The Early Rousseau 9781501741814

Citation preview

THE EARLY

ROUSSEAU

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2012

http://archive.org/details/earlyrousseauOOeina

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU Portrait

by Allan Ramsay, painted in England in March 1766 Hume. (Reproduced by

while Rousseau was a guest of David

permission of the National Gallery of Scotland.)

THE EARLY

ROUSSEAU Mario Emaudi

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca,

New

York

Copyright

© 1967 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof,

must not be reproduced

in

permission

from the publisher.

in

writing

any form without

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS First

puhlished 1967

Library of Congress Catalog Card

Number: 67-15958

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY KINGSPORT PRESS, INC.

Prefiace

TODAY

Rousseau

increasingly seen as the most influential

is

men and

thinker of the eighteenth century. His views, on

on private and public

life,

astonishingly relevant to twentieth-century problems. therefore, being read

society,

on economics and government, seem

He

is,

now with a care and a thoroughness he did own time and for many years afterward.

not always get in his

Perhaps only in the

last

two generations has Rousseau's thought,

begun

be fully understood.

in all

its

extraordinary complexity,

As

all

of his writings are taken into account,

much

has been missed before, and

have been some of the

how

earlier criticisms.

more aware of the importance and

to

one

realizes

how

simple and inadequate

One

begins also to be

variety of

what Rousseau

wrote before 1756, and a renewed inquiry into the politics and

economics of the early Rousseau seems necessary to a better comprehension of the later work.

The

early

Rousseau

is,

of course, well

known

as the

author of

the two Discourses, one on arts and sciences, the other on inequality.

He

is

specialists, for

known

also for his Political

the essay State of

War

Economy

and the Letter

and, by the to Voltaire

on the Lisbon earthquake. But too few readers have paid serious attention to the Dedication

and the long footnotes of the Dis-

M

PREFACE course on Inequality.

And

even fewer have seen the

earlier frag-

ments on history and education; the poems and long

and Conzie;

his friends Bordes, Parisot,

particular the Observations

critics, in

and the Last Refly; the

Preface to Narcisse and the letter to Philopolis;

on Saint

Pierre, the Discourse

letters to

the replies to his

all

all

the writings

on Wealth, and the many early

autobiographical and other fragments.

A

reading of what Rousseau wrote in the twenty years from

1737

1756 brings forth the importance and singular coherence

to

of this period of his

come

afterward.

modern

1

These

what

years have a special attractiveness for the

this

to the picture of

span of time that

Rousseau's mind. For

many

it

this

is

of the misunderstandings,

of the difficulties of interpretation, find their origin. It

during

to

who not only sees Rousseau with fresh eyes but new evidence which, placed in its proper context,

adds a great deal

many

and illuminates much of what was

reader,

also discovers

within

life,

is

period that Rousseau begins to express himself in

his contemporaries believed to be the paradoxes of a

man, and what many of

his later critics felt

mad-

were views which

could not be reconciled with the thought of his major works.

The modern

reader

who

in a systematic

way

tries to

look at

everything Rousseau said in those twenty years discovers a wealth of

themes not smaller than that of the

of

man,

later years.

The

of the different stages of social development,

successive transformations of

tensions of civil life section of

man

as

and the anxious look

—

all

and of the

he goes through them; the

government and economic

building of the ideal state

analysis

at the future; the dis-

issues

and

are there. In the

classes;

the

end the reader

gathers an unexpectedly rich harvest.

1

See the Index for an inventory of the writings of Rousseau used in

this book.

[vi]

PREFACE own

For Rousseau had written on history and about his

and dealt with the problems of educating

ings,

had developed his views on nature, a

man, and

dozen vigorous and detailed statements.

war and peace and the conditions dence and on

He

civil religion.

He had

and outlined the premises and

the ideal republic.

He

added up the sum

is

difficult writer.

on

total is

But the

provias the

institutions of

issues of justice, of the rich

When

all

very impressive. Rousseau

re-

and the poor, and of the economic this

written on

for a united Europe,

root of inequality

mains a

He

young man.

a

civilization in half

had dealt with property

had faced the

read-

tasks of the state.

difficulties are

not those of in-

coherence.

The

year 1756 appears as a logical cutoff point. In that year

some

(just before Rousseau's break with

the curtain falls on the lished

of

enough

man

to

is

to

show where the

be found.

He

life.

He

and has

the state,

failed.

has tried to return to Geneva in a

He

has

Montmorency, where the writing few years

and Emile

—

and

—

now

man and

retired to the quiet of

in feverish haste in the space

of the Nouvelle Heloise, the Social Contract,

will begin.

This book attempts revival

has pub-

core of the present unhappiness

demonstration of the seriousness of his views on

final

of a

of his closest friends)

act of Rousseau's

first

give an explanation of the Rousseau

first to

meaning; then follows

its

a series of brief sketches

placing Rousseau in his contemporary setting. Chapters III—VIII analyze, in rough chronological order, the unfolding of Rousseau's

thought and the growth of

Throughout, straint in

his less

let

it

be said

quoting Rousseau

famous

taken from his familiar ones,

pieces. less

it

its

major themes.

at once,

at length,

felt that

is

from both

Apart from the fact that

famous pieces prove

was

there

to

be

no undue

re-

his

famous and

many

of the lines

as quotable as the

the beauty and the tenderness, the [vii]

PREFACE strength, the anger

and the

irony, of

what Rousseau wrote

are

too great to hide.

The of

some

concluding chapter deals with the subsequent history of the

the discussion:

main strands it is

more

of ideas caught

up

in the course of

a series of reminders than a systematic

review.

Mario Einaudi Paris,

[viii]

1966

Contents

Preface I

Rousseau Today

i

The New Understanding

Two

We

What II

of Rousseau

i

Fresh Lines of Interpretation

9

See in Rousseau Today

The Contemporary

16

26

Setting

Places

26

Men

33

and Ideas

Way

61

III

Rousseau Seeks His

IV

Rousseau Faces the Enlightenment

74

The Statement The Debate

74 84

Narcisse

V

The

105

Roots of the Trouble

The Recovery of

1

14

of the Past, the Passage

Time, and the Study of

Man

114

Natural Man, Natural Law, the Original State of

Nature and

Its

End

118 [ix]

CONTENTS Progress and Inequality

The The

VI

The

First State,

131

and Economic

Property,

Man

"Dedication" and the Ideal State

Ideal State

The Problem

The General Will and The Support of Virtue

VII

War

the Architect

IX

The

191

Profession of Civic Faith

201

the State

208

and Peace

208

214

Have Cut Wealth and Human Happiness

224

Waiting

233

Roots

224

I

for the

Tree

to

Die

238

After 1756 Barharus hie ego

The Road

We

On

sum ...

Have Traveled and

Choices before

238 the

Us

the Inevitability of

242

Change and Revolution

Index of Names, Works, and Suhjects

[x]

179 185

Needs

Absolutism and a United Europe

VIII

167 172

Satisfaction of Public

Beyond

150

167 of the Origin of the State

Rousseau and Diderot

The The

139

260 279

THE EARLY

ROUSSEAU

I

Rousseau Today

The Neiv Understanding

ONLY a

few

of Rousseau

of the thinkers

who make up

our cultural heritage

are subjected in successive centuries to the kind of reappraisal

which, in

intensity, expresses

its

guidance in their thought. praisal,

when

it

And

an urgent need

to seek fresh

even more rarely does the reap-

comes, sharply alter the outlines of the accepted

tradition.

Among

those affected by our constant rewriting of the past,

which he has

Rousseau stands out for the depth of the scrutiny

to

been subjected, and

changes in the

way we look more than

at

to

for the significance of the

him. That

this

should have happened to Rousseau

any other writer of the

last

three

hundred years

is

proof enough of the central position he occupies today and also of

Not only do we know more about him but we read manner that seems for the first time to do justice to

his greatness.

him

in a

what he was

trying to say.

As

a result,

we

feel that

Rousseau

very close to our thinking and to the problems of our age. publication at this point of the 1

first

worthy edition of

his

is

The

works

x

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres completes, gen. eds. Bernard Gagne-

bin and Marcel

Raymond

(Paris, la Pleiade):

Vol.

I,

Les Confessions, [i]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU is

symbolic of this re-evaluation of Rousseau's thought, which for

the

time

first

seen as wholly relevant to the political and moral

is

issues confronting

modern man.

Nearly two hundred years of age, as the times

changed and have

after his death,

Rousseau has come

and the problems of organized

in effect developed in

ways that Rousseau often

anticipated. In the last fifty years in particular

come very

enced, or have

1929, in 1939, in 1945 the

phenomena

ness,

a

which

way

—

in

experi-

19 14, in

of the ultimate consequences of

of disintegration, loneliness, chaos,

and

selfish-

are at the center of Rousseau's preoccupations.

It is

had appeared

to

Sometimes

was being sought

was

it

him

said white

off

said

that the unity

out. Indeed, this

valuable undertaking, as unity there

meant the rescue

with what for so long

be the unfathomable mysteries and contradic-

tions of Jean-Jacques.

of his thought

in

and

reassuring, therefore, to witness the extraordinary

fruitful efforts of recent years to grapple

written

we have

close to experiencing

—many

have

societies

is,

and

to

was

have shown

of Rousseau from simpleminded critics

by adding up

literal

most

a

it

who had

proofs that on one day he

and on another black.

But more important than the unity, the modern

and the tensions of Rousseau

readers have found the torment

and

critics :

for

they have seen in them the root of his meaning, a meaning

which goes well beyond any attempt It

at

system and completeness.

required the sensitive nature of a poet such as Amiel, already

nearly a century ago, to discover the miracle of a

man

alone

Autres Textes autobiographiques (1959), eds. B. Gagnebin, R. Osmont, and M. Raymond; Vol. II, La Nouvelle Helo'ise, Theatre-poesies, Essais litteraires

Contrat

(1961),

ed. B.

Guyon,

Starobinski, S.

volumes are

to

come. This edition

completeness, the interest of

wealth of

its

annotations.

its

Scherer,

and C. Guyot; Vol.

is

notable for

Ill,

Du

possible,

it

its

textual care,

its

and the extraordinary will be the one referred to

introductions,

Whenever

(cited throughout as O.C.*)-

[2]

J.

(1964), ed. R. Derathe, F. Bouchardy, J. Stelling-Michaud, J.-D. Candaux, and J. Fabre. Two more

social, Ecrits politiques

ROUSSEAU TODAY against the wealthy

and the powerful and the vain world of

and philosophy, and

letters

to suggest that the

Rousseau could be brought back "All

well as

is

it

to

what he had

key thought of

said in the Emile:

comes from the hands of the Author of things,

everything degenerates in the hands of man."

:

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the ven-

omous

portrait of

Madame

d'Epinay, the sad witticisms of Vol-

judgment of Burke, mattered more than

the ill-informed

taire,

Kant's reading of Rousseau. Often this was due to an implicit rejection of it

was due

Rousseau or

to

an incapacity

to the difficulties of

to read

placing Rousseau in the attractive

simplicities of eighteenth-century rationalism,

wish

to resolve all

conflicts

and

to a

stubborn

doubts and to see the development of a clear

system where everything would find

Hence

him; sometimes

its

place.

the vagaries, the misinterpretations, the unresolvable

between extreme individualism and

collectivism. Rous-

seau appears one time as the ideologue of the French Revolution;

another time as the father of modern totalitarianism. Rousseau,

man

the sick existed.

obsessed by the fears of conspiracies that never

Rousseau the

primitivist, the

propounder of a return er

to nature.

enemy

and the

of society,

Rousseau the incurable dream-

and Utopian.

We

appear today to have entered a

new

phase, one in which

respect for the writer, seen at last in the complexity of

all

his

work, and the growing awareness of what Rousseau stood for

and of

its

Rousseau 2

value for us, are the chief aspects. As a result, a is

slowly emerging from the fogs of yesterday.

new

3

H.-F. Amiel, "Caracteristique generale de Rousseau," in Jean-Jacques

Rousseau juge far les genevois d'aujourd'hui (Geneve, published on the occasion of the iooth anniversary of Rousseau's death, July 2, 1878), 23-64. 3 Many of the new trends are to be found in Peter Gay, The Party of

Humanity (New York, 1964), ch. 8, "Reading about Rousseau, 211—38. Gay pays a deserved tribute to the work of Lanson, Vaughan, Wright, Cassirer, Derathe, and Starobinski. [3]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Rousseau

is

no longer the confirmed

liar

Serious efforts to check the narrative of his

cumulative proof of

to

its

reliability.

he was thought life

Key

to be.

have generally led

episodes

which

until

very recently were believed to be prime evidence of Rousseau's inability to tell the truth,

seem

to

have occurred exactly

as

Rous-

seau said they did: the stories of his conversion, his life in Savoy, his role in Venice, his life in Paris, are today seen as accurate 4

renderings of the

What now

facts.

strikes the scholars interested

in this aspect of Rousseau's personality

and

is

his recall of the past

his painstaking care in putting the facts

Far more important

is

down on

that Rousseau has

paper.

become more com-

prehensible today than at any other time. His ideas are no longer

seen as paradoxes, flights of the fancy, or perverse attempts to say the contrary of

what was the common opinion

of his

times.

Rather, they appear for what they were intended to be, with a relevance and a complexity of structure which

more meaningful

The

point of reference as

man

related to

we

example,

is

seen for what

a model, a standard of try to decide

what has

of Rousseau's state of nature

any particular

are acquainted.

He

is

man who

is

nature he

that

perception

comparisons and

own 4

is

if

state of affairs.

no

less vital

we want Modern

the

to

to

certainly

measurement, a to

be done.

The

not necessarily

whom we

from which tells

we may

us that the

never have existed, but

us

if

we want

be in a position

to

make

to evaluate

our

anthropologists have been taken by

Cf. Bernard Gagnebin, "Verite et veracite dans les Confessions," in a

volume published under the auspices

Commemoration de

J. -J.

(Paris, 1964), 7-20. truth,

or the

Comite National pour

la

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau et son oeuvre

Gagnebin adds

"Rousseau was led

criticized."

[4]

may

talking about

is

it

has existed or with

a starting point

proceed to solve our problems. Rousseau openly state of its

all

to us.

state of nature, for

was in Rousseau's mind:

natural

make them

that,

by saying that he possessed the

to justify all his acts,

even when they could be

ROUSSEAU TODAY man

confused with presocial tool for the

we

If

under

begin

He

man

certainly

is

is

is

obviously not natural man.

far

advanced on the ladder of

a fairly recent type

is

him simply because he

man, but he

is

and Rousseau may

corrupt than contemporary

less

no model and he may be separated by an

immeasurable passage of time and by great qualitative

We

ences from natural man.

but there can be for modern

to illuminate

man no return

our plight

it,

but Rousseau wants something far more

shift

shadow, and

is

toward hard

the ideals of natural

to

is

wrong with

is

ourselves

still

and can give us clues

essence of natural man. But just as savages do not

we

is

come

but a

abound. tell

back

him

is

to primitive life; the to

possibility for civilized

only issue

improve himself, and

forward, carrying with 5

no

him

Claude Levi-Strauss finds

this

is

whether

man

it is

us

as to the

to live in

Europe, so Europeans should not become savages or go and

with them. There

set

difficult

He

man.

describe, while savages

if

Savages are useful, because by their behavior they can

what

vital;

to the condition of the

good savage. Such a return might not even be possible

namely, a

differ-

have to study him, of course,

because everything that can help

our minds to

man

nature and the state of

their proper place in the general context of

a matter of fact, the savage

evolution.

5

then a number of related issues become

Rousseau's thought. Savage

like

societies.

to see the state of

this ideal light,

human

not to be

they find a wonderfully fruitful

comparative study of

and acquire

clear

As

man

approach, and in this image of a natural

this

live

of going

possible for

can be done only by moving

the vision of natural man. in Rousseau's Discourse

chief source of inspiration. See Tristes

Twpiques

6

on Inequality a

(Paris,

1955), 284,

3536

Arthur Lovejoy's crucial

such care by here. See

many

role in dispelling the

myth

cultivated with

eighteenth-century philosophes should be recalled

"The Supposed Primitivism

of Rousseau's Discourse

on In-

equality" (1923), in Essays in the History of Ideas (Baltimore, 1948),

14-37. [5]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Similarly, the idea of the general will can be grasped as an

attempt

to separate the selfish

of civic duty

found

as a definition

"among our

in the capacity to distinguish

coming from

interests those

from the unselfish,

founded on

a fallacious self-love

ambition and property, and those coming from nature in present condition, and to accept the appropriation of interests

and

spite of the

their superior value as attested

its

common

by conscience,

in

apparent and strong prestige of our particular inter-

ests.

Again, just as

it

was not necessary

that the state of nature be

any given time and place,

identified with

it is

not necessary that

We can begin

the general will be an immediately realizable goal.

both concepts as ideal poles in the

to see

life

of

man, the

first

hav-

ing to do with his past, the second with his future. For Rousseau, then, the questions are: state of nature?

and

How far have we traveled away from

What

are the difficulties

to get close to the general will?

we must overcome

As Jean Fabre points

concepts are norms on which thought must regulate

ments of measurement

the

out, the itself,

two

instru-

determine the concordance or the

to

discordance between the real and the possible, between fact and right.

8

As we look

today,

and read properly

for the

first

time, at

those autobiographical writings to which Rousseau dedicated the last fifteen or

justify

and

twenty years of his

clarify

what he had

personal exhibitionism as so

we go through

Pierre

said

effort to

and done (and not out

many have

of

so firmly believed), as

the endless pages of the Confessions, of the

Dialogues, and finally of the 7

an immense

life in

Burgelin,

Dreams

of a Solitary Walker,

La Philosophic de Vexistence de

].-].

it

Rousseau

(Paris, 8

1952), 543"Realite et Utopie dans

Annates de

la

Societe

].-].

192-4. (Hereafter referred [6]

la

pensee politique de

Rousseau,

XXXV

to as Annales.~)

J. -J.

(Geneva,

1

Rousseau,"

959-1 962),

ROUSSEAU TODAY becomes

clear that the earlier political concerns of his life are not

forgotten. If

is

true that Rousseau's motto, vitam 9

becomes vitam impendere

vero, to

it

deny the

social

and

political

pages in which Rousseau

tells

sibi,

it is

quite impossible today

content of even the most personal us he has cut himself off from the

Dreams

of a

Walker, Rousseau sings the praise of the active

life,

world. Over and over again in his last work, the Solitary

assuring us that he

and

solitude

dom.

impendere

that

is

he

not anxious to have others join is still

him

in his

thinking about the problem of free-

10

Rousseau's madness becomes a responsible madness in which the world his life

not forgotten.

is

Out

of the strains

and

absurdities of

emerges a pattern of action and belief which modern

man

finds

issues

he

understandable and valuable in sorting out the

faces.

Thus, Rousseau's position in the history of ideas

coming much more

clearly etched.

prerevolutionary times, from

While many

Hobbes

to

is

now

be-

of the figures of

Montesquieu, retain

either the key position in past developments or the frozen dignity

that will forever belong to them,

addresses himself to us as of letters insights

Rousseau has come

someone who,

which was singularly

blind,

to life

and

in the midst of a society

had the most astonishing

and anticipations of the future.

Rousseau's work, and especially the Discourse on Inequality, is

now

seen as a major study of the evolution of mankind.

Bertrand de Jouvenel gives Rousseau the place he deserves Rousseau

9

is

the

first

great exponent of social evolution. His

attempt to depict systematically the historic progress of

first

Jean Starobinski, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,

la

was the

human

transparence et Vobstacle

(Paris, 1958), 249. 10

See the essay by Jacques Proust, "Le Premier des pauvres,

Les Reveries du promeneur

solitaire,"

essai sur

Europe (November-December

1961), 13-21. [7]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU society.

