his official Genevan citizenship. In 1755, Rousseau completed his second major work, Discourse on the Origin and Basic Inequality between Men ( Discourse on Inequality ), described in the argument of > Discourse on Art and Science .
He also pursued a romantic attachment with 25-year-old Sophie d'Houdetot, partly inspired by his epistar novel
Rousseau's break with Encyclopedical coincided with the composition of his three major works, where he emphasized his strong belief in the spiritual origin of the human soul and the universe, in contrast to Diderot, La Mettrie and D'Holbach's materialism. During this period, Rousseau enjoyed the support and patronage of Charles FranÃÆ'§ois FrÃÆ' © dÃÆ' Â © ric de Montmorency-Luxembourg and Prince de Conti, the two richest and most powerful nobles in France. These people really liked Rousseau and enjoyed his ability to talk about any topic, but they also used it as a way to return to Louis XV and the political faction around his employer, Madame de Pompadour. Even with them, however, Rousseau acted too far, refusing rejection when he criticized the practice of tax farming, in which some of them were involved.
The 800-page Rousseau novel's resume, Julie, ou la nouvelle HÃÆ' Â © loÃÆ'¯se , was published in 1761 for great success. The rapsodic descriptions of a book on the natural beauty of the Swiss countryside hit a chord in public and may have helped tickle the subsequent 19th century craziness for the Alps. In 1762 Rousseau published the Du Contrat Social, Principes du droit politique (in English, literally Social Contract, Political Rights Principle ) in April. Even his friend Antoine-Jacques Roustan felt compelled to write a polite rebuttal of the chapter on Civil Religion in the Social Contract, implying that the concept of a Christian republic is paradoxal since Christianity teaches submission rather than participation in public affairs. Rousseau helped Roustan find the publisher for the denial.
Rousseau publishes Emile, or On Education in May. The famous part of Emile , "The Profession of Faith of Savoyard Vicar", is intended to defend religious beliefs. Rousseau's choice of a Catholic vicar of a modest peasant background (probably based on a friendly bishop he encountered as a teenager) as a spokesperson for defending religion itself was a bold innovation for the moment. Confession of vicars is Socinianism (or Unitarianism as it is called today). Because it rejects original sin and divine revelation, both Protestant and Catholic authorities are offended.
In addition, Rousseau advocated the opinion that, insofar as they lead people to virtue, all religions are equally worthy, and that people should be in accordance with the religion in which they were raised. This religious indifference caused Rousseau and his books to be banned from France and Geneva. He was cursed from the pulpit by the Archbishop of Paris, his books burned and a warrant issued for his arrest. Former friends like Jacob Vernes from Geneva could not accept his views, and wrote a strong denial.
A sympathetic observer, David Hume "pleaded not surprised when he found out that Rousseau's books were banned in Geneva and elsewhere". Rousseau, he wrote, "has no vigilance to throw every veil over his sentiments, and, when he scoffs to conceal his disgust at an established opinion, he can not suppose that all fanatics are in a hug against him.freedom of the press is not guaranteed in the country anywhere... for not making such an open attack against popular prejudice rather dangerous. "
Rousseau, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great
After Rousseau Emile has angered the French parliament, arrest warrants were issued by parliament against him, causing him to flee to Switzerland. Furthermore, when the Swiss authorities also proved unsympathetic to him - condemned both Emile and Voltaire - Voltaire issued an invitation to Rousseau to come and live with him, commenting that: "I will always love any 'Vicaire savoyard' writer he has done, and whatever he does... Let him come here [to Ferney] He must come! I will accept him with open arms He will be the master here more from me I'll treat her like my own son. "
Rousseau then expressed regret that he did not reply to Voltaire's invitation. In July 1762, after Rousseau was told that he could not continue to live in Bern, d'Alembert advised him to move to the NeuchÃÆ' Â ¢ tel Kingdom, which was controlled by Frederick the Great of Prussia. Furthermore, Rousseau accepted an invitation to stay at MÃÆ'Â'tiers, fifteen miles from NeuchÃÆ' Â ¢ tel. On July 11, 1762, Rousseau wrote to Frederick, describing how he had been expelled from France, from Geneva, and from Bern; and sought Frederick's refuge. He also mentioned that he had criticized Frederick in the past and would continue to be critical of Frederick in the future, but declared: "Your Majesty might kill me as you wish." Frederick, still in the midst of the Seven Years' War, then wrote a letter to the local governor of Neuchatel, Marischal Keith who was their mutual friend:
We must help this poor man. His only offense was to have a strange opinion that he thought was good. I will send you a hundred crowns, from which you will be kind enough to give it as much as he needs. I think he will accept them in an easier form than with cash. If we do not fight, if we are not destroyed, I will build a hermitage with a garden, where he can live as I believe our first father did... I think poor Rousseau has lost his call; he was clearly born to be a famous anchor, a desert father, famous for his hermitage and hatred... I concluded that your savage morality as pure as his mind was illogical.
