General Introduction

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) was a mid-eighteenth century French philosopher who closely captured the spirit of the modern age and profoundly influenced his times.

• Born in Geneva to a French family; his father was an eccentric who never held a steady job, engaging in watch-making, dancing, hunting, and dueling.

• Rousseau’s mother died in childbirth, leading to a neglected childhood without proper education or discipline.

• Developed a disregard for conventional morals, such as keeping regular hours, while indulging a limitless flight of imagination.

• At sixteen, Rousseau ran away from home after refusing apprenticeship in a trade.

• Unlike many philosophers, he had neither steady employment nor noble patronage.

• Lived a life of wandering across Europe, experiencing poverty and deprivation firsthand.

• Married and had five children but refused family responsibilities.

• At times, he quarreled with patrons, cheated friends, and engaged in other immoral acts.

• His sense of guilt and troubled conscience led him to seek moral redemption reflected in his writings.

• At age 37 (1749), Rousseau gained a turning point by entering the Academy of Dijon essay competition on the topic: “Has the Revival of the Sciences and the Arts Helped to Purify or to Corrupt Morals?”

• He argued that progress in sciences and arts had a corrupting effect, ruining mankind rather than improving it.

• Claimed that modern culture failed to make men happy or virtuous and that virtue flourishes only in simple societies.

• Asserted that the more sophisticated the culture, the more corrupt it tends to be.

• His essay won the prize and was published as Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts (1750), bringing him instant fame.

• Other important political philosophy works:

  • Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1754)

  • Discourse on Political Economy (1755)

  • The Social Contract (1762)

• Leading literary works:

  • Émile (1762) – novel embodying his educational philosophy

  • The Confessions (1782) – autobiographical account

• Some parts of Émile contain retrograde views on women:

  • Rousseau held that women are naturally inferior to men but cunning to compensate for weakness.

  • He favored the complete subordination of women to men.

  • Advised men to avoid becoming emotionally dependent on women.