Here he comes

who were

a full century before Engels

and

all

the others

make the evolution of human society a popular theme. His concern to mark out stages of social development and to bring to

out the factors which he sive against the

deemed

was then talking about

progress, but in a very loose

Rousseau was the only one understood.

effective in the process,

is

impres-

background of contemporary writings. Everybody

who

thought of

it

manner, and be

as a process to

11

For these reasons, Claude Levi-Strauss has recognized Rous-

among

seau as an anthropologist

philosophers: "Rousseau our

whom we have shown so much ingratitude, but to whom each page of this book ought to be

master, Rousseau our brother, toward

For Levi-Strauss, Rousseau, unlike Voltaire, has

dedicated."

shown

for the

many

societies

he was examining a

curiosity filled

with sympathy for peasant customs and popular thoughts. Unlike Diderot, he never glorified the state of nature, but was the only

one

to use

dictions

it

as a tool "to

where we

are

show us how

still lost

what we today

describing

call

in the

to get out of the contra-

wake

of his enemies." In

the neolithic age, he had

close to identifying the "unshakable bases of

human

come

society."

12

Rousseau, the student of evolution, the anthropologist, can also give a

new

accent to the age-old polemics about wealth and

poverty, the rich and the poor, property, luxury and conspicuous

consumption.

13

He

appears as a pathbreaker for later

socialist

thought, with this difference however, that his conclusion that everything hangs

hangs from 11

is

not

from economics, but that everything

politics.

Bertrand de Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimistic Evolutionist," Yale

French Studies (i 961-1962), 83. 12 TristesTrofiques, 351-2. 13 For two recent examples of the importance given to the economic aspects of Rousseau's thought, see Iring Fetscher, Rousseaus Politische Philosophic (Neuwied, i960), esp. 213-59, and Otto Vossler, Rousseaus Freiheitslehre (Gottingen, 1963), 100—38, 366-89. [8]

ROUSSEAU TODAY The

reader of today, then, finds himself attracted by the

originality, the rigor, the relevance, of

the younger scholars,

who have

Rousseau's thought. Even

often been tempted to consider

the history of past ideas as a dreary form of intellectual activity, are driven to write such passages ^as this:

the world can

make

easier to forgive the

it

accommodate Rousseau's which most and moral

principles.

all

world

which more

clearly associate

When we

political activity.

seau's principles,

it is

not too

much

the realism in its

inability to

For his principles are those

forcibly demonstrate the connection

life,

hood and

"Not

between

politics

autonomous man-

have understood Rous-

to say,

we have understood

the distinction between a fully acceptable political order and one that

is

Two

not."

14

Fresh Lines of Interpretation

One may suggest two reasons for the new understanding of Rousseau. To use two concepts currently in vogue, one reason places itself at the existential level, the other at the level of dialectics.

The

first

has to do with the discovery of the autobio-

The second has to do with the the many hidden or open tensions

graphical writings of Rousseau.

perception of the meaning of

inherent in Rousseau's work.

There

is

no question that what Rousseau has written about

himself or about

man

with Rousseau's tragic

—any life,

man who

—has accounted

quest for himself sal

appeal.

could identify himself

and

his self-analysis,

for Rousseau's almost univer-

Today everywhere men

see themselves reflected in

the Nouvelle Heloise and in the Confessions. of the fisherman meeting the Swiss scholar

the

Senegal:

Then, 14

slowly,

"

his perpetual

There

is

the story

on the banks of

'You come from Paris?' 'No, from Geneva.' the fisherman

George Kateb, Utopia and

its

pulls

Enemies

from

(New

his

pocket an old

York, 1963), 94. [9]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU copy of the Nouvelle

whenever you want.' that in our

own

"

Helo'ise: 'Thus, 15

And

Lionel

you can go

Gossman

to Meillerie

finds

it

'natural

troubled and uncertain times, readers should be

and

primarily interested in the subjective aspects of Rousseau that they should turn most happily to those parts of his

which they

find an echo of their

in the intimate writings that

today."

we

own

concerns."

best find our

16

work

"Indeed

man

in

in

it is

Rousseau

17

There

is

no doubt that what we

also

by which we mean

tensions,

call

Rousseau's dialectical

at times his pessimism, his skill in

describing progress in terms of the difficulties

it

creates, the

view

of men's freedom to be gained only at a heavy price of suffering

and

of discipline, have

much do

tions, so

simplicities of the

become today

familiar

and accepted no-

our ideas of progress differ from the linear

Enlightenment, and so

much have we

learned

discount an ideal of freedom to be secured by restraints

to

Today we

find

Rousseau's tensions and "contradictions" most fruitful and

illu-

imposed upon

a distant

enemy

called the state.

minating. Starobinski suggests that Rousseau's withdrawal

upon himself

has helped rather than weakened his historical influence. 15

The

Rousseau 16

story et

is

18

This

by Marcel Raymond in an opening address

told

son oeuvre,

to

xxiii.

"Time and History in Rousseau," in Studies on and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman, Vol. XXX (Geneva, 1964), 311. Gossman's essay is, however, concerned, and quite rightly, with showing the historicity of Rousseau. 17 A comment, quoted in part by Gossman, of Raymond Giraud, Triumph or Tragedy," Yale French Studies, "Rousseau's Happiness Lionel Gossman,

Voltaire

—

(1961-1962), 75. 18

and

"We

have seen that his essential preoccupation shifted from history

social philosophy, to focus almost entirely

personal sensibility. But

we must admit

upon the

exigencies of his

that this retreat toward singular-

from weakening Rousseau's historical influence, has on the conit. If Rousseau has changed history (and not only literature), this is not the result only of his political theories and of his

ity, far

trary

[10]

reinforced

ROUSSEAU TODAY has been so for

many

different reasons.

writings, which go from the Emile

seau reveals to his reader for the

here that

It is

we

find

in the nonpolitical

It is

to the Dialogues, that Rous-

first

time the whole

what has been

life

called Rousseau's "great

discovery" of the child and of childhood, a period in the

man

with

its

own

laws of development and

man when

and renewed, one

in

which "nature succeeds

this

and

liberating concept

man's internal

life

which

life

of

wonders,

indeed a time lived

is

in achieving a

which

a condition

is

troubled by memory, anticipation, imagination;

To

is

the mythical golden age

balance of faculties and desires. This

of conservation of oneself

own

its

reaching a state of maturity and perfection. This in the life of each

man.

of

it is

of one's well being."

not

is

the pure age

19

Rousseau adds a description of

surprises those

who have been

looking

only at the hard outer appearance of man, who, moving about in his social relationships ity of

but bounded on

all sides

by the multiplic-

mediating factors modern civilization has created, can no

longer maintain a link with the real world of his views on history:

it

is

the result, perhaps

much

being.

20

even more, of the myth

developed around his exceptional existence" Qop. emphasizes rather too

own

cit.,

55). Starobinski

the view that this retreat has been accom-

plished at the expense of a concern for social philosophy. 19

cit., 485-6. Also see Burgelin's whole chapter on Gossman, op. cit., 315: "The marvelous description of childhood and adolescence is, of course, one of the glories of the Confes-

Burgelin, of.

Emile, and

cf.

sions.

Rousseau's discovery of the child, the concreteness with

.

.

.

which he portrayed him, the intense and unique life he revealed in him, these things were possible only in the context of his historical outlook." 20 Gossman, of. cit., 314. Gossman also recalls a passage in a draft of the introduction to the Confessions (O.C. I, 1149—50) in which Rousseau rejects the "false sincerity" of Montaigne: "The most sincere are truthful at most in what they say, but they lie because of their reticences, and what they are silent about changes so much what they appear to confess, that by telling only part of the truth they don't say anything. I place Montaigne at the head of these false truthtellers who want to deceive as they relate the truth. He shows himself with some faults, but [11]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

How

splendidly,

on the other hand, has Rousseau described

the whole of man's inner

which comes from

ness

eliminating

all

life,

the beauty of dreams, the happi-

a direct contact

with nature capable of

the mediating barriers stifling the

man. In

life of

the happiness of contemplation and in the search for solitude,

man seeks relief from the anguish of his daily life. 21 The fundamental purpose of this introspection is to end mediation. To achieve that "transparence" which will reveal the true essence of man against the obstacles and the opacity of social relations in a

world which has established

Rousseau creates the transparence of the

man.

upon

injustice,

which

will free

itself

self

22

By

eliminating mediation and establishing the immediacy of

personal transparence, Rousseau believes he

is

setting

up the

necessary conditions for the existence of nonalienated man.

Man

he gives himself only agreeable ones; no man has a hateful one. Montaigne's self-portrait resembles him, but it is a profile. Who knows whether a scar on his cheek or an empty eye on the side hidden from us might not have entirely changed his physiognomy." 21 Marcel Raymond, "La Reverie selon Rousseau et son conditionnement historique," in Rousseau et son oeuvre, 77-94; Giraud, Of. cit., 80-2. 22

Jean Starobinski's work, ]ean-]acques Rousseau, la transparence et is a fundamental piece in the new dossier of

Vobstacle, already quoted,

Rousseau

studies.

more than an

As the author

interpret Rousseau's it is

opposed.

tells

"internal analysis":

It is

us in the Foreword,

"For

work without taking

it

is

purpose

its

is

obvious that one cannot

into account the world to

which

through the conflict with an unacceptable society that

the inner experience acquires

its

privileged

function.

.

.

.

Rousseau

longs for the communication and the transparence of hearts; but he frustrated in his expectation, and, choosing the contrary path,

is

he accepts

and provokes the obstacle, which allows him to withdraw into passive and the certitude of his innocence." In his annotations of the Discourse on Inequality, Starobinski points to a number of examples of the role of transparence and obstacle in Rousseau's political writings, as in the formation of society, and in civic festivals QO.C. Ill, 1340, resignation

1344-5)[12]

ROUSSEAU TODAY is

alienated

—

that

with his fellows

cut off from real

is,

—by

public opinion, of money, and of

all

life

and from communion

and by the consequences of

social reality

the institutions that have been

born since the decisive turning point in the history of

which the Discourse on Inequality "study of the

human

enduring relevance/'

Down

to

heart"

last

find "the chief reason for his

all

with the

"The

and alone on the face

political fate of

historical

drama have the same design."

It

we

25

is

never

In Rousseau's autobiographical

see retraced the unfolding of our civilization.

on the tensions between

centers

man

of the

drama and the biographical

therefore possible to say that

is

man around

In Rousseau's

Discourse on Inequality and the Dialogues develop

along parallel lines.

writing,

23

desperate pages, in which he de-

abandoned by

earth, the identification

The

built.

24

Rousseau's

scribes himself as

lost.

we

is

all

man and

of Rousseau's society

work

and between

the different stages of man's growth, on the dialectics of the historical process,

on the contrast between being and appearing.

We have, on the one hand, solitary man, who may find in himself perfection

and happiness; on the other hand,

integral part of a

freedom.

we must

community

The two

in

which he may

social

stand apart and sometimes Rousseau

choose between the freedom of

man and

the citizen. But are the two goals unreconcilable? 23

ical 25

and

tells

us

the freedom of 26

Cf. Bronislaw Baczko, "Rousseau et Falienation sociale," Annates,

XXXV 24

man, an

find morality

(1959-1962), 223-37.

Judith N. Shklar, "Rousseau's Images of Authority," American PolitScience Review, LVIII (1964), 932. Bertrand de Jouvenel, "Essai sur la politique de Rousseau/' in de

Jouvenel's edition of the Contrat Social (Geneva, 1947), 58. 26 Robert Derathe seems to think they are: "No middle ground,

no compromise between the two lives proposed by Rousseau as ideal or exemplary" ("L'Homme selon Rousseau," in Etudes stir le Contrat Social [Dijon, different

1964], 215). But since Derathe feels that they are but two

moments

of a

common

opposition to "the corrupt society of his [13]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Certain

that the contrast

it is

the basis of Rousseau's work. cal

between nature and

They

are

development which has created

face.

27

Man

Nothing

is

the problems

it

and

entire historical process

carries

new

a witness to

is

difficulties

man

and the needs.

himself

is

its

"the author of the evil

has to

The

man

forward,

which makes him bad and

factitious

has created an opaque and divided world, which at

the same time belongs and It is

man

with him.

slave of political institutions, prejudices,

He

at

ambiguity and tension.

Perhaps necessity, perhaps accident, have pushed but

is

dialecti-

solved in the transition from nature to society.

changed by

is

all

society

two opposites of a

is

true that only in this

foreign to him."

28

way does man succeed in acquiring member of a society, he possesses

the moral qualities which, as a for the

first

time.

But he

is

also, as a result of

the events which

are taking place in the course of history, multiplying the contradictions

which beset him.

nates, but later ises

and the

Up

to a certain point

chance domi-

developments follow of necessity from the prem-

institutions accepted

by man. The contrast between

being and appearing gets worse. In the Preface

Rousseau

tells

us that

ever see ourselves as

to

Narcisse

now become impossible to let us we really are. And in the Discourse on it

has by

Inequality he traces back to this fact the treachery and the vices

which beset

us.

Hence, Rousseau cannot avoid giving the impression of unhappiness in the century in which the achievement of happiness

was considered not only possible but

pessimism in the

a right, of

century in which confidence in progress was the rule. Living

within the historical drama he had conceived, he saw progress leading to the disintegration of the

man

inevitable in the absence of

times,

community and

any

alienation of

significant social ties

and they both aim, though in divergent ways,

man

at the realization of

the same ideal of liberty and equality" (217), there would seem to be a relationship 27

[14]

between them.

Burgelin, of.

cit.,

236

ff.

28

Baczko, of.

cit.,

232.

ROUSSEAU TODAY could understand. Rousseau's pessimism and sense of frustration

come from

his awareness that

what he

destruction through

had

built of

an ideal

made

contract

it

man

furiously seeking his

is

calls progress.

state

The model Rousseau

and

of nature

own

of an ideal social

unavoidable that he would view with dismay

the 'golden century" in which he lived.

He

had

built

the one hand,

two models

and the

two

for the

citizen

man Emile on

ideals of

who had

:

accepted the Social

Contract on the other. His thought kept moving from one to the other in a perpetual navette.

time and history, and

And

must be

life

was no escape from

yet there

lived within the boundaries of

earthbound experience. But the models were there,

a concrete,

and Rousseau carried on

happy and

self-sufficient

world rent by

civil

to the

end the dialogue between the

man who

can view from afar a bloody

war, and the disciplined citizen

the acceptance of the contract both freedom

integrated community.

can aspire is

to stay

solved

it

and

are

The duty of most of us The point is not to reward that man will reap with

fight

should be

to identify the

progress

to

if

must be

to eliminate

to a self-sufficient solitary life.

where we

is

a special

it

out.

problems which have

be achieved. There

mere condition of

the

made which appear

deep gloom that characterizes Rousseau. Very few

consider progress the inevitable time;

finds in

29

In the end, certain choices are in part the

who

and equality in an

about happiness.

social life to bring

kind of

social life.

What

to

be

nothing inherent in

is

It

has been done pales

29 Gossman, of. cit., 343-4. Gossman writes: "Modern sensibility, which Rousseau did so much to cultivate and to explore, develops in growing opposition to society. Thus it brings with it not joy and .

fulfillment, but misery

and

.

.

alienation, for

it

cuts the individual off from

others without rebuilding the bridges that lead to them. sensibility

demands

a

new

society constructed

on

its

.

.

own

.

Awakened

principles of

and sympathy, but this society remains an ideal to which the reality French society in the eighteenth century stands in absolute and

love of

apparently unresolvable opposition" (3 29-30). [15]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU what

into insignificance in comparison with

As the reader

still

among

constantly buffeted

is

has to be done.

the dichotomies,

the contrasts, the alternatives, the barriers, the different ideal

he may be

standards,

baffled

and he may incline

to

speak of the

insuperable "contradictions" in Rousseau's thought. But today he rather tends to speak of

them

reveal deeper truths about

human

These "contradictions"

nature than he had suspected.

which

are the traps into

sively cartesian

commentators. As Marcel

truth, his unity,

is

and

distinct

but

thought, envisaged in

formulae."

entirety,

its

And

an underlying, deeper

at

his truth

His

level.

not reducible to portable

is

it is

he himself

them. In the Dialogues Rousseau

is

is

idle to talk of Rousseau's

aware of them and studies

not showing himself

in search of himself, quite a different thing.

end he knows he

with what he

is

the straight line,

human

nature for what

31

and

circumstances were right. For

Rousseau

is

who

to realize

all his

He

to the other

and he despises the geome-

the simplifiers

it is

off.

From beginning

moving from one extreme

calls incredible speed,

ters of

rities,

"His

discourse than

less that of a

is

Or, as pointed out by Munteano,

to

the excessays:

30

"contradictions," because

is

fall

Raymond

not to be looked for always at the level of clear

ideas,

that of dialectics.

which

truth-giving tensions

as

fail to

what

it

"contradictions"

desperately trying to

understand

could do

move ahead

if

the

and obscu-

in an impossi-

bly difficult and corrupt world.

What

We See in Rousseau Today

Because Rousseau has made us ready

and private man and with both 30 31

Rousseau Basil

95-112. [16]

et

liberty

to deal

and

with both public

discipline, his

words

son oeuvre, xxv.

Munteano, "Les

'Contradictions'

de

J.-J.

Rousseau,"

ibid.,

ROUSSEAU TODAY throw a sharp shaft of light on our problems, many of which are the consequence of an industrial revolution Rousseau did not witness.

Given

his "anthropocentric"

could only deplore the misuse of tion

and

no

in effect as

view of the world,

man viewed

32

Rousseau

as a tool of

better than a machine.

We

have become

keenly aware today of what Rousseau had to say about to

misuse the land than

misuse man,

to

33

produc-

it.

Better

better a loss of efficiency

and of output than a loss in the dignity and the hopes of man.

What

any society reduced

a dreadful future for

to the exploita-

man for the sake of so-called economic progress. The unique and, if lost, irrecuperable qualities of man must

tion of

be defended within a manageable community in which the

emphasis

is

exploiter of

man,

Within such change and left alone.

from the

shifted

of the egoist

community, the idea of freedom

a

This right

the right of a

man

is

to

be

left

to

man

is

34

bound

to

right to

be

is

mere

walk in a

forest to seek solitude, or

alone with his conscience and his

side of the coin of solitary

is

reckless

not challenged and Rousseau defends

man

But the other

grated man, and

what Rousseau

and the

of responsible collective action.

to lose the attractive simplicity of a

stoutly the right of a

beliefs.

we

to the

I

integrated

analyzing

is

man most

man

is

inte-

of the time, because

organized society, where

man

is

at

every point brought into multiple relationships with his fellow

men and

with institutions, and the decisive component of free-

32

"Man and his life ... are in the forefront. His thought is more psychological than metaphysical. It is anthropocentric. His conception of the world comes after that of man. ... It is personal experience which leads to cosmic aspirations" (B. Groethuysen, ].-]. Rousseau [Paris, .

1949], p. 238). 33 Cf. Vossler, op. 34

cit.,

.

.

especially 385-6.

De

Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimistic Evolutionist," 95, in giving this formula, suggests that the shift is feasible only in a "small and

immutable" community. But even in the small community Rousseau foresaw the possibility of deep change. [17]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU dom becomes want

to do.

that of not being forced to do

35

Man

what one does not

when he can manage

free

is

to

salvage

something from the maze and weight of fixed commitments, to be himself and

to

do what he must do in a way that

As

violence to his personality.

this

will not

notion of freedom seems to

do fit

rather well the needs of the twentieth century, Rousseau's skill in shocking us

is

welcomed

rather than resented.

Rousseau's complex notion of freedom plex notion of nation. His

name

is

matched by

his

com-

has long been attached to the

idea of nationalism. But his views on the subject go beyond the

decked

this

appealing monster.

A

we have bemade up merely

with which

traditional formal institutional notions

nation

is

not

of independence, sovereignty, boundaries, codified laws, armies,

and central government.

and

of laws that

It is essentially

embody

to the beauties of the land.

optimism

disappearance of state,

when all

community

certain ideas of justice;

keep together even in the midst of

full of

a

This

diversity;

is

it is

of beliefs,

it is

a will to

an attachment

why Rousseau seems

in spite of the

to

be

smashing up and gradual

the traditional outer trappings of a national

he predicts the survival of the Polish nation and gives

advice which, in the light of history, cannot be described as Utopian. Poland's anarchical traditions, class divisions, land sys-

tem, customs, and civic

spirit will

keep

ultimate realization of a Polish nation.