Rousseau, touched by the help he received from Frederick, declared that from then on he was interested in Frederick's activities. When the Seven Year War is about to end, Rousseau writes to Frederick again, thanked him for the help he received and urged him to end military activity and try to make his people happy. Frederick did not make a known answer, but commented to Keith that Rousseau had given him a "scolding".
Fugitive
For more than two years (1762-1765) Rousseau lives in MÃÆ'Â'tiers, spends his time in reading and writing and meeting visitors like James Boswell (December 1764). Meanwhile, local ministers became aware of the apostasy in some of his writings, and decided not to let him live around him. The NeuchÃÆ'  ¢ tel Consistory called Rousseau to answer allegations of religious blasphemy. He wrote back asking to be forgiven for his inability to sit for a long time because of his illness. Furthermore, Rousseau's own priest, Frà © monie-Guillaume de Montmollin, began to denounce him publicly as Antichrist. In an inflammatory sermon, Montmollin quotes Proverbs 15: 8: "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord; but the prayer of the upright is his joy"; this is interpreted by all men to mean that Rousseau's communion takes hatred by God. Ecclesiastical attacks inflamed parishioners, who start pelting Rousseau with stones as he will go for a walk. Around midnight 6-7 September 1765, stones were thrown into the house occupied by Rousseau, and several glass windows were destroyed. When a local official, Martinet, arrived at Rousseau's residence, he saw so many stones on the balcony that he exclaimed, "My God, this is a mine!" At this point, Rousseau's friend at MÃÆ'Â'tiers advised him to leave town.
Because he wanted to stay in Switzerland, Rousseau decided to accept an offer to move to a small island, Ile de St.-Pierre, owning a separate house. Despite being inside the Canton of Bern, from which he had been expelled two years earlier, he was informally convinced that he could move to this island house without fear of arrest, and he did so (10 September 1765). However, on 17 October 1765, Senate Bern ordered Rousseau to leave the island and all Bernese territories within fifteen days. He replied, asked for permission to extend his stay, and offered to be jailed anywhere in their jurisdiction with only a few books he owned and permission to walk occasionally in the park while living at his own expense. The Senate's response was to direct Rousseau to leave the island, and all the Bernese regions, within twenty-four hours. On October 29, 1765 he left Ile de St.-Pierre and moved to Strasbourg. At this time:
He had an invitation to Potsdam from Frederick, to Corsica from Paoli, to Lorraine from Saint-Lambert, to Amsterdam from Rey publisher, and to England from David Hume.
He then decides to accept Hume's invitation to go to England.
Back in Paris
On December 9, 1765, after obtaining a passport from the French government to come to Paris, Rousseau left Strasbourg for Paris where he arrived after a week, and lodged in the palace of his friend, Prince Conti. Here he meets Hume, as well as many friends, and good sympathizers, and becomes a very striking figure in the city. At this time, Hume wrote:
It is impossible to express or imagine this nation's enthusiasm in the good of Rousseau... Nobody really enjoys their attention... Voltaire and others are so humiliated.
