Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Victoria Poynter
Quotes
"Men are born free, yet everywhere are in chains."
"People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much, say little."
Analysis- Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqOaG24aPSc
Jean- Jacques Rousseau was a French, 18th century political philosopher who read Locke and Hobbes and decided that he wanted to make his own theory. He was orphaned at the age of twelve because of his mother's death and his father's abandonment. He then lived with relatives and in foster homes until he ran away at the age of sixteen.
Rousseau thought society was greater than the individual. If someone was involved in the society then they would succeed. He followed Locke by believing that humans were rational and believed in a state of nature. He also believed that human beings would be rational and run society for the greater good if a state of nature existed.
Rousseau often criticized Hobbes for his idea that humans were naturally greedy people and that Hobbes' idea could not be rationally used in the state of nature.
Key Components & Understanding
Research
Social Contract
(ex: I have three apples and I have friends with me. I give them each an apple, but they each have three apples, and they share their apples with me. In the end, I've given away all of my apples, but I still have the same number of apples as I did in the beginning. The result is this... I have a contract and we all exchanged goods and services, but I've given up no freedom or rights.) In essence, this is how the state is created... Citizens establish a logical system of trade, exchange and barter. Everyone gives up everything to everyone else.
Outcomes
People still obsess over his philosophy. He solved and created more problems and questions that have been debated over though the 19th and the 20th centuries. His book, Émile, still puts forward unanswered questions today. Rousseau influenced the idea of The Declaration of Independence as well as public schools.
Citiations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liDKReJxElE (Research)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqOaG24aPSc (Key Components & Understanding)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7K0a-FtSQM (Social Contract)