In raising the question 35

op.

On

cit.,

this, cf.

495

Shklar, of.

how

cit.,

alive the idea

and the

36

nations communicate with one

931; on liberty in Emile, see Burgelin,

ff.

36

See the good discussion of this issue, and the contrast between Mably's "utopia" and Rousseau's "realism" on Polish affairs, in Fabre,

To defend Polish traditions meant to reject and "in those days the suggestions of the French way of life had perhaps an even stronger 'demonstration effect' than in our day the American way of life" (de Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimis"Realite et Utopie," 205-13.

the "French

tic

way

of life,"

Evolutionist," 91).

[18]

ROUSSEAU TODAY another, Rousseau poses one of the baffling issues in an age of

He

nationalism.

weakens one of the slogans of nineteenth-

—

—

for his

view

the competitiveness of international trade relations

may

century liberalism

that trade fosters peace

is

foster

war. Rousseau leaves no room for illusions. Interdependence 37

breed bitter

rivalries.

But we

the self-sufficient nation

end

society ready in the

may to

also

know

may

autonomy of

lead to tensions within a stagnant

The

chief

then, that of dispelling the

hope

do violence

value of Rousseau's warning

that the

that

is,

to its neighbors.

on an accelerated exchange of commodities or on other

that

economic

policies

one can build peace among nations.

But the preponderant weight of Rousseau's analysis seems directed to

what men do among themselves economically

inside

the national community. His conclusions are the same. Given

the turn taken by

human

affairs,

deepening injustice and chaos

are to be expected. It

is

undoubtedly symbolic of

new way

this

of looking at

Rousseau that one of the two distinguished editors-in-chief of the

new

edition of Rousseau's complete works should in effect place

the third volume, which includes the political writings, under

the aegis of a Discourse on

ignored until today.

The

fact

is

that

Wealth which has been

practically

38

Gagnebin

is

right,

overemphasize what Rousseau has

and

to say

that

it is

difficult to

about property, wealth,

money, and about the rich and the poor.

The famous ing property

is

battle cry of the Discourse

seen

seau's views, never to later,

and not the

now

as a

on Inequality concern-

fundamental statement of Rous-

be canceled by anything that he was

result of

mere

literary

whim

to say

in order to be

unpleasant and to shock his friends. Property becomes the pivot 37

Stanley Hoffmann, "Rousseau on

cal Science 38

O.C.

War

and Peace," American

Politi-

Review, LVII (1963), 321.

Ill,

xxv-xxvi. Cf. infra, p. 224. [19]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU What he

around which the evolution of mankind revolves. is

says

based upon a solid and detailed foundation of economic analy39

and from

sis,

it

flow the train of consequences Rousseau never

developing.

tires of

What

Rousseau envisaged was the outcome of

a process of

accumulation of property, of increasing reliance on money, of

advancing technology, and

arts,

of

more luxury,

of a deepening

gulf between the rich and the poor, and the final loneliness of social

tion"

urbanized man. All

he saw

this

went against the "mediocre condi-

as the ideal. All this

an

political values in

intricate

meant

suffocation of moral

network of

and

and greedy

selfish

economic relationships.

Money he saw immediate human

as

which destroyed

the poison

relationships. It

direct

was the mediator which did

away with the immediacy and the transparence he wanted. capital

40

He

pleads for a direct consumer's

accumulation will not be possible.

goals of a rising bourgeois society.

enemy as

of

modern

capital.

de Jouvenel points out,

42

41

He

and

economy

He

so

much

in

which

deprecates the

With Burke he

is

seen as the

defends "obsolete" ideas which,

Rousseau knows are obsolete, oppos-

ing as he does techniques and technocracy, economic progress, or policies of

economic development which pay no attention

human problems they create. 39

See Fabre, "Realit6 et Utopie," 183; in general Vossler and Fetscher,

cited above; Kateb, "Aspects of Rousseau's Political

Science Quarterly, restrictions real,

to the

43

and

Thought,"

Political

LXXVI

sacrifices;

(1961), 529 ("Every society necessitates and Rousseau, with his matchless sense of the

does not think that even the good society can be free of them").

40

Starobinski,

41

Eric Weil, "J.

1 29 ff Rousseau

o-p. cit.,

J.

et sa politique,"

Critique (Jan.-June

1952), 25. 42

De

43

Fabre,

Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimistic Evolutionist," 93. "Realite et Utopie," 214-15: "In opposition to a

civilization

that

[20]

and

to those

human problems

it

has chosen as

its

blind

guides, Rousseau keeps saying

cannot be denned and settled

first

of

all

in terms of

ROUSSEAU TODAY He

was fighting

a battle against

phetic vision which

told

the multiplication of

ties

rial

him due

Mammon

because of a pro-

that the multiplication of needs, to the necessity of satisfying

mate-

requirements, meant a decrease in freedom and a weakening

in the moral fiber of

man. Unless checked and

controlled, the

frenzy after wealth would unbalance the equitable relationship

among members

of the

community. Society would inevitably

enter a period in

which luxury would become

phenomenon and

in

would become

classes

As many modern

which an

a

destructive

irreconcilable division

among

a reality.

critics

have realized, Rousseau was the

problem of rich and poor,

to consider the age-old

first

as the conclu-

complex economic analysis which included property

sion of a

and the technical and

institutional factors

which contributed

to

the widening gulf between rich and poor. Thus, the condition of

being rich or of being poor, while due

denied skills,

And to

it

—

was

this

in

some measure

in greater

measure due

was the point

help steer a

Modern

new

at

—and

Rousseau never

and

to inequalities of intelligence

which

human

to deliberate

political action

action.

could intervene

course.

civilization, in accepting as

permanent

a rigid division

not only between rich and poor but between extreme wealth and

extreme poverty, was heading straight toward a worsening of the lives

and

and poor. Enclosed within

qualities of both rich

their

separate circles, the two classes tended to exhibit in ever stronger

fashion the worst

traits

of each.

No

improvement of

society

was

possible as long as this state of affairs continued. For everybody

production and of consumption, that one must certainly share the wealth

end of societies is not an increase in wealth, that and not secondarily a moral being, that one should treat

equitably, but that the

man

is

him

as

essentially

such and that therefore

it

is

necessary to substitute for the

blandishments of a materialistic economy the hard laws and exigencies of political

economy.'

"

hi]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU there

would be

end

in the

total isolation,

a world of strangers or enemies where

with each

all

human

man

living in

contact

would

44

be

lost.

Cut

from

off

become wedded Rousseau the

man and from

being.

45

But

if

he had

man was

man from

the awful

was

built for himself

not going to be an easy task to

man. But the attempt had principles held in mind. called the

'

mediocre"

to be

still

make

possible. It certainly

46

The

a citizen out of civilized

One of the standards was what Rousseau

state, or

the happy middle ground, or the

much above

standard to be imposed

certain average (that

is

'

mediocre") way of

reach of a community in which every citizen participant.

A

it

life is is

within the

a hard-working

and

stability are achieved.

This

society

be an urban

capitalistic

be a society in which

rather,

one in which a

is

made up only of independent farmers, common tasks are many and exacting. But neither

would not be a

would

or below a

society in which, through a variety of public

interventions, order, continuity,

because the

was

made, and certain standards and

condition in which no one would be very

golden mean.

man would

the recovery of natural

impossible, perhaps the rescue of civilized trap

nature,

monstrous urban agglomerations which

were the ultimate tragedy in the disintegration of

felt

human

his fellow to those

machine-oriented one.

politics

had

It

would,

taken the upper

finally

hand over economics. For there was nothing fatal about the laws 44

Baczko, of.

45

Cf

.

cit.,

226—7.

the section on "Deterioration of

Mores through Urbanization,"

in de Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimistic Revolutionist," 87—90. 46

214

On ff.;

Rousseau's etat mediocre and juste -milieu, cf Fetscher, of. cit., Concept of Freedom in the Light of his .

Fetscher, "Rousseau's

Philosophy of History,"

Nomos

IV, ed. Carl

J.

Friedrich

(New

York,

1962), 54-5 (and 56, where the restraining of "the dynamics of social development" is rightly seen as support for "a higher moral and political

freedom 352. [22]

for the citizen"); Burgelin, op.

cit.,

501; Levi-Strauss, op.

cit.,

ROUSSEAU TODAY of economic development.

The community was

the future course of events. Often

in the past

lost his

freedom and sharpened inequality because there were those out deliberately to seek those goals. Nothing prevented

set

on

free to decide

man had

who man

from seeking with equal deliberation different ones.

On

the

way

events

fairly consistent affairs

and

would be

and

would shape

A

clear.

man

downward

was

human

would continue.

It

trend very difficult to stop. At times

it

in the condition of a

in the future, Piousseau

gradual deterioration in

even appears that the trend

in society

developing into a

is

spiral,

with

dramatic events taking place at an accelerated speed. Pessimism

was

justified

by the evidence.

things were, one

was true that no matter how bad

It

was grateful

for the little mercies of apparent

order and the elimination of open banditry. But the world was

touching bottom, almost, and found

itself in a

darkening valley far

from the dazzling peaks the Enlightenment thought

it

had

reached.

The

question was whether anything could be done.

It

is

quite probable that Rousseau thought that something could be

done about small

owing

states, either

to their size, or

societies

because they were manageable

because the corruption of multiple-need

had not yet reached them. Even here the best that

might be hoped was

a

slowdown

of the degenerative process.

Such pessimism brings Rousseau

to a consideration of the role

of revolutions, or of the great upheavals

points in the history of civilization.

the

coming revolution

as if

it

tions of

At

were

inevitable given the premises of

its

which mark the

times,

were

a certainty or as if

it

analysis. Since the

founda-

which

is

bound

to

deepen

onisms, a revolutionary explosion cannot be avoided.

De

crisis

Rousseau speaks of

contemporary society are based on injustice and on a

principle, that of property,

47

47

Jouvenel, Essai sur

la

politique de Piousseau, 84.

class antag-

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Rousseau has no in a great state:

illusion as to the

he begs us

to

consequences of revolution

imagine what would happen

mass of French society started moving. Hence,

would

goes to great pains to

show

his conservatism

Rousseau

is

if

clear that

he

possible.

He

and prudence and

deprecate violent commotions which can raise

lems than they can

it is

showdown,

like to avoid a revolutionary

the

if

many more

to

prob-

solve.

facing the dilemma of the social

damaging

critic

who

has

interpretation of the forces at

work

around him and has demonstrated the moral necessity of

their

offered the most

doom, and who yet would the obvious conclusion.

what looks

like to stop short of

He

manages

through his faith in the possibility

to rise

that,

like

above the dilemma

adequately warned and

educated and given the right circumstances, man, a moral being,

can reassert himself over history and regain a mastery over his fate

which hitherto

The antagonism brilliantly

of moral

shown,

48

history seems to have denied him.

of nature

and

high plane

There

visible ideal of a state of nature, of a

the other hand, there

Henri Gouhier, "Nature

which we ought

is all

unhappy chances, and with 48

this

his responsibilities as citizen.

age, of a standard of perfection

Annates,

Henri Gouhier has

can perhaps be eliminated on

man assuming

remote and only half

On

history, as

its

of history, with

mistakes.

et histoire

XXXIII (1953-1955), 7—48.

dans

to

is

golden

bear in mind.

its

hazards and

Things have happened la

pensee de Rousseau,"

Starting from the opposition of

nature and history, Gouhier argues that Rousseau's alternative

is

not state

condemns man of nature' become man of man': but had man perforce to become what he has fact become? Rousseau cannot dream of a 'return to the state of nature'; he equally obliged to maintain the status quo? The question which of nature or history:

posed

is

"An

a

effective necessity

therefore not: state of nature or history? but:

to

in is is

this history or

another one?" (20) And if property belongs to the historical order, "it does not belong to that effective necessity which makes history inevitable," for lost,

[24]

Rousseau speaks of calamitous chance. way can be found (26).

the right

And

if

the right

way was

ROUSSEAU TODAY which might not have happened. ine that

man

will forever

mistakes he has

made and

Is it

impossible, then, to imag-

be unable

to

redress

some of the

try to achieve reconciliation

between

nature and history?

Rousseau says that

it

is

not impossible.

many

express the satisfaction of so

phers

who thought

plenty, perfection,

If it

was absurd

to

eighteenth-century philoso-

the world to be on the eve of the greatest

and pleasure

it

had ever

seen, with

man

himself getting hints of immortality or at least of a possibility of life to

which no

finite

term could be given,

believe that nothing could be felt to

done

to

it

was wrong

to

change a course Rousseau

be catastrophic for mankind. Therefore, Rousseau leaves us

with the hope that the recovery of a worthy freedom for well-ordered society

is

man

in a

possible.

[25]

II

The Contemporary

Setting

Places

THE

Rousseau before us

from 1736 Books

to 1756.

and

vi, vii,

The

viii

is

the Rousseau of the twenty years

vicissitudes of those years are narrated in

of the Confessions, in the pages

with the words "Here begins the short happiness of

end with the chian

>

retreat

which

my

life,"

start

and

from Paris "under the jeerings of the Holba-

1

clan.'

Within

this

twenty-year span, three places are decisive in their

influence on the intellectual

development of Rousseau: Les

Charmettes, Paris, and Geneva.

The

happiness of

man

as

he moves from nature

represents the predicament of

away from the ideal of

civilization

what the

first is

of

life

man

he has

to society; the

but

trying,

built.

man might

the symbol of the lost

be.

The The

failing,

third

is

second to get

the distant

years of Les Char-

mettes run from 1736 to 1742. Paris accounts for most of the years from 1742 to 1756. reference, except for a

Rousseau would as a

1

vi,

is

but a

memory and

few summer months

like to

haven of happiness,

Confessions, bk.

[26]

Geneva

O.C.

in 1754.

remember the time for

I,

it

a point of

at

Les Charmettes

was undoubtedly spent

225; bk.

ix,

O.C.

I,

401.

close to

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING nature and

garden

its

beauties, a time of solitude, of

as well as of intensive

also a time filled illness

work

manual work

of the mind.

with tensions and

It

was, however,

There were

fears.

in the

serious

and the premonition of death, the unhappiness

crumbling of the foundations on which

Warens

rested, the first disquieting

Lyon, where the opulence of

become the

at the

Madame

awareness of a large

civilization

starting point of the road followed

abandons the innocence of

dis-

which might perhaps

Charmettes in the end became

ideal city. Les

de

city,

and commerce was

played, and glimpses of the native city

more than the

with

life

by man

little

as

he

his original condition for life in so-

ciety.

Paris

is

at first

only a brief apparition. For Rousseau's intro-

duction to political

life

takes place in one of the oldest political

member

systems then in existence, that of Venice, and as a

one of the oldest branches of public

diplomacy.

service,

2

of

What

he finds out about both of them will leave in his mind the "germ

which

of indignation against our stupid civil institutions in

public good and real justice are always sacrificed to

know what apparent

I

real

do not

order, destructive in effect of all order

and

which only adds the sanction of public authority to the oppression of the

weak and the

against the

background of

iniquity of the strong." this

3

And

it

is

major theme of the contrast

between being and appearing that Rousseau

will begin to think

about his future work on political institutions. In crossing the Alps, on his return from Venice to Paris,

Rousseau gains some of the courage he needs years ahead of

2

him and

to tolerate

to face the difficult

the contrast between the

Rousseau's dispatches of the years 1743 and 1744, written when he to the French ambassador, have been published in full for

was secretary the

first

time as Depeches de Venise, O.C.

Ill,

1

045-1 234, with

intro-

duction and notes by Jean-Daniel Candaux. 3

Confessions, bk.

vii,

O.C.

I,

327. [27]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU appearance of order and the

Nature comes

reality of disorder.

and convinces him

his rescue,

of

its

to

He

superiority over art.

suddenly has a revelation of the beauty of the mountains and discovers their "amazing mixture of savage nature

vated nature," and he at the

same time of

culti-

struck by the gathering in one spot and

is

all

and of

the panoply of the earth

—"on the East

the flowers of spring, on the South the fruits of autumn, on the

—

North the

ice of

where one

feels a "greater lightness of

The

winter"

body, a serenity of

years from 1744 to 1749 are indeed oppressive

Rousseau

feels the cruel pressures of deprivation

way which he

is

to

remember

and

with nature.

He

is

is

4

and hard.

injustice in a

he

is

a direct contact

struggling against poverty and

with society and commerce with men." Paris

air

spirit."

for the rest of his life, just as

remember the strength man can obtain from

to

and subtle"

in the midst of "pure

a

is

"disgusted

"town where

arrogance rules and where the virtuous poor are the object of 5

contempt." for the rich

But even

who

as

he was driven

to the

humblest of work

could pay, he was also thinking furiously and

reading the classics of political thought, from Bodin to Grotius,

books of history both ancient and modern, and accounts of travels

4

and

of the ethnography of distant peoples.

6

See the famous description of the Valais in La Nonvelle Heloise,

O.C.

i,

76-84. 5 Letter to Roguin, July 9, 1745, in Correspondance generate (hereafter C.G.), ed. Th. Dufour (Paris, 1924-1934), I, 270; also in the new edition of Rousseau's correspondence now under way, Correspon23,

II,

dance complete de

] eon-) acques

Leigh (Geneva, 1965-), II, 1 1 50-3. 6

The

Rousseau (hereafter C.C.^), ed. R. A. M. de YEtang, O.C.

83-6. Also see Epitre a

dispersion at auction between 1951

Madame Dupin, intensity

II,

and 1958 of the archives of

Rousseau's protector and employer, has revealed the

and range

of Rousseau's

work

as

shown by

several thousands of

pages of excerpts of readings and of essays written under

Madame

Dupin's dictation. Cf. the note of Gagnebin and Raymond, the editors of the Confessions, in O.C. [28]

I,

141 3:

"The inventory drawn up by M. A.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING With the answer he gave in 1 749 to the question posed by the Academy of Dijon, Rousseau tells us, there began a period of which

intense mental activity fantastic,

sudden success

lasted for several years, the years of

as well as of final crisis: "All

my

small

passions were set aside by the enthusiasm for truth, for freedom,

and what

for virtue,

maintained

itself in

measure perhaps 7

other man."

as

To

most amazing

is

my heart for more high

the

is

five years in a

any

in the heart of

what Rousseau thought and wrote

this decisive period of his life, to

unity of inspiration,

that this effervescence

was found

as ever

find out

is

than four or

which he himself

main

task as that of setting forth his

in

gives a singular

object of this book.

He

saw

his

view of man's progress through

time and of finding the causes of his downfall.

He

has to do

it,

surrounded by adulation, in the

the heart of the civilization he was condemning.

about

to leave Paris for the Ermitage, he regrets

ful of

what

had done

Paris

for him.

"live in the

midst of friendship in

mankind, in

this

austere

immense

wisdom and

shelter

foolish

.

.

it is

.

on

When

he

is

not unmind-

Happy is the man who can the common fatherland of

open

to all

men, where both

youth are equally happy; where

humanity, hospitality, sweetness and ciety rule

it,

city placed at

all

the charms of easy so-

this great theatre of fortune, of vice

and

sometimes of virtue, that one can profitably watch the spectacle of

life;

but

it is

plete in peace his

Yet he

feels

in his

own."

he has

to

own

country that everyone should com-

8

go away.

The

year

is

1755, and he finds

unbearable the burdens placed on the successful writer by a Senechal of the works consulted by Rousseau on behalf of Mme. Dupin shows that the writer has considerably increased his knowledge of political science (Bodin, Domat, Grotius), of history (not only the history of antiquity, but that of France, Spain, and England in modern times) and of ethnography." 7

Confessions, bk.

8

Lettre a Philopolis, O.C. Ill, 235.

viii,

O.C.

I,

351.

[29]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU commercial

civilization.

An

work did not become

his

when one

nobly

author could be respectable only

a trade. "It

thinks only in order to

own

one's

success."

9

An

tion

was whether the

must not depend upon

escape from the city in spite of the

had become

"jeering" of his friends

In order to be able,

live.

in order to dare, to say great truths, one

was

flight

The

inevitable.

be again

to

only ques-

to the forest

was

it

to

be

an "ideal"

to

where

come

the great thoughts of the Discourse on Inequality had

him, or whether

if

too difficult to think

is

to

Could Geneva be

city.

his salvation?