An important meeting can happen at this time: Diderot wants to make peace and make amends with Rousseau. However, as Diderot and Rousseau want others to take the initiative in this regard, there is no meeting between the two.
- Walpole Mail
On January 1, 1766, Grimm wrote a report to his client, where he entered a letter that was said to have been written by Frederick the Great to Rousseau. This letter was actually compiled by Horace Walpole as a funny joke. Walpole had never met Rousseau, but he knew him well with Diderot and Grimm. The letter soon received widespread publicity; Hume is believed to have been present, and has participated in his creation. On February 16, 1766, Hume wrote to the Marquise de Brabantane: "The only plea I permitted in connection with the Pretend King letter was made by me at Mr. Ossory's table." This letter is one of the reasons for the breakup of Hume's relationship with Rousseau.
In English (1766-1767)
On 4 January 1766, Rousseau left Paris with Hume, merchant de Luze who was Rousseau's old friend, and Rousseau's beloved dog, the Sultan. After a four-day trip to Calais, where they stayed for two nights, tourists started a ship to Dover. On January 13, 1766 they arrived in London.
Soon after their arrival, David Garrick arranged a box at the Drury Lane Theater for Hume and Rousseau one night when the King and Queen were also present. Garrick himself appeared in his own comedy, as well as the tragedy by Voltaire. Rousseau got very excited during the show so he leaned too far and nearly fell out of the box; Hume observes that the King and Queen are seeing Rousseau more than the show. After that, Garrick served dinner to Rousseau who praised Garrick's acting: "Sir, you've made me shed a tear on your tragedy, and smile at your comedy, though I barely understand a word of your language."
By this time, Hume had a good opinion of Rousseau; in a letter to Madame De Brabantane, Hume wrote that after carefully observing Rousseau he concluded that he had never met a more benevolent and virtuous person. According to Hume, Rousseau is "gentle, simple, compassionate, uninterested, extreme sensitivity." Initially, Rousseau was accommodated by Hume at Mrs Adams's house in London, but he began receiving so many visitors that he immediately wanted to move to a quieter location. An offer came to pick him up at the Welsh monastery, and he tended to accept it, but Hume persuaded him to move to Chiswick. He now asks Therese to rejoin him.
Meanwhile, James Boswell is in Paris, and offers to escort ThÃÆ'Â © rÃÆ'¨se to Rousseau. (Boswell had previously met Rousseau and Therese at Motiers; he then also sent Therese garnet necklace and wrote to Rousseau asking permission to occasionally communicate with him). Hume predicted what would happen: "I'm afraid of a fatal event for the honor of our friends." Boswell and Therese shared for over a week, and according to notes in Boswell's diary, they perfected relationships, having sex several times. On one occasion, Therese told Boswell: "Do not imagine you're a better lover than Rousseau."
Because Rousseau wants to move to a more remote location, Richard Davenport - a rich and elderly duke who speaks French - offers to accommodate Therese and Rousseau at Wootton Hall. On March 22, Rousseau and Therese left for Wootton, opposing Hume's suggestion. Hume and Rousseau will never see each other again.
Initially Rousseau was pleased with his new accommodation at Wootton Hall, and wrote well of the natural beauty of the place, and how he felt reborn, forgetting the sadness of the past.
Quarrel with Hume
On April 3, a letter featuring Horace Walpole's ruse on Rousseau was published in the British daily without mentioning Walpole as the true author; that the editor of the publication was Hume's personal friend who added Rousseau's grief. Gradually Rousseau's critical article began to appear in the British press; Rousseau felt that Hume, as his host, should defend him. Moreover, in Rousseau's estimates, some public critics contain details only known by Hume. Furthermore, Rousseau was concerned when he found out that Hume was staying in London with Francois Tronchin, the son of Rousseau's enemy in Geneva.
Around this time, Voltaire anonymously published Letter to Dr. J.-J. Pansophe in which he extracted many of Rousseau's critical statements against the British; the most damaging part of the Voltaire hull was reprinted in London magazine. Rousseau now decides that there is a conspiracy going on to defame him.
