First majr critique f mdern sciety First and Secnd Discurse Jean-Jacques Russeau Platnic Return t the idea f happiness and where ur suls have gne Russeau = philspher f petry/music Pet = utsider f sciety and can speak better abut sciety Ideal man is NOT a philspher Ideal situatin f being = feeling at ne with nature Has a state f nature nt as influenced by civilizatin Mre animalistic (Hbbes and Lcke take civil man and just unclthes him) Natural man is mre f a beast Secnd Discurse = respnse t a public questin in Geneva (Switzerland) In rder t understand ills that afflict mdern life, we have t g back t what went wrng Lcke fcuses gvernment f prperty and selfishness Russeau realizes there shuld be a mre human aspect t gvernment happiness and virtue Getting and securing f stuff wn t make life better G back t natural state f virtue Main prblem = inequality rising
Bad fr Russeau Gd fr Lcke because it prmtes civil sciety Russeau claims it was better in state f nature and everyne was happier We civilized peple are unrecgnizable frm natural human nature Surce f ur inequality = changes that happened t men Russeau s natural man differs frm Lcke and Hbbes Feels cmpassin and desires self-presentatin Differs frm L and H s understanding because accrding t them, man nly desires t acquire Russeau s persn desn t have and cnceptin f acquiring f pwer (animalistic) Repugnance at seeing anther being harmed Natural man was simply an animal Didn t reasn dn t participate in natural law 2 srts f inequality = natural and plitical Mst advantageus animals are humans Simple beings eat, drink, sex Humans can perfect themselves, thugh Can take n nature and can better themselves thrugh different ways Man has dreams and ideals and can set gals fr themselves Man was brn free but everywhere he is in chains
As humans mve frm natural t Civil State they becme weak and feeble Dn t feed the birds because they will frget hw t hunt and take care f themselves Men can t retain the wild sensibility t frage in trying circumstances By making man civil, yu have weakened them In nature, man desn t knw what misery r prperty is Just because Hbbes admits that man is nt gd desn t mean they are evil Virtue f pity/cmpassin Reasn leads t vanity Separates frm all that bthers and afflicts him Vanity erects scial status/cmpetitin Thrwn back upn yurself Russeau s Glden Rule: d what is gd fr yu with the least pssible harm t thers N cncept f lve in nature Wmen created the ntin f lve because they want t be the dminant sex Self-interest men can frage, prtect Crruptin f civil sciety Want a certain man t stick arund, nt leave Language reasn vanity prperty sentiments f preference seeming (vs. being) Seeming = we play rles/wear masks Develpment f prperty is a gd thing fr Lcke but bad fr Russeau
Leads t claiming wnership f nature which leads t ther stuff like seeming Sets us apart frm nature First ylk f civilizatin in cmmdities Care mre abut what we dn t have Pssessin f things yu want dn t necessarily make yu happy Human desire is fleeting Pg 147 Wants vs. Needs Things that yu wanted degenerate int needs and when yu take them away, it s like yu re dying withut it New needs are thrust upn us (technlgy); artificial needs that are all cnsuming First step f inequality/vice sentiments f preference Related t develpment f material things Nthing is as gentle as the natural man First rulers f justice emerge when first need fr civil sciety emerges, thrugh cultivatin f land Divisin f being and seeing leads t dependence f new needs that are nt truly needful Peple wh speak mst ften f their freedm are merely rattling their chains Mdern freedm = artificial and enslaves humans Reestablishes Plat asserting that virtue = prduct f human develpment
Russeau emphasizes true freedm, nt theretical perfectin, n dealing with human affairs