The

on Rousseau

issue of Geneva's influence

a perennial

is

one, and learned and well-documented arguments have been

developed to maintain

as well as to

it

deny

10 it.

But

in

any

meaningful sense the answer must unquestionably be that Geneva's significance

both continuous and large.

is

This can be seen

and

tions,

first

of

all

work from the

Bordes of that the

"reawakened

1

74

1

and

my

tarch"

—

new

heart of that

strength, first

Confessions, bk.

10

On

742

first

my

ix,

to carry

O.C

I,

Rousseau

et

Geneve

Rousseau, Suisse, 2

[30]

of the letters to

the state-

me

to write

cf.

father,

my

fatherland and Plu-

answer

King

to the

403.

On

side, J.

12

S.

/.-/.

Spink,

the entire problem of Rous-

monumental work by Francois

vols. (Fribourg,

Cf. infra, pp. 32, 69-70.

of

out more fully the task he had set

(Paris, 1934).

the

it,

and completed the fermen-

the affirmative side of this question, see Gaspard Vallette,

seau and Switzerland, 11

—

Discourse in 1750

Rousseau, Genevois (Paris, 191 1); on the negative ].-].

and n

leaven of heroism and of virtue

to his declaration in the 1751

Poland that in order 9

for his

1

the ideas which had caused

placed there in infancy by 12

of 1737

of

Parisot

to

winning of the prize all

animated them with a tation in

words of longing in the

earliest

Le Verger

Confessions, to the verses of

ment

be found

allusions, as well as of specific statements, to

in Rousseau's

to

in the flood of memories, recollec-

Jost, /.-/.

1961). Confessions, bk.

viii,

O.C.

I,

356.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING himself,

for

13

Geneva

—

would

he

in Paris in the fifties

ships

—everything also

find

and the

conduct

to

to

be

sum

total of feelings,

many

memories,

:

Geneva

Rousseau's attitude toward

that

in

set aside

man and

shaped by some of his fundamental views about Like his father,

research

his

with Genevan exiles

political relevance of those relation-

points to a

and plans too strong

We

have

to his continuous relationship

and

of the inhabitants of the city

is

nature. of the

surrounding villages on the lake and in the mountains were sturdy independent artisans

—

that

men who

is,

in the midst of

advanced society had maintained an autonomy of personality

and of

skills that

made them

better

men. And the closing pages

moving terms the

of part iv of the Nouvelle Heloise confirm in

magic attraction that land had for Rousseau. That attraction was a combination of the

irresistible

charm

and awesome

of a wild

nature and of political considerations. Rousseau contrasts the

happiness and prosperity of the peasants of his fatherland, secure in the

enjoyment of what

their hard

work has

yielded, with the

poverty of the neighboring Chablais, a land no less favored by nature, but ruled by distant princes.

earth opens

come

who

its fertile

cultivate

to life at the

bosom and sheds it

"to

two governments on the

wealth, number, and happiness of man.

peoples

was possible then

It

distinguish the different effects of the

It is

its

thus

.

.

that the

.

treasures to the

for themselves. It appears to smile

sweet appearance of liberty

.

.

.

On

happy and

to

the other

hand, the sad huts, the brush and thorny weeds covering a semi-desert land

ruling

announce from

afar that

an absent master

is

it.

There political

is

a great deal more:

meaning

chiefly the

of Rousseau's attachment to

considered himself a citizen of 13

Cf. infra, pp. 88-9.

14

La Nouvelle

Heloise,

iv,

1

7,

hard and

specific

Geneva. Rousseau

Geneva and always proudly

O.C.

II, 5

1

pro-

5-6. [31]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU claimed himself one. There never was any fuzziness about the

view Rousseau had of citizenship in Geneva. citizen,

He

was horn a

both his father and his mother belonging to the Geneva

bourgeoisie. In 1762

he goes out of

who

no longer

time

at that

is

he had provided in

correct classification

Volume VII far as I citizen."

his

way

of the Encyclopaedia:

"No

his article

for the

on Geneva in

other French author, as

know, has understood the true meaning 15

someone

to praise

his friend, d'Alembert,

word

of the

D'Alembert had correctly distinguished between the

four orders of persons

who made up

the population of

Geneva

in

the eighteenth century: the citizen, the bourgeois, the habitants,

and the

natives. Rousseau, son of bourgeois parents

Geneva, was a

citizen.

one of belonging describes in his

As such he had

to the

poem

those rights, including the

General Council, which he so proudly

to Parisot.

And

if

participation in the political system of

were not quite in keeping with the

Geneva

after the crisis of

his views of

Geneva

There was, above

all,

what

actually

direct

meant

realities of political life in

1738, they were far closer to the

substance of things than has often been admitted.

at least in its history,

and born in

the attachment to a

and even then

in

its size,

16

community which, embodied many of

the values Rousseau was developing in his political theory. In the

happy phrase of Jean Fabre, Geneva "reappears every time

Rousseau needs a middle term between the

Geneva

is

the

way

station

between

and the

real

a lost past

true."

17

and an unfathom-

able future. Finally, the decision of 15

Contrat Social,

16

Cf. the precise

i,

6,

Rousseau

O.C.

comments

Ill,

to return to

Geneva

in

1754

361—2.

of B. Gagnebin, in the discussion of the

paper by O. Krafft, "Les Classes sociales a Geneve

et

la

notion de

volume published under the auspices of the Comite National Pour La Commemoration de J.-J. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rous-

citoyen,"

in a

seau et son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 228-9. 17 Jean Fabre, "Realite et Utopie dans seau," Annates,

[32]

XXXV

la

(1959-1962), 198-9.

pensee politique de Rous-

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING and a fundamental moral

represents a turning point in his life

and

commitment,

political

if

as I think

one must,

his native city

was a

18

real one.

For a

one assumes,

permanently in

that the intention to settle

man

dedicated by

man

condition of

governed,

now

was necessary

it

Geneva represented

improve the

to the thesis that to

a

to

improve the way he was

good way out of the dilemma in

which Rousseau was caught, on the one hand of the impossibility of a

return to nature, on the other

hand

life in the heart of a corrupt civilization.

some exaggeration, that spoiled everything.

Geneva

feels that

the storm,

had

I

Voltaire,

"I

Rousseau

by deciding

Having learned

is lost.

of the impossibility of tells us,

to settle in

with

Geneva,

of that decision, Rousseau

might perhaps have gone and faced

possessed the necessary talent. But

what could

I

have done alone and shy and speaking very poorly, against an arrogant and opulent brilliantly

supported by the credit of the Greats,

eloquent and already the idol of

women and

of

young

19

people?"

Even

man

if this

were not true in any formal sense,

substantial sense, for

two different

it is

true in a

Rousseau and Voltaire represented not only

styles of life,

but also two different philosophies.

Rousseau knew furthermore that a cottage was ready for him in the silence of the forest of life

would now have

Montmorency. The

to take place

shift to

not in the "ideal"

an "ideal"

city,

but in

the solitude of nature.

Men

and Ideas

Rousseau's relationship with the

what we

call

men who

together created

the century of lights was as complex as the strands

18

Cf. infra, pp. 157-8, also for an appraisal of the Dedication of the Discourse on Inequality to the sovereign members of the republic, that is to

the citizens 19

who formed

Confessions, bk.

viii,

the General Council.

O.C.

I,

396-7. [33]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

No

of the political thought of that century. possible, but certain things are clear

simplification

and should enable one

is

to fix

Rousseau's position within his times with some measure of precision.

The

ties

thought

to

linking Rousseau to Montesquieu have often been

be

identify

to

difficult

and

Perhaps

evaluate.

to

Rousseau's attitude can best be described as one of distant awe for the great

at the

1755,

man who disappeared from the scene when the break between Rousseau and

his closest friends

began

to

moment,

in

appear probable. Montesquieu's authority could always

be invoked in supporting Rousseau's views on such practical matters as the size of political communities, the operating devices

which Rousseau's realism considered

of democracy, the issues

important and which on the other hand the cosmopolitanism of the Enlightenment viewed as tion of

an era about

to

trivialities

make

not worthy of the atten-

discoveries of universal value that

would guarantee permanently the happiness quieu was a pessimist and a

relativist,

and

of

his

men. Montes-

mind was

with a host of small problems which served to show

prudence was needed in the handling of

had therefore attracted the

human

sarcastic scorn

filled

how much

affairs

and he

who

of Helvetius

thought the task of distinguishing between good and bad govern-

ments an

so

infinitely easier one.

The Esprit des Lois, moreover, had so much to say in favor of many of the principles close to his heart that Rousseau could

not

to find

fail

it

to his liking.

renunciation of oneself of laws

.

Thus:

[which]

.

virtue

"political

may be

ing to the

and accumulate wealth were praised

common

welfare,

a

as contribut-

Montesquieu writes that "the com-

sense and the happiness of individuals

lies a

great deal in

the mediocrity of their talents and of their fortunes.

where laws [34]

is

defined as the love

and of fatherland." In an age where the drives of individ-

uals to acquire

mon

.

will

have formed

many

A

mediocre people

republic .

.

.

will

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING govern the

itself wisely."

first

And how

when

writing

year earlier

he had

could Rousseau,

one

Discourse, have forgotten that

read in the Esprit des Lois these words

"Greek

:

knew

politicians

only one principle, that of virtue; those of today talk only about :

manufactures, commerce, finances, wealth, luxury."

Hence, Rousseau

He

greatness.

is

is

happy

among

to

those to

acknowledge Montesquieu's

whom

peoples of the earth could be entrusted.

omy

his

name

is

linked to that of Plato.

21

22

serious

work on the

In the Political Econ-

Indeed, a recent

critic

has been able to say that in appreciating the scope of the

Discourse

might certainly be better

"it

to see in

it

less a

first

declama-

tion inspired by platonic chimeras, than the systematic develop-

ment

of certain affirmations of

of politics."

Montesquieu on the

real values

23

However

may

well founded these words

be,

and however

frequent Rousseau's reliance on Montesquieu on "problems of

convenience or adaptation,"

24

we

are aware of a certain reticence

Montesquieu. This

of

Rousseau

of

which Rousseau was keenly conscious.

vis-a-vis

is

due

to

some

How much

contrasts

of Montes-

quieu's unhappiness about gross speculation, the rise of a

wealth and of a

new

class of enterprisers,

was due

of distress, being himself one of the landowners

power diminish change?

25

If

in the midst of great

new

to his feelings

who saw

their

economic turmoil and

Rousseau was against urban wealth,

it

was not

because he wanted to maintain the wealth of the provincial 20

Esprit des Lois, IV,

21

Discours sur Vorigine de Vinegalite, O.C.

22

Economie

23

A. Adam,

politique,

"De

5;

V,

O.C.

3. Ill,

213.

273. Quelques Sources de Rousseau dans Ill,

philosophique (1700-1750)," in Rousseau et son oeuvre, cites 24

la

litterature

128.

Adam

the last passage of Montesquieu quoted above. Fabre, "Realite et Utopie," 191.

25

This point is skillfully made by Jean Starobinski, Montesquieu par lui-meme (Paris, 1953), 53. [35]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU nobility. Indeed,

Montesquieu saw no harm

commerce" because thrift,

carried with

it

Luxury

of work, of order.

even though

But what that he

really ultimately

was engaged

itself is

democracy.

fatal in a

it

many

in the "spirit of

other qualities of

necessary in monarchies,

26

mattered was Rousseau's conviction

in a different endeavor.

Montesquieu had

provided the most useful foundations for a study of

might have been able not. is

Rousseau

doing

it

Rousseau

is

He

to

continue beyond that stage, but he did

is

continuing Montesquieu's work, but he

he

not at the practical, but above

and the

level,

feels

politics.

difference,

he thinks,

is

all at

the theoretical

very great. In the Emile

quite explicit: "[Montesquieu] refrained from dis-

cussing the principles of political right; he was satisfied with

and

treating of the positive law of established governments;

nothing in this world

is

more

different than these

two

studies."

27

here that the historical approaches of the master and the

It is

disciple part

way,

Rousseau seeks

as

to fix his

mind beyond

the

contingencies of time and place.

No

such duality of judgment

exists in the case of the other

great literary figure dominating the mid-century, Voltaire.

Even

Rousseau's early and almost entirely formal praise, in the Confessions

and

in his

first letter

of 1745 to Voltaire

countered by his criticism in the Verger: he has no lous authors whose goal sider

human

is

just to

be witty.

misery, he will read

28

is

already

taste for frivo-

When he wants to con-

Montaigne and La Bruyere.

29

Their relationship was altogether an unhappy and antagonis26

Esprit des Lois, xxi, 14, 16;

vii,

1,4.

2T

Emile, bk.

v.

"Nothing of what Voltaire was writing escaped our attention. The pleasure I had in these readings inspired my desire to learn to write with elegance" (Confessions, bk. v, O.C. I, 214); "For the past fifteen years I have worked to make myself worthy of your attention" (letter to Voltaire, 28

December 29

[36]

1

1,

1745, C.G.

Verger, O.C.

II,

1 1

I,

275).

29, 11 24.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING tic

one. Rousseau felt he

had

tried to

be respectful toward such a

but Voltaire treated him with contempt and

lofty personality,

misunderstanding: "I don't like you

Geneva.

lost

.

.

You have

.

at all, sir.

.

.

You have

.

me my

from

alienated

fellow-

land.

... It is you who will, force me to die in a foreign ... Of all the sentiments my heart nourished for you,

there

is

citizen.

only

the admiration one cannot refuse to your

left

beautiful genius

and

how

see

It is difficult to

your writings."

a liking for

30

could have been otherwise, because

it

more than any other leading "philosophe," Voltaire stood what was opposed

common grounds on which

were no

for

Rousseau was defending. There

to the values

a reconciliation could be

brought about. Voltaire supported the doctrines and institutions of

the

civilization

He

Rousseau had condemned.

was

for

property and wealth and luxury and for a suitably preponderant

and government

society

role in

who knew how

property and for those of life

for those to

and

The new

human

which they were operating. Thus

Melon's Observations sur with his usual

le

literature

yet another of the claims to

What

Rousseau has

indignation.

He

"What

man who

30

if

the

praising

commerce, Voltaire had summed up

been

fame

to say

so tied

up with

of our century."

about property

finance. This

is

31

fills

Voltaire with

annotates angrily the Discourse on Inequality.

has planted, sown and enclosed [his

Letter to Voltaire, June

Confessions, bk. x, O.C. 31

happiness

in

the position of the Enlightenment:

fatal clarity

"Never before has

social role

was that of

political philosophers

using for the advancement of culture and of the milieu in

acquired

enjoy the refinements

which accumulated wealth provided.

of writers, economists,

who had

I,

17,

field]

1760, as given by Rousseau in the

541—2.

Oeuvres completes, Moland

ed.

(52

vols.; Paris,

1877— 1885), XXII

(1879), 364-5[37]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU does not have the right to the fruit of his work?" the praise Rousseau bestows on the person

He

is

shocked

issued a warning against the private enclosure of land: it

possible to say that this unjust

man,

been the benefactor of mankind? This

at

who might have

this thief,

"How

is

would have

the philosophy of a

is

tramp who would like to see the wealthy robbed by the poor." The hope of Rousseau that sometime in the past or sometime in the future the ideal of a middleground with no extremes might

have existed or might as

he views

as utter fantasy Rousseau's

he

of the Canadians, for

Years

pamphlet

is

is

'

chimera," just

image of the Hurons and

convinced they are cannibals.

Rousseau which

is

far

more than

and of a rugged kind

of liberalism

views the rights of rich and poor as equal, one to get :

that, for

an uncompromising expression of an extreme

utilitarian doctrine

other to starve

32

Idees refuhlicaines, Voltaire was to continue

later, in his

in a polemic against this

exist, Voltaire considers a

"The

dress of the rich can

which

fat,

the

no more be regulated

than the rags of the poor. Citizens both, both must be equally free.

Each

will dress, eat,

be housed

if

he can.

If

you stop the

wealthy from eating wild cocks, you damage the poor

who might

support his family by selling them." There was no doubt in Voltaire's

mind

lazy

the jealous poor

.

.

.

that laws against luxury can please only "the

who do

not want to work or to

all

ow

32

Cf. G. R. Havens, Voltaire's Marginalia on the Pages of Rousseau (Columbus, 1933), 15, 17, 145. Of course, Voltaire expresses the same shocked view of Rousseau's madness throughout his work: "Thus, according to this great philosopher, a thief, a destroyer, would have been the benefactor of mankind; and an honest man should have been punished for telling his children: let us imitate our neighbor, he has enclosed his field, animals will no longer prey on it, his land will become more fertile, let us till ours as he is tilling his, he will help us and we will help him;

each family cultivating

more tranquil, XXVII, 339-40).

ier,

[38]

less

its

enclosure,

we

will be better nourished, health-

unhappy" (Oeuvres completes, XIX, 380;

also,

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING those

who do

33

enjoy

to

life."

fatherland equaled property.

which

field

When

cultivate

I

For Voltaire, as Moraze points out,

What

my

is

and which belongs

country

to

not a good

if

34

me?

some questions

a friend of Rousseau, Romilly, raised

about Voltaire's presence in Geneva, this was the result: "I was

who

one day with a wealthy merchant of Geneva,

and the conversation

Voltaire,

neva.

weakening of

religion, to

in dissipation,

an increase in the

taste for

has benefited by more than 200,000 livres?"

thunder against

was

safe."

to a

to

good

you do not know that

heat,

since Voltaire's arrival in this country the city of

for Voltaire to

Ge-

luxury and

and would consequently be too contrary

What? he answered with

customs.

often sees

Voltaire's stay near

prove that his sojourn would only lead

tried to

I

on

fell

35

Geneva alone

Also,

it

was easy

remain with an asylum from which he could tyrants. Indeed, "all the

more cowardly

as

he

36

This was a prudent liberalism ready

to accept the practices of

enlightened despotism, of a system which, with due and essential

homage

to

freedom of thought and of

would be able

dissent,

to

33

Oeuvres completes, XXIV, 413-32. Luxury was "a necessary consequence of property, without which no society can subsist, and of a great inequality of fortunes,

which

property but of bad law" political

18). But Voltaire found good a

—"The

poor, in a

fit

of

who was

bad humour" (XXXIV, 200).

Charles Moraze, La France bourgeoise (Paris, 1952), 74 Moraze "If we open the Encyclopedic, we find that it is the collection

also writes

of

XX,

system based on property qualifications, and in any case

against luxury? 34

the consequence not of the right of

is

(ibid..,

all

:

the good

ways of producing wealth

.

.

.

while

it

offers the philo-

sophical justification of this love for the goods of the earth" (69). 35

Fragment

of

an unpublished

letter of

Romilly

to

Rousseau, 1763,

published by Michel Launay, "La Societe francaise d'apres

dance de Rousseau (textes inedits)," Annales historiques de franqaise (1962), 36

la la

correspon-

Revolution

418-9.

Diderot, Lettre apologetique,

March

mann, Inventaire du fonds Vandeid

et

25,

1781, in Herbert Dieck-

inedits

de Diderot (Geneva,

1951), 243. [39]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU hold in check the vagaries of the

could not even understand,

taire

wanted with

a universal duty.

seemed

him

to

to

be close

in

The

what Rousseau

like,

abstractions of the general will

to folly:

he would certainly refuse

Or

priests.

trust

to

which money and property were not key

"They have no more would have

which hard

society, in

Should those without land or a house have

ards.

A

alone

by magistrates or

a bridge built

community

let

regulate the

to

leisure of the rich. Vol-

and democratic

his austere

work was

cross

mob and

hamper the

disturbances which might

a right to

to regulate their

properly organized

it

to

a

stand-

a right to vote?

than a clerk paid by merchants

commerce."

37

community needed sharply defined and

divided classes and a mass of penniless peasants to do their duty as

wage

laborers

and

soldiers.