Another cause of Rousseau's displeasure was his worry that Hume ruined his letter. Misconceptions arise because Rousseau is tired of receiving massive correspondence that he has to pay. Hume offered to open Rousseau's own letter and forward important letters to Rousseau; this offer is accepted. However, there is some evidence from Hume that intercepted even Rousseau's outgoing mail.
After several correspondences with Rousseau, which included the eighteen-page letter from Rousseau explaining the reason for his anger, Hume concluded that Rousseau lost his mental balance. Knowing that Rousseau had denounced his Parisian friends, Hume sent a copy of Rousseau's long letter to Madame de Boufflers. He replied that Hume's alleged participation in Horace Walpole's composition of faux letters was the reason for Rousseau's outrage in his estimation.
When Hume learned that Rousseau wrote Confessions , he assumed that this dispute would be featured in the book. Adam Smith, Turgot, Marischal Keith, Horace Walpole, and Mme de Boufflers advised Hume not to quarrel with Rousseau's public; However, many members of the Coterie D'Holbach - in particular, d'Alembert - urged him to reveal his version of the event. In October 1766, Hume's version of the quarrel was translated into French and published in France; in November published in the UK. Grimm put it in the correspondence letter ; finally,
the dispute echoed in Geneva, Amsterdam, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. A dozen pamphlets doubled bruit . Walpole printed his version of the dispute; Boswell attacked Walpole; Mme. de La Tour's Precis sur M.Rousseau calls Hume a traitor; Voltaire sent him additional material about Rousseau's mistakes and crimes, at the frequent "places of poor fame," and his seditious activities in Switzerland. George III "follows the battle with intense curiosity."
After the dispute became public, partly due to comments from famous publishers such as Andrew Millar, Walpole told Hume that this sort of quarrel only ended up being a source of entertainment for Europe. Diderot takes a charity view of the chaos: "I know these two philosophers well, I can write dramas about those who will make you cry, and that will forgive them both."
Return to France
Amid the controversy surrounding his quarrel with Hume, Rousseau maintains a public silence; but, he decided now to return to France. To encourage her to do so quickly, Therese advised her that the servants at Wootton Hall were trying to poison her. On May 22, 1767, Rousseau and Therese set out from Dover to Calais.
In Grenoble
On May 22, 1767, Rousseau re-entered France even though his arrest warrant was still in effect. He has taken a pseudonym, but is recognized, and a banquet in his honor is held by the city of Amiens. Many French nobles offered him a place to stay today. Initially, Rousseau decided to stay on Mirabeau's estate near Paris. Subsequently, on June 21, 1767, he moved to the chateau of Prince Conti in Trie.
Around this time, Rousseau began to develop feelings of paranoia, anxiety, and conspiracy against him. Most of this was just his imagination at work, but on January 29, 1768, the theater in Geneva was destroyed by arson, and Voltaire charged Rousseau as the culprit. In June 1768, Rousseau left Trie, left Therese, and went to Lyon, and then to Bourgoin. He now invites Therese to this place and "marries" him under the alias "Renou" in a fake civil ceremony in Bourgoin on 30 August 1768.
In January 1769, Rousseau and ThÃÆ' Â © rÃÆ'¨se went to live in a farmhouse near Grenoble. Here he practices botany and finishes Confessions . At this point he expressed regret for putting his children in an orphanage. On April 10, 1770, Rousseau and Therese left for Lyon where he befriended Horace Coignet, an amateur fabric designer and musician. At the suggestion of Rousseau, Coignet composed a musical interlude for Rousseau's poem of Pygmalion ; this was done in Lyon together with the romance of Rousseau The Village Soothsayer for public praise. On June 8, Rousseau and Therese leave Lyon for Paris; they reached Paris on 24 June.
