SUMMARY of ROUSSEAU's thinking

In this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a brief summary of Rousseau thought, Genevan born in 1712 and one of the most important philosophers of the Enlightenment. But unlike the rest of the enlightened, Rousseau, anticipating romanticism to affirm that the human being is good by nature, but society corrupts it. In this way, he will give primacy to feeling over reason. Among the most representative works of him are the “Social contract" Y "Emilio or of the education”. If you want to know more about Rousseau's thinking, he continues reading this lesson. We started class!

Rousseau speaks of a primitive state of the human being in a state of nature. A being, without reason, without language, without laws or wars, an innocent being, like a boy, a girl, "a good savage”. His only object, love. Everything is one. Being is not opposed to appearance. The human being coexists with nature, without trying to dominate it, and knowing no other home than nature itself. In this state, the human being is still compassionate. Then society will come, and with it, the fall.

Conversely, the human being as we know him today is a product of history, and there is nothing left of his innate goodness. Now, the human being is bad, and it is not love that moves him, but hatred, anger. He has stopped being compassionate to be selfish. Definitely. The human being is a degenerate being, society has degenerated him. But at the same time, society forces her to hide the evil learned from him, her fear and anger from him, his darkest passions. And in this way, he behaves as society imposes, hiding all his miseries behind a mask of feigned goodness.

This mask not only hides the most bitter face of the human being, but when trying to cover it, it fails to regenerate, like a wound that cannot be healed. Why has the human being renounced the ideal life proper to the state of nature? The human being has been sold in exchange for power, for wealth. And to achieve peace, so that they do not destroy each other, war is resorted to, in an endless circle, nowhere.

“Fears, suspicions, coldness, caution, hatred and betrayal are frequently hidden under that uniform and fallacious veil of courtesy ”.

In the state of nature, the human being only found limits to his freedom in the other, that is, the law of the strongest. Instead, in the historical state, his freedom is limited by the whole of society, which oppresses him, and at the same time, forces him to coexist peacefully with the other members of society.

We continue this summary of Rousseau's thought to talk about the social aspect. The social contract It is the pact that individual and society propose not to kill each other, given the impossibility of return to the state of nature, this ahistorical state in which the human being was good and did not know evil. That time has already passed, the human being has become corrupted and now, it is necessary to associate and for the general will to decide the fate of history. Thus, the individual dissolves in society, now, he is only a part of it, a member of the organism that forms the whole of society.

The general will in this way, it imposes itself on the individual will. Justice replaces instinct and society replaces nature and freedom, it no longer consists of obeying the will natural, because the human being has lost it, and it is the will of all that is imposed, because they are one and the same thing. The natural individual has given way to being social, therefore, obeying social norms is obeying oneself. Individual and society are confused. But in this way, the human being recovers part of his freedom, of his happiness, and in a certain way, he regenerates.

“The government had its origene in the purpose of finding a form of association that defends and protects the person and property of each one with the common force of all.”

But the general will is not to be confused with the everyone's will, which is that of the sovereign, that is, with the particular will of the sovereign, and this destroys the very basis of the social contract. The general will is democracy o Assembly among all citizens.

“If there were a nation of gods, they would be governed democratically; but such a perfect government is not suitable for men.”

His theory of education is expounded by Rousseau in his popular work, "Emilio or From the ANDducation ", a work in which the philosopher reflects his particular concept of education from an ideal model. He describes the education of Emilio and Sofía.

Rousseau condemns the oppression of traditional educationHe, accusing her of destroying the natural instincts of the human being, and betting on a natural education that favors his development. The human being was born free, but education annihilates that natural freedom forcing him to memorize data in an unnatural way.

The purpose of education must be the Liberty and has to promote feeling and instincts, to intuition, must prevail over reason, and must enhance love between all human beings. But it is not like that, and then, we find ourselves with a vile being, totally corrupted by the social entity.