The

happiness of others: "They will be

latter

would share

they can. This liberty will replace property. of a just salary will sustain them. families in their painful class of

men

They

and useful

The

certain

38

How

hope

will cheerfully raise their

trades. It

is

above

so despised in the eyes of the powerful,

nursery of soldiers."

in the

free to sell their labor as best

all

which

is

this

the

brilliantly does Voltaire provide the

bridge between the earlier, seventeenth-century, expressions of

such views and their full-fledged practical realization a hundred years later.

foundations.

How happy the How convinced

minism, that tolerance

all

vision of a future built

he was, with

would be well

on such

his optimistic deter-

in the end, provided a climate of

and freedom was allowed

to flourish,

one in which

everyone would do as he pleased.

That Rousseau saw times

is

quake.

made It is

spectators

if

clear

by

this as

one of the overriding

his letter to Voltaire

earth-

necessary to be active participants and not passive

one wanted that

all

should be well one day.

37

Idees republicaines, Oeuvres completes,

38

Oeuvres completes, XX, 293.

[40]

issues of the

on the Lisbon

XXIV, 417, 425.

If in

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING the natural order responsible

and

all is it is

man becomes

necessary, in the moral order

duty

his

to see that the practical arrange-

ments that are not working well be Rousseau defends moral freedom, will of revolutionary change."

set aside for better ones: "If

because he

it is

moved by

is

But Montesquieu and Voltaire were the exchanges and troubles of daily

life

fairly

remote

figures.

women

of letters,

middlemen and

literary

In

what mattered more was

the tangled mass of encyclopedists, fhilosophes, scientists,

and

a

39

men

peddlers,

of

which, during the period under consideration, Rousseau was part.

With each

of the protagonists of the play, Rousseau enter-

tained different relationships: with

many, of

close

and steady

friendship, with others of friendship turning into bitter enmity.

Only

which

that part of the story

recounted here, for

more

it is

is

related to ideas will be

profitable to consider Rousseau's

place within the contemporary setting by focusing our attention

on the substantive

issues

which by themselves

are

enough

establish a tolerably clear picture. Paraphrasing Voltaire,

seau refused to be a

he was playing

Very useful

member

a different

Rous-

was

of the team, but the reason

to

that

game.

to clarify the issues

is

d'Alembert, the

tireless

worker, the scientist, the co-editor of the Encychfedie, the friend of Rousseau in the forties. that rallied

He

was

a

member

of the group

around Rousseau during the noisy quarrel which

divided Paris between supporters of French music and supporters of Italian music. 39

40

The

former, Rousseau

tells us,

included

Jacques Proust, Diderot et VEncyclopedie (Paris, 1962), 324. As is not passive but wants to work actively for the

Proust says, Rousseau

dawn

of that day in

40

which

all

will

be well (325). For the Lisbon

1756, see infra, pp. 201-207. This was taking place in 1753 when the crisis between the Paris

earthquake

letter of

Parliament and the Monarchy was at

its

peak. But

Grimm

"the quarrels of the Paris Parliament with the Court,

its

relates that

exile

...

all

these events have been a topic of conversation in Paris for only 24 hours

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU "the great and the rich," the smaller band of the latter was

up

of lively, enthusiastic,

and

fine musicians.

made

41

D'Alembert had supported Rousseau's collaboration

the

to

Encyclopedic and had referred in flattering terms, even though critically, to his

friend in the Preliminary Discourse of

1

75 1

42

while Rousseau was to include him in the Discourse on In-

among

equality

And

the

those capable of serious anthropological work.

Grimm

ever-present

could

d'Alembert in his Melanges de

say

still

litterature,

43

1754 that

in

published early in

1753, had expressed views that were not too far from those of

Rousseau.

44

These friendly beginnings could not last,

for underlining every-

thing was a difference of views which explains the clash be-

tween Rousseau and the Enlightenment. say

to

about the Nouvelle

Heloise

What

d'Alembert was

and Emile

relevant.

is

D'Alembert charges Rousseau with having written until then works based upon an often ics.

He

and always worthless metaphys-

false

had depicted "a gigantic and imaginary nature," some-

thing of no value, d'Alembert must

been more receptive

to

One

through which he might move. loise,

however, appears

for giants, has shrunk,

to

feel,

while

man would have

a recognizable description

be that

of nature

merit of the Nouvelle He-

this distant nature, suitable

and we can take pleasure

only

in "the episodes,

the sidelights, the details on domestic economy, on the pleasure of

and no matter what

upon

itself

this respectable

the eyes of the public,

body has done it

in the past year to fix

has never secured for

thirtieth of the attention given to the revolution in music."

dance

litteraire,

Tourneux

41

Confessions, bk.

43

O.C.

44

Ill,

viii,

ed. [Paris, 1877], II,

O.C.

I,

384, 1447.

itself

one

(Correspon-

258-9.) 42

Cf. infra, pp. 87-88.

213.

319-20. The 1753 edition of the Melanges was limited to two volumes. The Elements de fkilosofhie appeared only in the edition of 1759, expanded to 5 volumes. [42]

Ibid.,

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING the country." But this not

life in

this is the

work

someone who

of

enough

to

make one

forget that

has withdrawn from society and

has lost touch with reality. According to d'Alembert, the Emile

withdrawal

and proves

shows

this

phy

not in his head but in his heart.

is

too,

that Rousseau's philoso-

The major fault with Rousseau then lies in his wasting so much energy and intelligence in considering "man in a condition which he never

of abstraction, in those metaphsical conditions in

was and never

will be."

seau's attempt to

D'Alembert cannot approve of Rous-

understand the present through the recovery of

the image of an ideal natural telling us that social

man, and is is

useless:

must

live is

all rally

Make

is

man. Rousseau's

man

not natural

and

that the loss of man's primitive

not his fault

This

man

on

insistence

but a corrupted

original perfection

but the result of intercourse with his fellow men,

"You want,

among

I

will tell him, to educate a child

monsters, and you

want

to

make

of

him

not feasible; the giant will shock the monsters, against

him and chase him away under

who

a giant.

who

will

a hail of stones.

then of your child a monster like the others, but perhaps

as little a

disliked

monster

by

enough

as possible,

of a monster not to be

but not enough to be disliked by

his fellow monsters,

himself."

D'Alembert has understood the revolutionary character of

what Rousseau stands sophic,

for.

He

himself, in the Elements de philo-

had described the mid-century

as

an age of unparalleled

transformation in the development of mankind: If

one examines carefully the mid-point of the century in which

live,

we

the events which excite us or at any rate occupy our minds, our

customs, our achievements, and even our diversions, to see that in

some

respects a very remarkable

it is

difficult

not

change in our ideas

is

taking place, a change whose rapidity seems to promise an even greater transformation to come. all

directions like a river

.

.

.

Spreading through nature in

which has burst

its

dams,

this

fermentation [43]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU has swept with a force of violence everything along with stood in

way.

its

.

.

.

Thus from

it

which

the principles of the secular

sci-

ences to the foundations of religious revelation, from metaphysics to matters of

from music

taste,

from the

to morals,

scholastic disputes of

theologians to matters of trade, from the laws of princes to those of peoples, from natural law to the arbitrary laws of nations

.

.

.

everything has been discussed and analyzed, or at least mentioned. 45

Now,

few years

later,

the

fire

seems gone and the

lights

dimming. Victory against the "enemy," wherever he may be

are

found,

he

just a

is

really

unlikely:

"The

wants

be useful,

against evil,

to

it is

he

away.

is

is

It is

when

not that of unleashing himself

rather to find remedies and,

otherwise, palliatives. for

true purpose of the philosopher,

if

he cannot do

not a question of defeating the enemy,

too entrenched in the country to undertake to chase

We

must engage

in guerrilla warfare."

46

How

him

often did

the optimism and rationalism, the geometric perfection, the faith in unlimited progress,

and the universal unifying concepts of the

Enlightenment narrow themselves down

guerre de chicane?

to a

In spite of the lowered sights, any development from the present was

still

to

be a forward one

or in a zig-zag line, there

happiness and freedom, since arts

and

precisely

:

whether in

a straight line

would be progress toward

man w as r

at last

a future of

succeeding through

sciences in creating the necessary foundations. This was

what Rousseau did not

accept: a future based

man was doing today would be dark indeed. Grimm provides another illustration of the

on what

difficulties of rec-

45

"Tableau de Fesprit humain au milieu du XVIIP siecle," Elements de philosophic, in Melanges de litterature, d'histoire et de philosophic (Amsterdam, 1759), IV, 2-6. Translated and quoted by Ernst Cassirer,

The 46

Philosophy of the Enlightenment (Princeton, 1951), 3—4. D'Alembert's comments on Rousseau are taken from his Jugement

sur la Nouvelle Helo'ise and

Jugement sur Emile, probably written

1762. Oeuvres posthumes (Paris, 1799), [44]

I,

in

121, 123, 125, 128, 133-4.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING and Rousseau. As a

onciling the Enlightenment

indefatigable transmitter of ideas, news,

and

brilliant

gossip, his

the faithful echo of the prevailing thoughts of his times

cal

power and wit

Grimm

and of

power and money which sometimes

the moral corruption before

accompanied them.

and

words are

is

fascinated by the style, the polemi-

of Rousseau.

He

is

also impressed

by the 'Very

philosophical" discussion of the origins of languages and of love in the Discourse

on Inequality. These unexpected glimpses into

on the

prehistory are wonderfully entertaining. Still dwelling

remote past,

Grimm

Rousseau's analysis of the state of

likes

nature which avoids modern confusions, of which

Hobbes and

Pufendorf are particularly guilty: "The citizen of Geneva right to reproach

all

philosophers

who have thought

about

is

this

important matter for their failure to have a clear idea of the state of nature, to have always confused

have continuously transferred they had found in society."

Grimm

with the

to the state of

civil state

and

to

nature ideas which

47

obviously does not realize the importance of what he

has said and must lost in

it

still

believe he

is

praising Rousseau on topics

the night of time and with no bearing whatever on the

present. For

when

Rousseau

is

clearly

society

no more than

is

it

comes

to the present,

according to

Grimm,

wrong. His picture of the woes of modern a "masterpiece of eloquence."

His

criti-

cisms of arts and sciences are fallacious, for the progress of civilization

cannot be stopped. Rousseau has confused the animal

condition with the condition of man. In persisting in his attack

on the modern world in the preface

to Narcisse,

he

is

simply

worsening the bad impression already produced by a bad play.

Rousseau taken

47

it

is

"One is tempted make men hate their

a misanthrope:

upon himself

to

Grimm, Corresyondance

litteraire, II,

105;

III,

to say that

existence

he has

and

that

58, 54.

[45]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU he never

talks to

warn them

them about reason and happiness, except

that they are a thousand leagues

that they will never get near them."

The

list

could be lengthened.

48

The names

Helvetius would appear on

it.

ism, atheism, determinism,

would be seen

conflict.

in it

of d'Holbach

which the present was being used

closer to those writers

49

and

Rousseau's rejection of utilitarianas a

primary reason of

Often too the rupture could be brought back

was surely not by accident

to

away from them and

that

to the

way

or interpreted. Conversely,

Rousseau found himself much

who, beginning with inquiries into the

origins of

mankind, had either reached conclusions which Rous-

seau

supported his

felt

own

views, or

had simply been more

cautious or open-minded in drawing from

them inferences

ap-

plying to the present condition of man.

Condillac and Buffon belong to this group. Rousseau's friendship with Condillac, the brother of Mably, seau's early years in Paris. It

century

later, in

went back

was never disturbed and

to

Rous-

a third of a

1776, Rousseau, having failed in his attempt to

leave his manuscript of the Dialogues on the altar of Notre

Dame, turned

for help to Condillac,

48

who was,

"it is true,

philoso-

Ibid., Ill, 58; II, 320-2; IV, 395. For a somewhat different summary Grimm's attitude toward Rousseau, by Gagnebin and Raymond, cf. O.C. I, 1499-1501. 49 Rousseau sometimes describes his enemies as "Holbackiens" (Confessions, bk. ix, O.C. I, 438) and the "conspiracy" of his former friends as "Holbachique" (ibid., 401). He had found d'Holbach's friendship, acquired through Diderot, a curious one: "All my friends became his friends, which was natural enough but none of his became mine, which was less so" (Confessions, bk. viii, O.C. I, 369). At that time, his uneasiness derived from d'Holbach's great wealth. "You are too wealthy," he had once told him (ibid., 371). D'Holbach's materialism was to find its expression in the Systeme de la nature of 1770. On d'Holbach and Rousseau, cf. Pierre Naville, D'Holbach et la yhiloso'phie scientifique au

of

:

XVlir [46]

siecle (Paris,

1943), 72-83.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING pher, author, academician," but

who was

also honest.

50

Rousseau

had found Condillac's Essai sur I'origine des connaissances humaines of 1746 of great help in languages.

If

Rousseau cannot

said in his research,

given

him

The

chief

it is

study on the origins of

just repeat

even though

his initial ideas,

their analyses.

this

it

what Condillac had

confirms his views and has

because there are discrepancies in

that while Condillac presupposes

is

"some kind of society already established among the inventors of language," for Rousseau this the issue revolves.

is

the very question around which

51

Buffon was another contemporary

and doubts Rousseau for

felt

had

to

be

who

raised.

raised the questions

Hence,

his gratitude

someone who had, more than Condillac, contributed

to his

understanding and his fund of ideas about early man. Buffon's Histoire naturelle

had begun

to

appear in 1749,

very

at the

moment when Rousseau was beginning to concern himself with the problem of original man. By 1753, when Rousseau was writing his Discourse on Inequality, the sixth volume of Buffon's

work had been published, dealing with the natural man. In

it

history of

one could perhaps find the beginning of a solution

to a

problem not unworthy of the Aristotle of the century: "What experiments might be necessary to obtain a knowledge of natural

man; and how could we carry out these experiments within society?"

J2

He had

found in Buffon an analysis of the

50

Histoire

51

Discours sur I'origine de Vinegalite, O.C.

du precedent

ecrit,

O.C.

I,

981.

and the whole problem of Rousseau's "Recherches sur les Sources du Discours de influence

issue

Ill,

146.

On

Condillac's

sources, cf. Jean Morel, Vinegalite,"

Annales,

V

(1909), 119-98. For a perceptive discussion of the importance of contemporary studies on language and the relationships and differences between Condillac, Diderot, and Rousseau on these matters, see Franco Venturi, Lajeunesse de Diderot (Paris, 1939), 239-40, 262 52

O.C.

Ill,

ff.

123-4. [47]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU own: "Savage man

astonishingly close to his

is

...

animals the most singular, the least known, the most description, but

we

distinguish so

of

the

all

difficult of

between what nature

little

alone has given us and what has been communicated to us by education, art and example

we

.

.

.

that

it

would not be surprising

failed to recognize ourselves entirely in the

savage,

if

he were presented

the natural

traits

to us

alone which

if

portrait of a

with the true colors and with

make up

his character." If the

philosopher could really look at a savage, "perhaps he could savage

man more

was born only

in society."

clearly see that virtue belongs civilized

man, and

that vice

to

than to J3

Just as

Rousseau valued the anthropologists of his time more

clearly

than the philosophers.

They were helping him more

in the

concrete tasks at hand.

But the dominant derot.

was

must be

figure in this sketch

that of Di-

Rousseau and Diderot: the two "enemy brothers." There

their strong youthful friendship

and

close early identity of views followed

their

by

a

common

work, the

widening gap. The

bleak and long silences. In the end, Diderot's recognition of the

ambivalence of his

own

position. In

sum, Diderot's relationship

with Rousseau provides a most fascinating instance of the tribulations of literature

The two dozen 53

and philosophy

in the eighteenth century.

friends were tied by the closest links for

years,

and during

all

that time

one looked

more than a to the other

owe

this quotation to Starobinski, O.C. Ill, 1295-6; cf. also, Every student of Rousseau is indebted to him for his brilliant annotations of the Discourse on Inequality. Starobinski writes (1295) that "the idea of an experimental reconstruction of the origins/' accepted in the eighteenth century, was derived chiefly from Locke and from the 1

1

3 16-7.

experiments he advocates to prove that

man

has no innate ideas.

One

an instance of Locke's ambiguity. For in the fields of society and government the idea is certainly abandoned. And this is one of the reasons why Rousseau's ideas could find such meager support in could add that this

the

Two

[48]

Treatises.

is

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING with the affection and interest that Rousseau makes very plain in the Confessions.

Nothing could exceed the agonies of Rousseau

when Diderot was

jailed,

for the Discourse

on Inequality was very

and the usefulness

of his friend's advice

great.

54

In those same

from Rousseau,

years Diderot probably learned a great deal

temporary society, "a recognizes

.

.

.

to

was

striking.

of con-

style of life

...

a morality

useful virtues and prudence."

cepted Montesquieu's views on the classical

city.

oC>

which only

They both

who

laments luxury, progress, property.

immediate agreement

at

because Diderot as well would like

"idolatry of intelligence."

If

it

is

there

is

Vincennes between Rousseau and Di-

derot on the proper answer to give to the also

academy

of Dijon,

blow

to deal a

last.

While Rousseau

fused to modify his position, Diderot shifted his grounds.

if

His

a certain incompatibility existed

style

of

more

other,

He

one cannot deny that Diderot

at ease in the society of his

is

life

"between the

thoughts of Diderot on the one end and social and cultural

on the

re-

taken the "paradoxes" of the First Discourse

with the deadly seriousness of Rousseau. changed, and

it is

to the

5T

This community of views did not

may never have

ac-

In his articles in

the Encyclopedic on agriculture, man, and the legislator,

Diderot

and

denounce the weaknesses

until the early fifties the similarity of their views

They were both moved

55

life

incomparably

time than Rousseau."

58

He now

54 Confessions, bk. vii, O.C. I, 348; bk. viii, O.C. I, 389. Cf. Jean Guehenno, Jean-Jacques: En Marge des Confessions, ij 12.-1 750 (Paris, 1948), 226 ff. 55

Proust, Diderot et VEncyclopedie, 341—2.

56

Antoine Adam, "Rousseau

et

Diderot,"

Revue des

sciences

hu-

maines (1949), 21. 57

In a few pages Adam gives an excellent analysis of the between Diderot and Rousseau. He also attributes to Grimm's thought more substance than is usually the case (22-3). 58 Herbert Dieckmann, Introduction to his edition of Diderot, Supplement au Voyage de Bougainville (Geneva, 1955), xciii-iv. Dieckmann Ibid., 22.

relationship

[49]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU joins the

'

enemy." Hobbes and Voltaire, the philosopher and the

man of affairs, now seem to him to human nature and government. The ing data which

make

attractive,

at

be telling the truth about economists are also providcertain practical

least for

purposes, the idea of utility and that of a society based on the satisfaction of individual interests.

59

In his Apologie de I'Abbe de Prades, Diderot in effect aban-

dons Rousseau on

many

pressed parallel views.

60

of the issues

From then on

on which they had

The

even though a kind of debate continues.

Diderot's answer to the economie politique?

answer

to the Droit naturel

ends with the break of 1757.

is 62

1

Droit naturel

The

dialogue

end of friendship

then, the

is

but Rousseau's

never published.

By

ex-

the disagreement deepens,

is

adds that Diderot met this residual incompatibility by the device of "soon stopping the publication of those of his works which expressed his personal thought and which he had most at heart" (ibid).

Or

as

Verniere

writes in his tormented appraisal of Diderot's politics, his eulogies of

Catherine the Great are public, while his criticisms remain hidden (Diderot, Oeuvres politiques, edited with Introduction and notes by Paul

Verniere [Paris, 1963], xxxvi). 59

Diderot's anxiety for

money and what he

did for

think of Rousseau, "of his poverty, of his pride

towards the powerful of this world" 60 61

62

it

filled

make Verniere with defiance

(ibid., xxxvii).

Adam, Diderot et Rousseau, 26-7. Rene Hubert, Rousseau et VEncyclopedie

(Paris, 1928),

On

friendship with

the quarrel that ended Rousseau's

Grimm, and

the other

members

26-29.

of the "holbachian conspiracy,"

Diderot,

and

that

Rousseau on his introspective path, the authentic text of a key item has now become available: Histoire de Madame de Montbrillant, started

Texte integral publie pour vols. (Paris,

195

la

premiere

1). In a careful

fois

.