In Paris, Rousseau and Therese nest in an unfashionable city neighborhood, Rue PlatriÃÆ'¨re - now called Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She now supports herself financially by copying music, and continuing her studies on botany. At this very moment, he wrote the letter to the Botanical Element . It consists of a series of letters Rousseau wrote to Mme Delessert in Lyon to help her daughter study the subject. These letters received widespread recognition when it was finally published posthumously. "This is a true pedagogical model, and it complements Emile ," commented Goethe.
To defend his reputation against hostile gossip, Rousseau had begun writing Confessions in 1765. In November 1770, this was completed, and although he did not want to publish it at this time, he began offering the reading group of passages certain of this book. Between December 1770 and May 1771, Rousseau made at least four group readings from his book with a final reading lasting seventeen hours. A witness to one of these sessions, Claude Joseph Dorat, wrote: {{Quote | I expect a seven or eight hour session; it lasted fourteen or fifteen.... The writing is really a phenomenon of genius, simplicity, directness, and courage. How many giants are reduced to dwarves! How many unknown but godly people are restored to their rights and take revenge on the wicked with the sole testimony of an honest man!
After May 1771, no more group readings because Madame d'ÃÆ'â € Pinay wrote to the police chief, who was his friend, to stop Rousseau reading to preserve his privacy. The police called Rousseau, who agreed to stop the reading. The Confessions finally published posthumously in 1782.
In 1772, Rousseau was invited to present a recommendation for a new constitution for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in Considerations to the Polish Government, which became his last major political work.
Also in 1772, Rousseau began to write his dialogue: Rousseau, Judge Jean-Jacques, who was another attempt to avenge his criticism. He finished writing it in 1776. The book is in the form of three dialogues between two characters; a Frenchman and Rousseau arguing over the advantages and disadvantages of a third character - a writer named Jean-Jacques. . It has been described as his most unreadable work; In the preface to the book, Rousseau admits that it may be repetitive and irregular, but he pleads for the forgiveness of the reader on the grounds that he needs to defend his reputation from slander before he dies.
Last year
In 1766, Rousseau had impressed Hume with his physical prowess by spending ten hours at night on the deck in bad weather during a boat trip from Calais to Dover while Hume was confined to his bed. "When all the sailors almost freeze to death... he's not hurt... He's one of the most powerful people I've ever known," Hume said. In 1770, Rousseau's urine had also greatly diminished after he stopped listening to the doctor's advice. At that time, Damrosch notes, it is often better to let nature take its course than to be subject to medical procedures. his health also improved. On October 24, 1776, however, when he walked on a narrow street in Paris, the noble train came rushing from the opposite direction; flanking the carriage was the Great Dane who was marching by the nobility. Rousseau can not escape trains and dogs, and is dropped by Great Dane. He seems to suffer a concussion and nerve damage. Her health began to decline; Rousseau's friend Corancez describes the emergence of certain symptoms that suggest that Rousseau began suffering from epileptic seizures after the accident.
In 1777, Rousseau received royal guests, when Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II came to meet him. Free entry to Opera has been updated at this time and he will go there occasionally. At this very moment (1777-78), he composed one of his best works, Respect from Solitary Walker .
In the spring of 1778, Marquis Girardin invited Rousseau to live in a cabin in chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau in Ermenonville. Rousseau and ThÃÆ' Â © rÃÆ'¨se went there on May 20th. Rousseau spends his time in chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau in collecting botanical specimens, and teaches botany to Girardin's son. He ordered books from Paris on grass, moss and mushrooms, and made plans to complete the unfinished Emile and Sophie and Daphnis and Chloe .
On July 1st, a visitor commented that "the bad guy", which Rousseau replied with "bad men, yes, but man is good"; at night there is a concert in chÃÆ' Â ¢ teau where Rousseau plays at his own piano of Willow Song from Othello. On this very day, he enjoys eating with the Girardin family; The next morning, when he was going to teach music to Girardin's daughter, he died of a brain hemorrhage that resulted in an apoplectic stroke. It is currently believed that recurring falls, including accidents involving Great Dane, may have contributed to Rousseau's stroke.
After his death, Grimm, Madame de StaÃÆ'Â l l and others spread false news that Rousseau had committed suicide; according to other gossip, Rousseau went crazy when he died. Everyone who met him in his last days agreed that he was in a calm frame of mind right now.
