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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Josh, Shannon, Carli, Joel, and Amanda
Biography
Born in Geneva on June 28, 1712
Suzanne Bernard, his mother, died a week after he was born
Brother ran away from home Isaac Rousseau, his father, left
Geneva to avoid imprisonment Was raised by his uncle after
his father left Was sent to study in the
village of Bosey.
Biography (cont.) Apprenticed to an engraver 1725; left and went to Annecy
due to his master being violent 1742; went to Paris to become a
composer and musician Wrote the books –
o Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality(1754)
o Lettre sur les spectacles(1758)o La Nouvelle Héloise(1761)o The Social Contract(1762)o Émile(1762)o Réveries(1782)
Philosophical IdeasDid this political thinker think people could govern themselves?
Believed people could govern themselves
Sees freedom and liberty not to do whatever you want but the opportunity to do the right thing. o This includes obedience to
authority, an authority agreed on by the citizens not a forced authority.
Philosophical Ideas (cont.)
Is humankind basically good or bad? Children naturally good, innocent. He writes “Make the citizen good by
training”, “and everything else will follow”.
Training = educationo Education should be personalized
depending on the stage, nature of the individual.
Develop ideas for your own based on experience, not be taught other peoples ideas
Humans are by nature good - and it is society's institutions that corrupt them
Philosophical Ideas (cont.)What are the underlining ideas behind Rousseau’s thinking?
Was isolated from other children No formal education Draws influence from his relationships Thérèse Lavasseur:
o Companion to Rousseau (believed she had a ‘pure heart’)o Had five children but gave them up to an orphanage because they felt
they would be better off Found living amongst people difficult
o Preferring solitary lifeo Felt like he maliciously attacked, particularly by Voltaire
Beliefs in Government
Believed that authority lies with the people. In The Social Contract written in 1762 Rousseau
states: o Man is born free. o Controls by a freely formed government are good. o Consent to a form of governments means that the
individual gives up self-interest in favor of the common good.
o When government is by the consent of the governed the people retain their rights.
Beliefs in Government (cont.)
Hated political and economic oppression Supported revoltInfluenced thinkers for more than 200 years
o may have influenced the writers of our Constitution.Was influenced by the modern natural law
traditiono Which Attempted to answer the challenge of
skepticism through a systematic approach to human nature that, like Hobbes, emphasized self-interest
Jean-JacquesRousseau’s
Symbol