.

.

par Georges Roth, 3

and judicious summing up

(I, vii-xlii),

Roth recounts the extraordinary history of this manuscript known since it was first "published" in Paris in 1 8 1 8 as the Memoires et correspondance de Madame d'Epinay. In its first version, it was a primary source of the legends and the fantasies that grew around Rousseau in the nineteenth century, until Frederika MacDonald published what Roth calls her "capital" work, /. J. Rousseau, a New Criticism, 2 vols. (London, 1906), the [5°]

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING matched by

a contrast of ideas

rot's restlessness

ries

and

Two

when

which

is

not eliminated by Dide-

confronted with the outcome of the theo-

and

practices of his friends, both philosophers

kings.

points will be retained as of special importance.

man and

Natural

the state of nature appeared to Diderot as

something that could be retrieved. Having accepted, unlike Rousseau, existing social arrangements, which might be im-

proved upon but never

Diderot

set aside,

for his surrender to the pressures of the

felt that in

exchange

immediate world, he

should find an alternate world, not outside of history or of time, but available here and now. His Supplement au Voyage de Bougainville portrays Tahiti as a model of perfect and happy as the island

They

where man could seek refuge. Here

are both real,

separate

and man can take

his choice.

and without any influence upon one

life,

two worlds.

are

But they are

other.

Having

given up the possibility of a revolutionary transformation of the

world in which he

lives,

Diderot points to the remote islands as

the alternative. This lack of any dialectical tension between the

two worlds or between the present and the finds unacceptable: the past

No

our hands.

is

escape or transfer

with the society in which

we

is

future,

hold the future in

possible

and we must deal

63

live.

fruit of the first critical inspection ever

undertaken of the manuscript,

insertions, corrections, falsifications. Also indispensable are the

Henri Guillemin, "Les (1941-1942), 59—258, and of

A balanced

and,

we may

Rousseau

we

gone, but

Affaires

de

FErmitage,"

its

two works

Annates,

XXIX

Un Homme,

hope, final

deux ombres (Geneva, 1943). judgment on the matter is provided

by Jean Fabre, "Deux Freres ennemis, Diderot et Jean-Jacques," Diderot Studies, III (Geneva, 1961), 194-203. Fabre makes the admirable point that what Diderot and Madame d'Epinay concocted was no more than a secret weapon that was never used and whose authorship was not concealed. 63

The most

distinguishes

analysis of this issue

sensitive

"Introduction," op.

cit.,

is

that of

lxxxv-xciv. Speaking of Rousseau,

between the

real

and the

ideal states of nature

:

Dieckmann, Dieckmann

"The

first is

[51]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Diderot's determinism often lacked the will to action, or a

autonomy and the moral freedom

belief in the

own

his

clearly.

free

man

of

to create

surroundings. His letter of 1756 to Landois shows this

Free will

beings.

.

is

.

What

actions,

added

act,

deceives us

"is

determined by the

is

"the motive

only external,

is

the prodigious variety of our

our habit from birth of confusing the voluntary

to

...

with the free

word and "there cannot be any

only what

are

When we

chain of events." foreign."

a meaningless

We

.

if

there

serving praise or blame.

.

.

no freedom, there

is

There

.

properly speaking: physical causes."

is

is

no action de-

only one set of causes,

64

Rousseau was then writing in the Nouvelle Heloise:

man, and

great deal of reasoning against the freedom of

these sophisms, because a reasoner can well prove to

all

am

not free, the internal sentiment, stronger than

"I

hear a

I

despise

me

all his

that

argu-

ments, will forever deny them; and no matter what decision take in any deliberation whatever,

I

am

convinced that

am

I

I

I

free

to take the contrary decision. All these subtleties of the school

are vain, because they prove too ple,

even

meaning. being

is

much ...

God

is

.

They begin by supposing

.

.

to listen to those peo-

not free, and the word of freedom has no that every intelligent

purely passive, and then deduce from this supposition

consequences to prove that he posing that

we

and

are active

placed in the past;

it

has been

is

free;

lost.

not active.

we The

.

feel that

.

we

.

We

are."

are sup-

65

on the and the norm by which

ideal state of nature,

contrary, continues to exist within us, but buried, hidden, repressed rejected.

By

reference to the present this ideal state

the condition of civilization

is

into the future as the goal towards 64

which mankind must

it

is

projected

aspire" (lxxxix).

Letter to Landois, June 29, 1756, in Diderot, Corresyondance, Roth,

ed. (Paris, 65

is

judged; at the same time,

1955),

La Nouvelle

I,

213-15.

Heloise,

i,

7,

O.C.

II,

683. Roth quotes part of this

passage in a footnote, and raises the question of whether Diderot's letter

was an answer [52]

to

it

(Diderot, Correspondance,

I,

213). Bernard Guyon,

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING way

Against these radical differences on the

and

history

freedom of

ideal history

man

were

in arranging for a possible

other contrasts appear small. ever, is

is

66

which

in

What must

meeting of the two, be underlined, how-

Diderot's refusal to be narrow-minded or dogmatic.

neither Franklin nor Babeuf,"

6T

real

be related and the role and

to

and he cannot

"He

forget Rousseau.

Diderot was never quite at ease on the materialistic and deter-

The

ministic foundations of his thought.

Helvetius'

De VHomme moved him

book whose principal

thesis

publication in 1773 of

to a strong refutation of a

he could well

call his

own. But

Diderot finds that materialism alone cannot deal adequately with

human

nature.

The

complexities of

which Helvetius pushes

wrong and Helvetius

is right.

view of

man

man and

in society

in his annotations to

alluding to

De

Guyon seems people*

and

and

But

his

is

society,

La Nouvelle

agree with

'the school'

of enemies of freedom.

Diderot rejects

is

it Rousseau is one with Diderot. But

Heloise, feels that in

who was

Mornet "who

at

invites us to see in 'those

not just one man, Helvetius, but an entire group

Must we go back

to

Spinoza? Perhaps, but at

persons

who

we

feel

are close,

dangerous, at whose head Helvetius, d'Holbach, Diderot, are

marching" (O.C. 66

false."

but in the end Rousseau's

through these lines a polemical wind aiming living,

is

not enough: "Rous-

is

preferable. Rousseau's philosophy

VEsprit by Helvetius, to

this

Rousseau

consequences true; while your

and your consequences

Rousseau's view of

escape a philosophy

to excessive generalizations.

seau's principles are false

principles are true

man

II,

1779).

Proust, Diderot et V Encyclopedia,

makes

a

points on Diderot's distinction between strong

number

of interesting

and weak,

as

against

Rousseau's between rich and poor (3 72); on the general will (3 8 8-9; cf. infra, p. 172); on Diderot and physiocracy (466-7); on the support by Diderot of the "interests of a property-owning enlightened elite to whom a monarchy, politically absolute

and nomic domain, was useful" (510). 67

liberal in

thought and in the eco-

Verniere, in the Introduction to Diderot, Oeuvres philosophiques,

IV.

[53]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU made up

of "bits

"perhaps

I

Not only practice as

and

pieces," while Helvetius has a system.

is

it

the theory badly developed:

The

The

right of opposition

arbitrary

government of

a "just prince"

"Without

sacred:

is

69

fat pastures."

almost as bad as poverty,

evil

who

badly applied in

it

is

always bad.

the subjects are

herd whose protests are despised, on the excuse that

being led toward

an

it is

leads Helvetius to a defense of enlightened despot-

ism.

like a

And is

it

is

the view that boredom

is

the view of a "wealthy

man

has never had to fight for his dinner."

Rousseau cannot be dismissed. Diderot makes one to get closer to

year

But

68

would rather be him than you."

Rousseau and

to repudiate his

own

move

final

world.

The

Grimm is the target. In a letter unearthed by Grimm appears as a career man, without taste,

1781 and

is

Dieckmann,

70

reduced to the sad condition of servant of the powerful. In

men

general, says Diderot, is

a coward.

Linguet

better than the rest?

is

of letters offer a pitiful sight. Voltaire

a liar.

"Why

And why

is

Rousseau so much

Rousseau eloquent and Linguet

is

only a rhetorician? Because, consequent to certain principles, feel that the first

is

even

true,

second, without principles,

Rousseau 68

lies

Diderot,

only in the Refutation

VHomme, Oeuvres

is

when he false,

first line;

de

suivie

I

speaks falsely, while the

even

when he

from the Vouvrage

first

speaks truly.

line to the last

d'Helvetius

intitule

philosophiques, 575-6. Verniere writes "Against the

Montaigne and the on the new sciences which reveal

'behaviorism' of Helvetius, Diderot relies not only on entire tradition of

humanism, but

also

the infinite complexities of the world of life" (5 5 8). Fabre, "Deux Freres i s very illuminating. The Refutation was written in

ennemis" (204-7) 177469

Refutation, 619—20.

The

prince praised by Helvetius was Frederick.

Already in 1771 Diderot had launched a violent (but private) attack on this particular pet of the philosophers in his Pages contre un tyran

(Oeuvres yolitiques, 135-48), 70

[54]

Cf

.

his Inventaire.

first

published by F. Venturi in 1937.

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING Linguet

is

a liar."

What Grimm

is

doing

is

to expose to public

contempt those of our citizens "whose enemies have of occupied the temples, the palaces, and the tribunals/'

"Death has been merciful with Diderot. not to forgive or to repent, not above choose."

has given

It

to

all

all

time

71

him time but

forget,

to

72

In the end, then, the issue was not chiefly one of personal conflicts,

but of ideas: "The confrontation was between two

conceptions of the world."

3

Rousseau became the enemy, be-

cause he was challenging current ideas about progress. result

was

philosophers to discredit him." as

on the part of the

"a continuing systematic attempt 74

Amiel saw nearly

The

a century ago:

The

opposition was a deep one,

"He was

for

God

against

d'Holbach, he was for providence against Voltaire, he found a soul in

man

against

La

Mettrie, he

was

for

moral freedom

against Diderot, for disinterested virtue against Helvetius, for

spontaneity against Condillac, for the rights of the heart against 71

M. Grimm,

Lettre apologetique de I'Abbe Raynal a

fhilosofhiques, 631—3. Diderot offers a bit of advice to

continue to curry the favor of the powerful apologist/' For,

when judged by

.

.

.

in

Oeuvres

Grimm: "You can

but do not be their Grimm could be

the tribunal of God,

thrown "into the cauldron where both the protectors and the damned race of the protected will roast for all time." Diderot must, however, agree with Grimm's possible answer that

world than in 72

"it is

better to be roasted in the other

this one."

"Deux Freres ennemis," 213. Fabre ends with 1782 when, in re-reading his Lettre sur les aveugles, Diderot "gives back to the heart all his rights. In this secret domain Fabre's conclusion of

a final anecdote of

And so Diderot writes: "I could man who arranges his flowers with the delicacy claimed by Rousseau when he was confiding to his friends, seriously or in fun,

Jean-Jacques has of necessity his place." cite a J.-J.

blind

his plan of

opening a school in which he would give lessons

to

the

flower-girls of Paris" (ikzd.). 73

Guillemin, in

74

De

J.-J.

Rousseau

et

son oeuvre, xxix.

Jouvenel, "Rousseau the Pessimistic Evolutionist," 84. [55]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Maupertuis, against the absolutism of Hobbes."

communism

Indeed, Rousseau's protest of contemporary society."

wants

is

76

is

directed "against the very essence

Against the prevailing corruption, he

freedom and independence. Against greed

to protect his

and wealth he wants he

to

be poor. Against unbelief and skepticism,

anxious to reaffirm a belief in

communion with

of Morelly, against the

75

God and

a faith

which

his

the encyclofedistes, "far from weakening, had

only strengthened."

7r

Both Rousseau and the fhilosophes saw in Hobbes the fountainhead of eighteenth-century utilitarianism. of appetites to be satisfied,

showing

his

Man

was

fundamental

mass

a

traits

al-

ready in the state of nature. Contemporary thinking envisaged in essence a manipulative state which by skillfully allowing satisfaction of those needs

maintained peace and progress. Rousseau,

even under conditions of a "perfect hobbism," which, however,

he

felt

and

could never be realized, saw only tensions, degeneration,

crisis as its

table:

consequences. Both sides saw despotism as inevi-

one imagined

it

would be exercised with

a light

hand,

such as would not hamper the growth of freedom, of culture,

and wealth. The other

science,

identified in

factor, favoring the grossest cupidity ity of a self-reliant citizen

The

75

H.

76

Starobinski,

77

democracy.

to nearly

still

strong mercan-

F. Amiel, "Caracteristique generale /.-/.

18

everybody as a wonderful way of recon-

Rousseau,

la

de Rousseau/' 44—5.

transparence et I 'obstacle, 44.

viii, O.C. I, 362, 380, 392. published in abbreviated form in 1706;

Confessions, bk. First

second edition 1723; French translation 1740. F. B. Kaye (Oxford, 1924). [56]

possibil-

residues of the times. Mandeville's Table of the Bees

had appeared

78

a demoralizing

century had started with a steady development of hobbe-

sian utilitarian individualism, adapted to the tilistic

it

and destroying the

first full

edition, 1714;

The modern

edition

is

by

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING autonomy needed

ciling the individual

to satisfy private interest

with the retention of a guiding public hand. Mandeville was not

The

a precursor of laisser-faire.

title

page slogan, "private

vices,

publick benefits" meant that "private vices, by the dexterous

management

of a skillful politician

benefits."

"They

the whole

is

This

is

are silly people

who imagine

Melon has

the political and economic society

in his essay

on commerce of 1734.

profit of society.

Luxury

some

drunkenness absent.

is

must

is

human it,

of

mind

passions for the

we can hope to human behavior:

limited to the countryside,

Luxury provides well-being, and

the multitude

in

the necessary consequence of a prop-

of the negative aspects

now

79

We are dealing with a corrupt

exploit

Indeed, by fostering

erly policed society.

eliminate

that the good of

consistent with the good of every individual."

world, and the legislator

still

might be turned into publick

where luxury

is

this is necessary for

which cannot be kept happy with glory alone and

spartan virtues.

There

is

the economic argument, too, that the

poor are nourished and kept working by growing luxury.

What-

ever might be said about religion trying to destroy luxury, the state

must exploit

80 it.

Rousseau found these ideas shocking and said that they repre-

them

sented a total reversal of western thinking. Voltaire liked

much he put Melon

to verse in

Le Mondain two

so

years later.

81

Mandeville, A Letter to Dion (1732), edited with an Introduction by Jacob Viner (Los Angeles, 1953), 36—7, 49. Viner is convincing in his demonstration of the mercantilistic leanings of Mandeville. He also 79

reminds us that Helvetius, in writes that personal interests

De

V Esprit, echoes Mandeville

would lead

to a

good society only

by a clever legislator" (15). Melon, Essai politique sur le commerce

when he if

"manip-

ulated with skill 80

J.

F.

"Du Luxe/' 129—30, 132-6, 81

1

In 1737 Voltaire followed with the Defense

Lettre a

M.

le

Comte de

le luxe, les

du Mondain and

the

Saxe, both apologies for luxury. In 1738 he

wrote the Observations sur

commerce,

(Paris, 1734), ch. ix,

50-1.

MM

monnaies

Jean Lass, Melon et Dutot, sur le Dutot even

et les impots. Voltaire likes

[57]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

When Hume's his

essays

were

first

translated into French in 1754,

more moderate arguments on economic man and luxury and

his reservations

added by the

about Mandeville were masked by long footnotes

translator,

who by

Rousseau,

and

ridiculous

quoting Melon or indirectly attacking

then had made his views known.

It

useless, said the translator, to attack sciences

was

and

What

praise ignorance or to go about dressed like a "quaker."

Melon has written on luxury disposes of all these arguments. 82 Without question the Hobbes-Mandeville-Melon-Voltaire line of thought, this extraordinary mixture of philosophy, eco-

nomics, and literature, offered the most attractive explanation

and

justification of current life.

Even

a moralist such as

Vauve-

nargues, in a Discourse on the Inequality of Wealth, written in

1745 but unpublished until the end of the century, spoke of

men

natural

as

"monsters," destroying one another through

"frightful slaughter." Early

man was

kind," given to "impious customs."

wealth was established,

needed charity.

to 83

make

The

of doctrines

rich

it

was on

indeed the "shame of man-

When,

later,

and poor equal was the obligation of sweep

kind were few and

faint.

and

practices of this

an excessive attachment sion.

was

voices raised against the all-encompassing

Fenelon could say that luxury corrupts a nation; 85

inequality of

"just foundations." All that

to

wealth

is

84

Claville that

the most tyrannical pas-

Morelly could link greed and property and suggest that an

Melon. Dutot's work, Reflexions folitiques sur les finances et commerce, was a "hard money" man's answer to Melon's "inflationary" tendencies: cf. Paul Harsin's Introduction, xvii-xxi, to his edition of

better than le

Dutot, 2 vols. (Paris, 1935). 82 David Hume, Discours politiques, 2 vols. (Paris, 1754),

Melon 83

84

[58]

quoted

II,

II,

81-3.

at II, 52, 63, 75, 85, 92.

Discours sur Vinegalite des richesses,

1806), 85

is

Oeuvres completes (Paris,

201, 202, 205.

Plan de gouvernement (171 1), Oeuvres (Paris, 1824), XXII, 595. du vrai merite de I'homme (Paris, 1734), 308-11.

Traite

THE CONTEMPORARY SETTING would

ideal republic

abolish property.

86

But no echo of these

could be heard. Montesquieu himself was

voices

ineffective,

because the Persian Letters were then more important than the Spirit of the

The

Laws.

physiocrats might be opposed to luxury for reasons Rous-

make

seau could in part

his

own

:

it

weakened the only produc-

tive class, that of agricultural workers.

87

But

their

approach to

economic problems was in the mainstream of the times, and

Quesnay wrote

in his article

on Grains

in the Encyclopedie that

expensive bread would keep small people working hard and

away from

laziness.

88

Whether

the physiocrats, by saying that

only land was profitable, were trying to achieve a tural society or

economic

whether they were trying

to

develop modern

they were certainly satisfied with traditional

policies,

by

despotic political forms, softened only judicial control. In

any

case, they stood

a partial introduction of

opposed

tionary thought of Rousseau, hidden from view

defense of an obsolete economic system.

Apart from the

static agricul-

to the revolu-

by

his

seeming

89

and of

specific content of doctrines of utility

pragmatic political arrangements, Rousseau judged the world

around him

as

of the contrast

of the

human

one of deception, one

to

be measured in the light

between the shiny surface and the infernal depths

soul, the

appearance of politeness and the being of

crude selfishness. Late in

life,

he looks back on

his former friends

86

Cf.

Grimm, Correspondance

87

M.

R. de Labriole-Rutherford, "L'Evolution de la notion

depuis Mandeville jusqu'a

la

Utteraire,

II,

219.

du luxe

Revolution," Studies on Voltaire,

XXVI

(Geneva, 1963), 1034. 88 Henri Denis, "Deux Collaborateurs economiques de YEncyclopedie:

Quesnay 89

et

Rousseau," La Pensee (Sept -Oct., 195 1), 46-7.

Fetscher, Rousseaus Politische Philosophie, offers this

summary: The

physiocrats used traditional political forms to achieve revolutionary eco-

nomic goals while Rousseau pushed revolutionary political forms tain traditional economic and social relationships (257).

to

main-

[59]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and

asks

:

Am

I

forced to choose between a "rootless and fruitless

some noisy

morality," "pompously displayed in books or in tions

on the

stage,

ac-

but of which nothing ever penetrates the

heart or reason," and a "secret and cruel morality, internal doctrine of all their initiates to as a

mask?"

No

which the other morality

such choice was possible in a world in

progress

meant the disappearance

modern

industry,

cities

and mines were making

of mass poverty; in

human

life unfit for

mankind, were driving the peasants

which

to

to the

ruin

which

beings; in

contempt of

and

to

vain

I,

1022.

91

90

Les Reveries du fromeneur

91

Moraze, La France bourgeoise, 76.

[60]

in

crisis,

of artisans, the beginnings of

and the extension

which land "enclosures, " held up by Rousseau

protest.

serves only

90

solitaire, 3

e

Promenade, O.C.

