Sample Essay On Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Early Life

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most important philosophers of The Enlightenment. Rousseau was very interested in what characteristics man inherently possessed from birth compared to what man learned from society. Rousseau coined the term “noble savage” to describe man in his natural state before he is corrupted by society. Rousseau’s thoughts and philosophy are a result of his upbringing and the state of the world, socially and politically, around him (Magee 126).
Rousseau was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1712. His mother dies a few days after his birth. He was at first, raised by his father and an aunt. He was soon handed from one family to another. As an adolescent he apprenticed as an engraver, notary. As a young adult he wandered from city to city and country to country. He held dozens of jobs: tutor, lackey, secretary (Magee 126).

Musical Interests and Early Writings

In 1742 he moved to Paris, hoping to be a composer and musician. He presented to the Academie des Sciences a new system of musical notation. The Academie was not interested. Despite this failure, music would remain an important part of Rousseau’s life. Rousseau obtained a position with the French embassy in Venice. He was exposed to and inspired by Italian opera and composed on himself, Le Devin du Village, which was well received. Although he is famous as a philosopher, Rousseau was a talented composer (Magee 127).
He met French philosopher Denis Diderot who invited Rousseau to contribute to Encyclopedie. Rousseau wrote articles for the magazine mostly about music. He and Diderot were quite close during this time, visiting and engaged in discussion almost on a daily basis. During this time, Rousseau was developing and fine tuning his philosophical views (Magee 27).
Beginning in 1750, Rousseau began writing philosophically about man and his role in relation to the world and society. The Academie of Dijon held an essay contest that Rousseau won with his first major writing, Discourse on Arts and Science. In this work, Rousseau proposes that art and science are responsible for the corruption of man (Magee 127).

Return to Switzerland

Discourse on Inequality
In 1754, Rousseau returned to Switzerland, converted to Calvinism and published Discourse on Inequality. In this essay, Rousseau describes two types of inequality. The first is natural. In his natural state, man has few needs; this state represents the physical aspects of man. His needs are food, rest, sex. There are no morals in this state. This is the noble savage. The second part of this work examines how property and technology are what begin to corrupt man. Relationships between humans are based on satisfying one’s own needs. The rich, those with property must enter into contracts with the poor who work for him. This act creates politics (Zuckert 367-368).

Rousseau’s break with Encyclopedie and Later Writings

After a heated and contentious break from the Encylopedie and Diderot. Rousseau published Julie, or the New Heloise in 1861. Although in the form of a novel about a young woman, it is really his reflections on morals and ethics. Morals are imposed on man and ethics are inherent.
He followed the immense success of this novel with, Of Social Contract, Principles of Political Right. In this work, Rousseau argues that rule by a monarch through divine right is wrong. Man is sovereign over himself alone. His most controversial publication was, Emile, or on Education. He describes the individual and the corruption of society. To balance this, he proposes education for men to be able to protect themselves from this corruption (James 344).

Flight from Geneva and Time in England

The religious authorities took offense with Emile and Rousseau was forced to flee Geneva. He travelled to England where he took refuge with philosopher David Hume. Rousseau was desperately unhappy here and subsequently moved back to France. Here Rousseau continued to work, live in isolation and die in 1778. Several of his writings were published after his death (Magee 127).

Rousseau’s Influence and Contributions

Rousseau’s philosophies influenced education and politics. Social Contract, was the basis and cited by many as a cornerstone for republican government as well as an argument for democracy. His idea that man was self-sovereign and the only one who could rule him was instrumental in establishing governments in the United States and France. On the subject of education, Rousseau proposed that children be educated to maintain their natural self and have a defense against the immortality and corruption of society. On the subject of religion, Rousseau felt that it was necessary institution but disagreed with the concept of original sin and the intolerance expressed by church leaders (Zuckert 369).

References

James, David. “Rousseau on Dependence and the Formation of Political Society.” European
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0378.2011.00450.x
Magee, Bryan. The History of Philosophy. New York: D,K, Publishing, 1998. Print.
Zuckert, Catherine. “Remembering Rousseau.” The Review of Politics 74, (2012): 367-370.
Web. 13 Mar. 2015.