On July 4, 1778, Rousseau was buried in the ÃÆ'Žle des Peupliers, which became a place of pilgrimage for many of his admirers. On October 11, 1794, his body was transferred to PanthÃÆ' Ã… © on, where they were placed near the remains of Voltaire.
Maps Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Philosophy
Natural Human Theory
The first person who, after a fenced in piece of land, says 'It's mine', and finds naive people to believe it, the man is the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes that may not exist save humanity, by pulling the stakes, or filling the trenches, and weeping to his comrades: Watch out for this swindler; You will lose if you forget that the fruits of the earth are all ours, and the earth itself does not exist.
Similar to other philosophers of the time, Rousseau views a hypothetical natural state as a normative guide.
Rousseau criticizes Hobbes for asserting that since man in the "state of nature... has no idea of ​​goodness, he must be naturally evil, that he is fierce because he does not know virtue". Rousseau, on the other hand, argues that "undamaged morality" applies in "natural states" and he especially praises the amazing Caribbean's greatness in expressing sexual urges despite the fact that they live in hot climates, which "always seem to inflame".
Rousseau asserts that the stage of human development associated with what he calls "barbaric" is the best or optimal in human development, between the less optimally abusive animals on the one hand and the extreme of the decadent civilization on the other. "... [N] is not so gentle as humans in its primitive state, when placed by nature at equal distance from the foolish ignorance and fatal civilian enlightenment". Referring to the stage of human development that Rousseau associates with the wild, Rousseau writes:
Therefore, although men have become less precursors, and although natural pity has undergone some changes, the period of human capability, maintaining a middle position between the inaction of our primitive state and the activity of our egocentrismic anger, must be the happiest and most enduring of times. The more people reflect on it, the more people discover that this country is at least subject to the upheaval and the best for humans, and that it must leave it only because of a fatal coincidence that, for the common good, it should never have happened. Examples of wild people, almost all of whom have been found in this country, seem to affirm that mankind has been made to remain in them always; that this country is a true world youth; and that all subsequent progress has appeared so many steps towards individual perfection, and in fact towards the decay of species. "
The perspective of many environmentalists today can be traced back to Rousseau who believes that the more people deviate from the state of nature, the worse it is. By presenting the belief that all degenerate in the hands of man, Rousseau teaches that man will be free, wise, and good in the state of nature and that instinct and emotion, when not distorted by unnatural restrictions of civilization, is the voice and instruction of nature to the good life. The "noble lordship" Rousseau stands in direct opposition to the cultural man.
Stages of human development
Rousseau believes that the barbarous stage is not the first stage of human development, but the third stage. Rousseau argues that the ferocious third stage of the development of human society is the most optimal, between the extreme conditions of the rough animals and the "ape-man" animals on the one hand and the extreme decadent civilized life on the other. This has led some critics to attribute to Rousseau the discovery of the savage notion of the nobility, which Arthur Lovejoy conclusively demonstrates Rousseau's false thoughts.
The phrase "savage noble" was first used in 1672 by the English poet John Dryden in his drama The Conquest of Granada . Rousseau writes that morality is not a construction of society, but rather "natural" in the sense of "innate," a result of the instinctive urge of man to witness suffering, from which emotions of compassion or empathy arise. It is a sentiment shared with animals, and whose existence is even recognized by Hobbes.
Contrary to what many critics have criticized, Rousseau never states that human beings in a natural state act morally; in fact, terms such as "justice" or "crime" can not be applied to pre-political society as Rousseau understands. Appropriate morality, self-control, can only develop through careful education in a civilian state. Man "in a state of nature" can act with all animal malignancy. They are only good in a negative sense, insofar as they are self-sufficient and thus not subject to the bad nature of political society.