Ill

Way

Rousseau Seeks His

WE are in the orchard of Madame de Warens in the countryside Rousseau

of Savoie.

Indeed,

it is

is ill

because he thinks he

pelled to

commit some

Were he

to

But since

what he

case,

is

At

feels

com-

work

for the is

good of

entitled to

do

people repleted with wealth and

we

throughout their lives?" In

have

shall

to see

whether those

me

poetry are ready to employ

do

to

1

twenty-five,

the society he

to

an end, he

to

just that

tells us,

my

criticize

better.

coming

"How many

Rousseau

something

dying that he

and he would have

his life

pleases.

who may

be near death.

of his thoughts to paper, in poetic form.

brimming with health do any

is

to

enjoy good health he would feel a sense of responsi-

bility for his activities

society.

and considers himself

Rousseau already

knows he

will

feels the

have soon

vague

to face.

hostility of

His years

at

Les

Charmettes are the years of innocence, solitude, and peace, of

happy days spent and flowering envy

in a pastoral landscape of

trees.

He

has learned to look without regret and

at the "frivolous taste of senseless mortals."

groping for the order he knows 1

II,

murmuring waters

is still

His mind

missing from his

is

life.

he Verger de Madame la Baronne de Warens, Avertissement, O.C 123-4. Le Verger, published in 1739, was probably written in 1737.

1

[61]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Geneva

is still

present in his

mind

as a fixed point to

which

again and again he will come back in spite of the difficulty of fitting the small

ideal views of

and no longer democratic community

man and

which must be protected from back

wisdom

to the

slavery

be

will try to

He

if

into his

the dear fatherland

Geneva can

still

community. Her

spirit of

by recovering the

as free as

is

present follies and brought

its

of the old ways.

and recover the ancient

be happy

will

Geneva

society.

avoid

citizens

faith of their ancestors they

they were.

has spent these years of peace and happiness reading a

great deal

2

and

men and on the The Orchard of Madame

on the mistakes of

reflecting

And

good and bad things they do.

in

He

de Warens he summarizes his thoughts.

has tried to enter

which move the universe.

into the hidden principles

He

has

observed nature, which has appeared to him touching and

ways pure this task

in the Cleveland of the

Newton he can examine

to

He

is

helped in

the laws of bodies and of

thought. In reading Locke he can see the development of

He

has also been fumbling with Descartes

The

Latin classics from Horace to Plutarch

the history of ideas.

and

Prevost.

by Socrates and the divine Plato. With Leibniz, Male-

branche, and

human

Abbe

al-

his aberrations.

Cicero occupy a large place in his reading, as do the modern

from Pope

Fenelon. Claville and Saint Aubin are

to Barclay to

also included.

He

moving and

finds Voltaire

his writings will

always be dear to his heart. But, Rousseau adds,

always refuse any frivolous essay please the

may

He

can well abound in

well spread flowers everywhere.

my spirit 2

spirit.

"I

has to be satisfied."

soon realized that

diction

among

taste will

.

.

brilliant antitheses, .

My heart

to

he

rather than

3

these authors were in nearly constant contra-

all

themselves.

"my

whose author only wishes

.

.

.

My

head was confused and

I

was mak-

ing no progress." Rousseau then decided to read only for the purpose of

accumulating a "store of ideas" (Confessions, O.C.

I, 237). In 1735 he reassures his father that he has developed a system of study to add to his fund of useful knowledge as well as to "form my heart 3

[62]

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY He

not frightened by poverty, a condition which he finds

is

natural to him.

He

what

asks

is

the reason to do good in his

anybody worthy of being rescued from the

century. Is there

ranks of the poor?

Is it

possible to be honest

and poor?

Isn't it

better to use wealth in order to enjoy the pleasures of life rather

than to be charitable?

The

conclusion

that

is

it is

much

better to

the rich follow these "frightful sentiments," to stay altogether

let

clear of their influence,

poverty."

From

and

to

be ready,

if

necessary, "to face

4

the beginning, then, Rousseau

of poverty

is

haunted by the theme

and wealth and has no sympathy with the widespread

notion of his times that there are advantages in poverty and that the poor ought to be

making 1

74 1

it

happy

in the

knowledge that they are

possible for the rich to carry on. In a letter written in

to Bordes, his friend then, his adversary later,

that there

he suggested

was no wisdom where poverty ruled: "Under the

weight of hunger, defeated worth allows virtue to be extin-

many pompous

guished in a sad heart. So

discourses on the happi-

ness of indigence are clearly born in the midst of plenty: clever

philosopher, careful always to preach the virtues he does not

need."

5

Later,

Rousseau was

in the poor

Here he rich

maintain the opposite theory that only

can the authentic qualities of

is still

and the

to

man

be kept

alive.

puzzled by the paradox of poverty exalted by the

false piety of

accept for themselves.

He

men who is

worried about the degradation

praise

what they

refuse to

ready to face poverty, but he it

is

entails.

In any case, he had resolved to use as his guide the work of

Father Lamy, Entretiens sur to

wisdom and

virtue/'

And

the purpose of his studies

my 4

QC.G.

is

in

les sciences,

1736 he

32-4, 47); C.C. Le Verger, O.C. II, 1 124-9.

spirit"

I,

5

Letter to Bordes, 1741, O.C.

6

Confessions, bk.

vi,

O.C.

tells

that "of forming

I,

II,

I,

6

having been impressed

another correspondent that

my

heart and of cultivating

31-4, 42.

1131.

232. [63]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU by Lamy's views on fortify one's

own

tribulations of

history.

History was useful above

From

life.

history,

Lamy

writes

all

man and

resignation before the follies of

to

the

and Rousseau

"we recognize the malignity and

transcribes in his Chronology,

we learn the contempt with which wealth and we learn that great fortunes lead

misery of men, their vanity,

we must

consider

often to terrible catastrophes/'

The

which Rousseau

tanism which

is

of

objects, for they introduce a cosmopoli-

value.

little

And when

honest man."

my

country,

my

to

But

be

to

common

Rousseau

community

mankind more family and

my

expressing sentiments which

men.

this

cosmic vision lacks the concreteness

is

to the historical experience.

the

man who

And he

ill-defined notions?

my

an

to all

which must be attached to his

"I love

country more than is

convinced that

is

parts of the study of

Fenelon writes,

family more than myself," he

ought

Rousseau

must be "one of the principal

history

than

on the other hand, has views on

"illustrious" Fenelon,

history to

7

asks:

harbors such

"Are

we

How useful humane but

permitted to ignore

the things that are of interest to us and to our families? Should

we not be fully informed of our own affairs, and is there one man of common sense who would refuse to take any part in what goes on around him?" It is

8

with these questions in mind that Rousseau faces the

problems of education and writes the two essays of 1740 and 9

1743, in which he gives us an anticipation both of some of his 7

Quoted by Rousseau des temps,

generate

Dufour, "Pages inedites de

Lamy

is

quoted

8

Ibid.,

9

Projet pour

at

in his

dated circa J.-J.

Chronologic universelle,

1737 and

first

ou

histoire

published by T. L.

Rousseau," Annates,

I

(1905), 213—20.

217.

215. I

'education de

M.

dc Sainte-Marie (1740), Oeuvres de

Rousseau, ed. E. A. Lequien (Paris, 1821), XII, 3—2,7; Fragment du J.-]. memoire presente a M. de Ste Marie pour V education dc son fits (1743),

C.G. f6 4 ]

I,

367-79.

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY on education and of the Discourse on Arts and

later ideas

Sci-

ences as well.

The problems

of education are external

and

internal.

external insofar as they relate to the specific task of

young man a member of

his society.

They

these are the most important problems

proper training

The

and development

ultimate end of education

is

to

way of dealing with is to make sure, from

making the

are internal

—and

they relate to the

as

mind

make

of the student.

of the student a

the external requirements of

best

education

young person

that the

is

the earliest possible

Hence, the need

activities

and

moment,

not cut off from the world and does not

follow a solitary path which will inevitably life.

are

man."

"perfect

The

—

of the

They

make him

unfit for

to

encourage active participation in the

intellectual

exchanges of the groups within which

the student finds himself.

And

this

exposure to the world cannot

take place at too early an age.

Whether Rousseau

is

himself a teacher capable of carrying out

education along these lines he cannot say. traits

He

is

aware of certain

of a negative kind, chiefly of his inability to engage actively

in that social intercourse

he

is

recommending, because

essentially

he does not care for the opinion of others. Hence he finds difficult to

acquire an inclination to social

life.

seau accepts the requirements of the social does not accept the extreme

student

who

There

is

will enter society should

young person

to attain that happiness.

the educator: he

is

to

of his times,

He

he

feels that the

to control himself.

may

the central issue

is

Rousseau sees a choice confronting

try to satisfy the passions of his pupil, or

satisfaction of pleasure

is

and unhappiness. The only way

remember

be able

Although Rous-

moderate them. His decision cannot be in doubt.

immoderate ness

life.

make him happy. But

of a

try to

of that

very

general agreement that the purpose of the education

how may

way

life

it

that the convenience

he

The

in itself a source of uneasiis

and the

to

check passions and

to

tranquility of others are [65]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU to

be taken into account.

No

alone in the world. satisfy his desires

But the major

ment

of the

mind

without

It is

not possible to behave as

rational

man

if

one

is

can believe that he can

limit.

task confronting the educator of his pupil,

the develop-

is

and here Rousseau proposes

as the

proper task of education the development of the heart, the judg-

ment, and the

spirit,

in that order. It

is

only from right senti-

ments, buttressed by reason, that a mind capable of dealing with the problems of tors

who

life

can be formed.

How

wrong

are those educa-

think that the accumulation of information

is

the only

object of a good education. Rousseau agrees with Moliere that "a

learned idiot

mon

is

more of an

idiot

than an ignorant

Com-

idiot."

sense comes before the abstract constructions of reason: "It

appears indeed that

common

sense depends

much more upon

sentiments of the heart than from the enlightenment of the

and

it is

a fact that the

not always those 10

life."

much."

What

is

themselves best in the

affairs of

"to think rightly rather than to

know

n

In the light of these principles, what studies?

spirit

most learned and enlightened people are

who conduct

matters

There must be no

is

a proper curriculum of

cluttering of the

mind

of the

young

with a multiplicity of precepts about religion and morality. not in this

way

will guide his tiring his

that the pupil can acquire "solid principles

conduct for the

memory with

rest of his life.

as

.

.

It is

which

Rather than

.

the detail of laws and duties, one should

dispose his spirit and his heart to

them

the

know them and

to appreciate

the occasion will arise."

The same

rule applies in the teaching of history

and geogra-

phy, where the dryness of a mere chronological treatment should

be eliminated. In any

case,

modern

rather than ancient history

should be taught. Also to be eliminated as useless are rhetoric, logic,

and

scholastic philosophy.

10

Oeuvres, 1821

11

Letter to d'Eybens (spring 1740), C.G.

[66]

ed., XII, 16. I,

124; C.C.

I,

116.

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY The

sciences, while not to

be neglected, cannot "take preced-

ence over morals," especially in a lively and

to think

first.

"If

he has had the misfortune of allowing

his heart

man

if

he doesn't learn

be corrupted, sciences will be jn his head

to

mind. For

how

they are of no use to straight

restless

as

weapons in the

hands of a madman." (The same thought reappears ten years later in the

Discourse on Arts and Sciences, where science

Of

is

some teaching

of

mathematics and the natural sciences will be required. But

it

attacked as a "dangerous weapon.")

course,

should never outweigh the teaching of morals and of natural

knowledge of "the principles of good and

law, because only the evil

and of the foundations on which

member he

rests the society

whose

worthy of an honest man.

is," is

Always, in any case, the teaching of history will have to be the core of the right plan of education: "I will not lose sight of history as the principal object of all his studies

branches reach out the furthest over

As Rousseau

human

raises

sciences,

he

is

Vico (the defender of

New we is

all

and

as that

other sciences."

history to such a lofty position

among

forging a link with Vico, both the early

humane

and the Vico of the

sciences)

Science (the champion of history, because

we know what

do), whose final version was even then in the making.

the

whose

12

same polemical note against

scientific

There

education at the

expense of a humanistic one; the same complaint against the attempt to

make

of

man, who

is

moral being, a machine

a

subjected to the rules of mathematical thinking; the same conclusion of

:

the placing of history on the highest rung of the ladder

human

sciences,

as history

therefore the most certain

through which

was the creation of man and

and valuable

man would know

himself.

12

Oeuvres de

13

In the Project on Education there

].-].

Rousseau, 1821

Abbe de Mably's views on Romains

tool available to

ed., XII, 13, 12, 26. is

a favorable reference to the

history, published in

et des Frangais. Pierre

man and

13

Grosclaude

1740 in the Parallele des Rousseau a Lyon [Paris,

(/. J.

[67]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The

reading of a French translation of Pope's Essay on

one of

inspires Rousseau, in 1742, to write

statements of these early years.

and the happy likes

life.

He does

him very much on

The

the

Man

most significant

about the "chain of being"

It is

not like Pope at

all

on the former; he

latter.

attempts to establish an unbroken continuity from the

lowest to the highest forms of

"In spite of

And

and beyond, are bound

Montaigne and Pope

to

to fail:

ennoble

always remains a furious leap from there to rea-

between animal and human

just as the link

at this point, so the

and the

life

breaks

chain does not end with God, because reason

between the creator and

will never find a relation infinite

life,

the efforts of

all

instinct, there

son."

14

his

his work, the

finite.

But how overwhelmingly moving once but twenty times,

we

is

Pope

what he

in

says (not

are told) about the conditions of

happiness: "That vice can never be happy. That virtue delivered to

sorrow knows greater happiness than vice in the midst of pleas-

ures."

And "what

is

virtue or the peace of the heart

the happiness of

to

Mr. Pope, beyond

is its

fruit, to satisfy fully

needed according

which

man? Only two

things, health

and what

is

1933], 46-49) suggests that it was in this way that Rousseau first started about the problems of progress in arts and sciences and of luxury

to think

as they affect the condition of

man. In

his Parallele,

Mably had expressed arts. But this was

himself strongly in favor of progress and luxury and the a position taken it

was Mably,

by

or

all

writers of the time

Melon

or Voltaire

who

and

it is

difficult to say

whether

Rousseau

as their

appeared

to

what is unique is that by the time Rousseau wrote his first Discourse, Mably himself had altered his stand and come close to Rousseau in some essays on the Greeks and the Romans which he published in 1749 and 1751 (Grosclaude, 50). The question should then strongest advocates. Rather

perhaps be put in reverse:

and sciences 14

as a result of

Was Mably won

over to a

critical

view of

arts

Rousseau's influence?

Letter to de Conzie, January 17, 1742. This letter was discovered and published in 1962 by Jean Nicolas, "Une Lettre inedite de J. -J. Rousseau," Annates historiques de la Revolution frangaise (1962), 385-96, text of the letter 389-96. The letter is also in C.C. I, 132-43. [68]

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY necessary.

Happy

is

men on

a sad spectacle to see

is

enough

the heart moderate

happiness to which Mr. Pope

tries to

to secure a

and

veritable sources of

lead them."

Rousseau agrees entirely with >what also realizes that, if

satisfied! It

earth rush after honors

abandon the

chimerical goods and therefore

be

to

Pope

saying.

is

But he

he follows Pope's advice, he will never be able

foothold on the shore of fame and comfort he had

dimly perceived in Lyon the year before, houses of the powerful. But he

is

one of the

as tutor in

reconciled to his fate and closes

the letter by quoting, eight years before inscribing

on the

it

title

page of the Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, Ovid's verse: 15

"Barbarus hie ego sum, quia non intelligor

When

at the

same time Rousseau addresses

verse to one of his friends, Parisot, there that

he

is

illis."

The

taking a different line.

between contemporary

his

is

to believe

always the same

Genevan upbringing moral outlook. Rous-

rigidities of his

seau's verses are evidence of the

no reason

contrast

and

civilization

and the semijansenistic

is

a long letter in

continued anxiety caused by the

world with which he feared he would have to come to terms.

He

could not forget the outlines of an ideal

equal citizens,

all

called this

upon

to

sacrifices

of

they are going to be

make, and of the heroic stature which because of

they are bound to acquire. But before his eyes are paraded

the very different pleasures of taste,

opulent

This ble

made up

sharing in the exercise of sovereign power and

aware of their duties, of the

all

state,

the attractions of an

life. is

what Rousseau

and enslaved, but

ideas

all

tells his

his

friend: his life

is

now

misera-

youth has been influenced by other

and he has been taught that he has

to love his fellow

men

15

Ibid., 391, 393, 395—6. In his interesting presentation of the letter, Nicolas reminds us that in his 1756 letter to Voltaire on Providence,

Rousseau was to express an identical view on the chain of being (387); and adds that here for the first time Rousseau brings together his thoughts

on nature, virtue and happiness (388). [69]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and

that

he has

obey the laws of the community.

to

been taught that even though he was merely

he had

citizen

No

had

privilege

has also

member

because he was a

city

doubt had been to

He

weak and obscure

a right to share equally in the exercise of the

supreme power of the sovereign.

a

left in his

mind

of the

that such a noble

be defended and safeguarded with the heart and

the dedication of a hero and the virtues of a philosopher.

He

had

therefore learned that the divine gift of freedom can be a fatal disease

when

on these learn

given to evil men. In Geneva he had been nursed

principles, not to press

how

even for legitimate

and how

to obtain the best magistrates

but to

rights,

to secure the

wisest laws.

The

contrast offered

dominate

by

societies in

Whatever "power

striking.

is

which art

arts

and sciences

had produced

is

quite

soon destroyed by luxury," while the greatest force of democracy is

in

but

its

weakness:

"We live without regret

within our soul

at least

we

live in

obscurity

freedom." In Geneva "arts

are not the support of our republic: politics."

humble

in a

to

be just

is

the only

In words recalling those of the dedication of the dis-

Genevan

course of 1754, Rousseau adds that

magistrates, with-

out any exhibition of glittering uniforms and luxury, are, however, not lost in the

mass of the

citizens.

They

stand out, but

because of what they do.

On

the other hand, he

friends

and

pleasures." It

He

is

Don

now was

is

Quixote:

"It

Why

me."

16

[70]

should he try

would not be good

less inequality

among

regulated the estates on earth and for

some innocent

right to learn to practice virtue without excess.

overtaken by pessimism.

should be

enjoying "more polished

a less savage climate together with

for society

be a that

new there

.

Destiny has

will surely not

change them

its it

to

classes.

.

.

16

Letter to Parisot, July 10, 1742, O.C.

II, 1

136-44.

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY The letter to Parisot may show the uncertainties of someone who has not yet found his way. But it seems too much to say that Rousseau evokes

his egalitarian

purpose of rejecting them. silk

They

are

still

much

very

for the

and the elegant

life

of the cities

may be

The

alive.

manufacturers of Lyon and their "innocent industry"

there, is

and republican memories

exciting.

1T

are

But

this

not a permanent accommodation on Rousseau's part or a

renunciation of the democratic community.

18

In spite of the

doubts besetting him, he knows that a choice must be that the search

must be continued

which the simple

necessities

to find Pope's

become, in the

good book, a friend, freedom and peace."

making the choice and of finding

made and

happiness in

letter to Parisot, "a

The

that happiness

possibility of

eludes

still

him

in 1742.

He

will

have

to

spend wandering and unsatisfactory years in

the midst of a world he increasingly rejects.

Venice and back

From

Paris to

Les Muses galantes and Les

to Paris; writing

Fetes de Ramire and earning Voltaire's appreciation; composing articles

on music

for

the

Encyclofedie,

at

wealth. This 1 746, in

is

a "sad

and slow

career,"

which "vain and tumultuous

request

the

d'Alembert; earning his living as an employee of

men

Rousseau laments in

projects" are forever

ising

him "happiness and wisdom." So much planning

ing.

The

reason

with

satisfied

fortune.

.

.