In fact, Rousseau's natural man is actually synonymous with a chimpanzee or other ape, like an orangutan as described by Buffon; and the "natural" goodness of man is the goodness of the animal, which is neither good nor bad. Rousseau, a deteriorationist, proposes that, except perhaps for brief moments of balance, at or near the beginning, when the relative equality between human beings applies, human civilization is always artificial, creating inequality, jealousy, and unnatural desire.
Rousseau's idea of ​​human development is closely related to the forms of mediation, or the process humans use to interact with themselves and others when using alternative perspectives or thought processes. According to Rousseau, this is developed through the innate perfection of humanity. These include a sense of self, morality, compassion, and imagination. Rousseau's writings are deliberately ambiguous about the formation of these processes to the point where mediation has always been a part of human development. An example of this is the idea that as individuals, one needs an alternative perspective to achieve the realization that they are 'self'.
In Rousseau's philosophy, the negative influence of society on men centers on the transformation of iour de soi, positive self-love, into amour-propre, or pride. Amour de soi represents an instinctive human desire for self-preservation, combined with the power of human reason. On the contrary, amour-propre is an imitation and encourages people to compare themselves with others, thus creating unreasonable fear and allowing humans to enjoy the pain or weakness of others. Rousseau was not the first to make this distinction. It has been called by Vauvenargues, among others.
In Discourse of Arts and Science Rousseau argues that art and science are not beneficial to mankind, because they arise not from genuine human needs but as the result of pride and pride. In addition, the opportunities they create for laziness and luxury have contributed to human corruption. He proposed that the advance of knowledge had made government stronger and had destroyed individual freedom; and he concludes that material progress has really underestimated the possibility of true friendship by replacing it with jealousy, fear, and suspicion.
In contrast to the optimistic views of other Enlightenment figures, for Rousseau, progress has been contrary to the welfare of mankind, that is, unless it can be opposed by the planting of morality and civil obligation.
Only in human civil society can be honored - through the use of reason:
Part of the state of nature into a civil state produces a tremendous change in man, replacing justice for instinct in his behavior, and giving his actions a morality they did not previously possess. Then only when the task voice takes the place of physical impulse and appetite right, does the man, who so far thinks only of himself, finds that he is forced to act on different principles, and to consult his reasoning before hearing the inclinations. Though in this circumstance he robs some of the advantages he gets from nature, he gets so much reward for others, his abilities are so stimulated and developed, his ideas are so vast, his feelings are so enthralled, and his whole soul is so uplifted, not the abuse of new conditions this often lowers it under what he left behind, he will continue to bless the happy moment that takes him from him forever, and, instead of the dumb and unimaginative animal, makes him an intelligent man. become and a man.
Society corrupts people just as long as the Social Contract has not been successful, as we see in contemporary society as described in the Discourse on Inequality (1754).
In this essay, which describes the ideas introduced in the Discourse of Arts and Sciences, Rousseau traces the social evolution of man from the primitive state of nature to modern society. The earliest, solitary man has a basic drive for self-preservation and natural disposition of compassion or mercy. They are different from animals, however, in their capacity for their free will and potential perfection. As they begin to live in clusters and form clans, they also begin to experience family love, which Rousseau sees as the greatest source of happiness known to mankind.
As long as the differences in wealth and status among families are minimal, the first comes together in groups accompanied by a brief golden age of human development. The development of agriculture, metallurgy, private ownership, and the division of labor and generating dependence on one another, however, lead to economic inequality and conflict. When population pressures force them to mingle more and more closely, they undergo a psychological transformation: they begin to see themselves through the eyes of others and come to appreciate the good opinions of others as being important to their self-esteem.
Rousseau argues that the severely deformed original Social Contract (ie, Hobbes), which leads to the modern state, was made on the advice of the rich and powerful, who deceived the general public to give up their freedom to them and institutionalize inequality. as a fundamental feature of human society. Rousseau's conception of the Social Contract can be understood as an alternative to this fraudulent form of association.
At the end of the Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau explains how the desire to have value in the eyes of others comes to undermine personal integrity and authenticity in a society characterized by interdependence and hierarchy. In the last chapter of Social Contract , Rousseau will ask 'What to do?' He replied that now everyone can do is cultivate the virtues within them and submit to their rightful rulers. To its readers, however, the inescapable conclusion is that a new and more just Social Contract is required.
Like other Enlightenment philosophers, Rousseau criticized the Atlantic slave trade.
Political theory
Social Contract outlines the basis for a legitimate political order within the framework of classical republicanism. Published in 1762, it became one of the most influential works of political philosophy in Western tradition. It develops some of the ideas mentioned in the previous work, the Conoie Politique article, shown in Diderot EncyclopÃÆ' Â © die
Rousseau claims that the state of nature is a primitive condition without law or morality, which man abandoned for profit and the need for cooperation. As society develops, the division of labor and private ownership demands humanity to adopt legal institutions. In the declining phase of society, people tend to compete often with fellow human beings while also increasingly dependent on them. This double pressure threatens his survival and freedom.
According to Rousseau, by joining together into civil society through social contracts and abandoning their claims to natural rights, individuals can preserve and remain free. This is because surrendering to the public will authority as a whole ensures individuals not to be subject to the will of others and also to ensure that they abide by themselves because they are, collectively, legal writers.
Although Rousseau argued that sovereignty (or the power to make law) should be in the hands of the people, he also made a sharp difference between the ruler and the government. The government consists of judges, who are tasked with implementing and enforcing common wishes. The "sovereign" is the rule of law, ideally decided by democracy directly in the assembly.
Rousseau opposes the idea that people should exercise sovereignty through a representative assembly (Book III, Chapter XV). He approves the kind of republican government of the city-state, where Geneva provides a model - or will be done if renewed on Rousseau's principles. France can not meet Rousseau's criteria of ideal circumstances because they are too large. Much of the subsequent controversy over Rousseau's work has been contingent on disputes over his claim that citizens restricted to comply with the public will thus be given free:
The idea of ​​a general will is entirely at the heart of Rousseau's theory of political legitimacy.... However, this is a notion that is unfortunately unclear and controversial. Some commentators see it as nothing more than the dictatorship of the proletariat or the tyranny of the urban poor (as may be seen in the French Revolution). That's not what Rousseau means. This is clear from the Political Economic Discourse, where Rousseau emphasizes that the common will is there to protect individuals against the masses, not necessitating them to be sacrificed for it. He is, of course, very aware that men have selfish and separate interests that will lead them to try to oppress others. It is for this reason that loyalty to the good of all must be the highest (though not exclusive) commitment by all, not only if a truly general will is noticed but also if it is to be formulated successfully in the first place. ".
Education and parenting
The noblest work in education is making excuses, and we hope to train a little boy by making it a reason! It starts at the end; This makes the instrument a result. If children understand the reason they do not need to be educated.
Rousseau's educational philosophy itself is not related to specific techniques in infusing information and concepts, but by developing student character and moral feelings, so that he can learn to practice self-control and remain virtuous even in an unnatural and imperfect society in which he must live. The hypothetical boy, ÃÆ' â € ° miles, will be raised in the countryside, which, according to Rousseau, is a more natural and healthy environment than the city, under the tutelage of a tutor who will guide him through various tutor-led learning experiences.. Today we will call this the method of discipline "natural consequence". Rousseau feels that children learn right and wrong by experiencing the consequences of their actions rather than through corporal punishment. The tutor will ensure that there is no harm to the results for ÃÆ' â € ° miles through his learning experience.
Rousseau became an early advocate of education in keeping with developments; his description of the stage of child development reflects his concept of cultural evolution. He divides his childhood into several stages:
- first until about 12 years of age, when children are guided by their emotions and encouragement
- during the second stage, from 12 to about 16, reasons begin to grow
- finally the third stage, from the age of 16 and up, when the child develops into adult
Rousseau recommends that young adults learn manual skills such as carpentry, which requires creativity and thought, will keep them out of trouble, and will provide the means to live again if there is a change of luck (the most famous aristocratic popular youth to be educated in this way is probably Louis XVI , whose parents told him to learn his skill
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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