.

is

the

Woe

that ambition

necessary, to the

is

has

of

of great

at the root of little

contemptible mortal

fear

who

prom-

for nothit.

of

"Man, adverse

in his insati-

able soul nourishes an ardent thirst for gold." 17

1741,0.0. II, 113 1-2. Maurice Masson, La Religion de ].-]. Rousseau (Paris, 191 6), I> 1 3>3^ agrees with this view. Starobinski ("Tout le mal vient de rinegalite," Europe [Nov.-Dec. 1961], 142) takes a contrary view and suggests that Rousseau's vows of democratic faith are no sooner uttered than they are withdrawn, in an act of acceptance of civilized life and the frivolities of mundanity. 18

Letter to Bordes,

Pierre

[71]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The man.

desire for wealth

He

is

not the only evil surrounding civilized

behaves as

also

"Woe

important ones:

own

his

if

interests

men,

to all violent

own

untouched by anything except their

wishes to appear different from what he

weakness and

wisdom the

call

and

thinks,

approaching.

On

"They

:

be the

moment

first

to declare himself for

new

of liberation. In his

literary world,

uses a

mocking and

by Le

Persiffleur, a

also

mask

their 19

He

perhaps

is, is

of 1749

and

of the

what was supposed

seems

to anticipate the

role of critic

he

what

will say

indeed of the world

satirical style,

proposed

all

what he

summer

the eve of the

issue of a journal.

he thinks of the

Man

will feel free to say loudly

"illumination" of Vincennes, Rousseau drafts to

mortals left

to all

felicity."

inclination they have adopted."

But the moment when Rousseau

what he

is

were the only

at large.

He

such as would be required

critical

journal of review of

new

books after the English models which Condillac, Diderot, and

Rousseau were

to publish together.

But the

and the

wit,

flare for

sudden and dramatic contrasts that

will

literary career, are here, as well as a

disenchanted and independ-

stamp

all

of Rousseau's

ent attitude toward the contemporary writers and scribblers

and the dispensers of

jesters,

the

who

will

useless information,

soon be arrayed against him.

The

arrows point straight and true.

Rousseau has never

wasted his time reading anything printed in the contemporary journals nor has he lost any time in the study of sciences. repeats again

what he had

told the father of his

be able to judge, one does not have required

is

to think straight

His character other.

His mood

encies:

19

[72]

is

and be able

unstable.

varies,

He

to

Lyon

be learned.

He

tutees: to

What

is

to write.

moves from one extreme

to the

but there are certain fundamental consist-

"The reappearance

L'Allee de Sylvie, O.C.

II,

of the

1

146-9.

same

objects usually

renews

ROUSSEAU SEEKS HIS WAY me reactions similar to those I had He is always the same with the same

the

in

alternating constantly

between

his

time

first

person.

I

saw them."

He saw

two hebdomadal

himself as

one

souls:

week he would be "wisely mad," the next he would be "madly wise," with

the is

madness always underlying both weeks. But

madness that enabled him

the concluding sentence of

in the 20

Le

this

"to stand always for truth."

Le

Persiffleur.

A

20

few months

was

This later,

Discourse on Arts and Sciences, he was to take his stand. Persiffleur,

O.C.

I,

1

106,

1

109-10,

1 1

12.

[73]

IV Rousseau Faces the Enlightenment The Statement

UNTIL

1749 Rousseau had only some plays and poetry and a

Dissertation on political

Modern Music (1743)

in print.

had reached the eye of the public. Some good formula-

tions of his thoughts

had come

to state

had occurred

to

them openly, even

him, however, and the time if

he had

which might be considered paradoxical,

The

Almost nothing

issue to

which Rousseau intended

do

it

or worse,

by

his friends.

in a

himself was

to address

than that of the relation between the nature of

nothing

less

and the

institutions of civilization.

way

to

The theme

man

proposed by the

Academy of Dijon, Has the Restoration of the Sciences and Arts Tended to Purify Morals?, gave him the chance he needed. 1 As we open the Discourse on Arts and Sciences, the tension is apparent. Rousseau

is

eighteenth century and 1

Discours sur

caught in the heady atmosphere of the is

almost overwhelmed by

les sciences et les arts

it.

His friends,

(1750), O.C. Ill, 1—30. For the which enabled him to break

celebrated account of the "happy chance,"

the

ties

keeping him "bound

to a society

which

I

esteemed so

Rousseau's second letter to Malesherbes, January 1

135-6.

[74]

12,

little," cf.

1762,

O.C.

I,

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT

to

appears

be carried away by the promise of the times as they open up

an endless vista of a

He

excitement of the age, press on him.

his readings, the

new

human

progress

historical era. Life has

man

the account

and

changed

gives of himself

is

Man

felicity.

is

living in

few generations and

in a

a source of emotion

and

wonder.

What we self,

are witnessing

through his

own

the spectacle of

is

efforts,

through the use of his rational

man away from

was

this

lifting

past.

him-

He

is,

the darkness in

lights, dissipating

which nature had enveloped him. True, darkness intended to keep

man

above the void of the

a protective

the dangers inherent

own potentialities. But the results have been man has reached to the outermost regions of the

in a full use of his

remarkable and

universe and with giant strides encompassed

This

a grandiose

is

What would

the attempt by

man

to grips

far

its

endless reaches.

on the part of man.

more trying would be

from these outer boundaries of

with himself and with the task of

nature, his duties,

and

his ends.

Rousseau caught in the forward sweep of

than he recoils from

most

to retreat

own

understanding his is

effort

be even more striking and

knowledge and come

sooner

and moving

difficult

with the inner

and self

its

No

his times

frightening horizons and proclaims as the

as the

most important issue that of dealing

and of identifying the proper

tasks of

man

in

society.

The

question

is

whether or not those philosophers who have

claimed the leadership in the enlightenment of mankind are

engaged in lieves

this

endeavor. Rousseau makes

it

clear that

he be-

they are not, as one looks at the substance of the writings

of the

most influential among them.

tudes

is

What

they teach the multi-

wrong: "One holds that there are no bodies and that

everything

is

appearance. Another that there

other than matter, or any

God

is

no substance

but the world. This one suggests

that there are neither virtues nor vices

and that moral good and [75]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU evil are chimeras.

That one

one another with

a

These

are the views

Mandeville,

pushed man world and

to

Hobbes far

that

men

good conscience. "

of Berkeley,

—the

3

d'Holbach, La Mettrie,

views of philosophers

above his early

reach for the

and can devour

are wolves 2

state of

Can

stars.

innocence

who have conquer the

to

they be trusted as guides to

carry to a successful conclusion that essential re-examination of

human

nature which Rousseau

Given the

role

assumed by the

proposing?

is

The answer is no. we run is to be

sciences, the risk

confronted forever by the dangerous dreamings of Hobbes and

Spinoza and their followers.

Rousseau

feels the

beauty of an age of discovery and promise

but finds

wanting the

toward a

new Garden

there

intellectual leaders

of Eden. In

no wisdom but only

is

idle

who

could take

man

what the philosophers say

declamations and catastrophic

paradoxes, for they are undermining the foundations of com-

munal

life

and are destroying

doxes, those advanced

by

And among all the parawho presume to strengthen man

virtue.

writers

by destroying the foundations upon which alone built are

most dangerous and are

to

tension between Rousseau and his age had, as started well before this fateful

summer of

If

man

can be

resisted.

we have

1 749. Here

manifest beyond a doubt, and was never to

Rousseau begins as a

his life

be most strongly

it

The seen,

was made

falter.

of his age,

by assuming that

everything has to be questioned and that the search for the

answer rests

at

to the

problems of man's

upon the blind acceptance

life

cannot be successful

once adds that the answers provided by contemporary 2

O.C.

Ill, 3, 6,

if it

of the inheritance of the past,

he

political

27-9. As a rule, the English translation used for the

Discourses will be that of Roger D. and Judith R. Masters: Jean-Jacques

The First and Second Discourses, edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Roger D. Masters (New York, 1964). 3 Identifications in O.C. Ill, 1254-5.

Rousseau,

[76]

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT philosophers are not the proper ones and that society needs something quite different.

The way

to the heart of the

problem seemed

to

Rousseau

to lie

through an open challenge to some of the universally accepted assumptions of the times, chief material progress for the

first

ences to

human

among them

the significance of

happiness. Thus, the basic theme of

Discourse became that of the relation of arts and

human

paradox; he

sci-

nature. Rousseau did not consider his answer a

felt,

rather, that his fellow philosophers themselves

were engaging in

idle paradoxes.

By

was

contrast Rousseau

stat-

what appeared to him a fundamental truth. He also felt it was own and that no doubt should exist about the sincerity of his position. The evidence of the years before 1749 appears to confirm the view that this was not an improvisation. The reality ing his

commitment

of the his life

and thought

view seems strengthened by

to his point of

after 1749.

Rousseau's contempt for the literary manipulators, the prideful scientists,

the poetasters and cheap philosophers, crowding the

scene in search of popular applause

and mass following,

ited.

Their presence in such great numbers

tion.

How much

inferior

better

would

is

harmful

is

unlim-

to civiliza-

be had these bad poets and

society

mathematicians devoted their energies

to the

necessary occupations that are needed to sustain

simple and

life,

such as

clothmaking, a calling in which they might have excelled.

As

for himself,

survive

beyond

Rousseau fully

his times

be understood, for he

is

realizes that if his ideas are to

he must speak a language that

and fashionable members of the Paris writing for those temporaries: for

"To

who live

will not

not concerned about pleasing the witty

are influenced

beyond

salons.

Rousseau

by the views of

one's century

is

not

their con-

one must not write

such readers."

There Rousseau stands: write about

man

in a

in the age of lights but setting out to

way which

will appear surprising

and [77]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU incomprehensible, using the tools provided by the

arts

and that reason which man has strengthened

ences,

and

sci-

in himself

over the centuries, in order to challenge the assumptions and to

deny the purposes universally accepted around him. Well he could repeat, quoting again the same verse of Ovid on the

sum

page: "Barbarus hie ego to

quia non intelligor

be a prophetic view of Rousseau's

The weakness

Man

others. Everything conspired

stage in

which urbanity

reality,

ant

a stage in

But urbanity was

to

himself and to

deception an ever

this

man, who had reached to

which

make

all

to live

intercourse

a surface gloss hiding a different

among

us

if

"How

if

decency were

our maxims served as rules of conduct." But

realize that reality

is

we

the attire of a rich man.

not to be found under the

The

deceitfulness of appearances has been multiplied arts.

our passions rustic

to

should

quite different and that strength of charac-

ter is

progress of

pleas-

external countenance were

always a reflection of the heart's disposition; virtue; if

a

virtues appeared

and those shining virtues had no substance:

would be

it

appear

to

make

custom seemed

among men easy and fruitful, to flourish.

to

in the life of

of

This was

was being deceived about what he

was by the way he was made

more important element

illis."

life.

widening gap between

of civilization lay in the

being and appearing. really

own

title

glitter of

by the

"Before art had molded our manners and taught

speak a contrived language, our customs were

and natural and differences of behavior announced

at

once

differences of character."

So great the deception has become that any foreigner

Europe and trying

to find

out what the

realities of

are on the basis of the surface appearances of

its

visiting

European

quotidian

life

life,

of

the perpetual mutual exchanges of demonstrations of good will, of the vying with one another of in an anxious

game

of

all

of reciprocal assistance,

estimate of the situation [78]

men

ages and conditions

would

arrive at

which would be the opposite

an

of the real

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT modern

one, so successful has

somber

As

realities

remain obscure and

from the

retreat

his heart, to

its

more

behind a screen of appearances.

Rousseau himself,

for

been in hiding

civilization

his decision

is

made, and that

is

to

to listen to the voice of his conscience, to

"celestial" spheres to listen to the

shed the

pomp

promptings of

of appearances in order to seek out

his being.

The wanted task

was simple

task

as far as

he was concerned. But

The

to

begin with the restoration

4

loss of virtue leads to

wealth and luxury. Wealth and

luxury weaken the strength of the political community. is

certain.

The tiller

The

progression

mind

is

Virtue

who

has established his roots

abandon the bounty and

reluctant to

the strength of the soul with

is

body which shows

men who

to its children. It is

which nature bestows on those who understand

nature blesses those

the tools

men

who

follow

itself in

it.

Virtue

aids to life

which the

mankind. Virtue shows in the

poor and ignorant, but

which is

who by

life

her.

a life close to

the strength of the

the laborers, the peasants, the

are concerned with the creation

and the

link

the active virtue of the

on the land which gives nourishment

the beauty

The

inevitable.

of the person

soil,

a virtue attached to

to

is

virtue Rousseau has in

of the

firmly

one

with the problems of a given society, then the

to deal

was immense and would have

of virtue.

if

humble

and the fashioning of

riches of the earth provide

of those peoples, apparently

rejecting the rash of idle knowl-

edge have maintained their happiness

—such

as the people of

Switzerland today, of Sparta yesterday. Rousseau's virtue pose

4

is

O.C.

is

an earthbound

social virtue

whose pur-

not the finding of happiness in another world but the

Ill, 7, 8.

[79l

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU make communal

assuring of conditions of this world which will life possible.

Virtue

is

the thread providing the cohesion, unity,

and understanding which ity of

in a social state give

man

the possibil-

understanding better what he must do. Virtue

the

is

transparence through which obstacles can be seen and removed.

Virtue provides the candid revelation of man's inner feelings and

The

thoughts.

and greed

virtuous

to his soul.

speak an

artificial

sight for

what they

man

does not add

Virtuous

—

that

is,

l.iyers

simple

of deception

—men

refuse to

language and stand revealed before public In virtuous societies

are.

security in the ease with

"men found

their

which they understood one another/'

The maintenance of virtue is what makes possible communication among the members of a political community. The loss of virtue then is also to be lamented because of its social

consequences. Man's pride has detached him from

With

beneficent contact with nature. sciences virtue has declined.

all

the development of arts and

Apparent

have multiplied

social ties

but the real conditions necessary for their maintenance have

been destroyed. Luxury has made

its

appearance, born from

multiplying wealth and kept alive by the active search for more.

What can be the chances of the survival at

one with modern

life "it will

wealth regardless of the cost?" the inner springs of

human

of virtue

if

become necessary

What

will

in order to be

to

accumulate

be destroyed will be

nature.

Rousseau sees in business and money the chief preoccupation

men

with

Today

these

of his times. In the past, of morals

and

virtue.

merce and wealth.

which

them

relates

An

human

political responsibility

same men

talk

about com-

economic doctrine has been developed beings to economic values and judges

in proportion to their

economic worth. "One

man

in a given country a

which he

will be sold in Algiers. Another, using the

is

will

tell

worth the amount for

you that

[80]

wrote

same

calcu-

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT where a man

lation, will find countries

where he

other countries praise

men

is

worth

as herds of cattle."

less

worth nothing and

is

than nothing.

They

ap-

Montesquieu and Fenelon, before

Rousseau, had expressed themselves in favor of sumptuary laws.

But Rousseau in

attack

this

on the

"political

William Petty and the economics of Melon

is

roots

of a civilization political

The state

and

the result of the gradual development

whose thinking

and economic

final absurdity

on the

is

not looking to any

That condition has

legal remedy for the condition he laments.

much deeper

arithmetic" of

is

colored by certain dominant

doctrines.

can be seen in fixing a man's worth

basis of his capacity to

consume.

The

to the

greater the

consumption of goods, the greater the value of the citizens are capable of reaching ever fresh peaks of

Those who

are unable to increase their

pariahs of the

new consumption

who

economic attainment.

consumption become the

civilization.

The middle

of the

eighteenth century was witnessing the barest beginnings of the transformation of the economic machine of Europe from quality to quantity, from craftsmanship in the production of goods for

purposes largely unrelated to individual needs but closely linked to social values, to

mass production of commodities intended for

individual use. But Rousseau

had

a vision of

what the future

would bring: the very opposite of what was commonly expected by the vast army of philosophers bent upon singing the praise of the world around them.

The

future would bring the downfall of those states which

saw only advantages

which

set their

in multiplying wealth

standards and fixed their sights by the satisfac-

tion of those goals. History

is

witness to the downfall of states

caused by excess of luxury. Athens and examples.

One

and consumption and

could, with

the distance of places

no great

Rome

are only

two

effort of imagination, bridge

and the gap of time and

feel that

what [81]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU happened more than once yesterday

own

countries and under our cal ones

is

repeating

itself

"in our

The

issues, then, are politi-

which have

built their institutions

eyes."

and of immediate concern. 5

Modern

political societies

on the foundations of commerce have created a modern kind of This

slavery.

the slavery of seemingly happy peoples with

is

polished customs and the all-pervasive temptations of wealth, but

which the appearance of perfection conceals an altogether

in

different reality

and

in which, in spite of the glossy surface, the

from such a

radical inequality flowing

state of affairs

is

becoming

increasingly visible.

"We

are deceived

way

in

The

reality of

to be.

by the appearance of good/' This

which Rousseau, quoting Horace, begins

What

our society

is,

is

is

quite different from

is

the

his Discourse.

what

it

appears

in effect the result of our betrayal of duty, of

our abandonment of the fatherland, of our lack of care for those

who

are

unhappy

or our friends.

Had we

kept faith with duty,

country, the poor, and our friends, the result

much

would have been a

simpler society in which arts and sciences would not have

flourished but in

which

social

retained the upper hand. injustice

no law needed

cohesion would have gained and

Without luxury no

to repress

but without the weight of history

it;

art,

but without

without tyranny no history,

man would have

stayed closer

to his natural goodness.

The goes to

system of education

enormous lengths

their duties.

Going back

is

at fault, for

it is

a system

which

to teach the

young everything except

to the earlier

themes of his Project on

Education, Rousseau laments the superficial values of an education

which weakens both the mind and the body of the student

and, by stressing only the sciences and literature, citizens.

5

O.C.

[82]

We

may have

Ill, 8, 19, 15.

poets

fails to

create

and painters and astronomers and

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT chemists in great numbers, but there will be few the capacity to

fulfill

political society.

And

men

with

left

the tasks of a responsible citizen in a

the concepts of magnanimity, equity, tem-

perance, humanity, and courage will no longer be understood.

The as in

consequences will be serious because in

political

the moral activity of man,

Citizenship

is

duty before

a

it is

"it is a

great evil not to do good."

a right.

It

the responsibility of acting in a perceptive

The

politics,

imposes on the citizen

way

for the

good of

all.

community without an adequate supply of citizens capable

way

of acting in

this

useless citizen

may be

is

weak community. Indeed, "every

a

regarded as a dangerous man."

Thus, in the end, Rousseau's discussion of the ences, of the corruption of customs

economy

of luxury

and morals, of the

government. Everything goes back

movement

planets, the relations

between the body and the

we were

less

a great

many

of bodies, the revolution of the soul,

which

stars

The

question

well governed?

is:

The

Had we

implicit

do

failed to

answer

is

that

so, if

capable of a greater concentrated effort on the social

problems of the erned.

good

to

claim to have penetrated the most remote

secrets of the universe.

would we be

an

to the

to a central political question.

sublime things: the

We

rise of

what these developments do

We seem to know, Rousseau proclaims rhetorically,

light.

sci-

and of grasping wealth, comes down

ultimate consideration of

have no

and

arts

human community man would

be better gov-

6

The

task then

must

ing the conditions social life

one of

clearly

which

solidarity

be the revolutionary one of

will

make man

and not one of

creat-

better governed

conflict.

The

and

prolonged

polemical debate opened by the publication of the Discourse was to

provide Rousseau with an even better opportunity to state the

sweeping implications of his thought. 6

O.C.

Ill, 7,

25, 17, 24, 26, 18.

[83]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

The Dehate The

publication of the Discourse on Arts and Sciences had

repercussions that pected.

It

went

beyond what Rousseau himself

far

suddenly confronted intellectual Europe with a

of extreme assertions for

which

it

was poorly prepared.

What

misunderstanding and confusion.

itself to

ex-

series

It

lent

were the pur-

poses of an attack against the values that appeared to be imbed-

ded without challenge

and culture?

at the core of civilization

Rousseau himself knew that what he had said could bear tion

and

sciences

clarification.

was couched

Too much

of his criticism of arts

and of philosophy could be

construed as an attack on culture.

enough

to place his

and

and whimsical language.

in paradoxical

His criticism of the sciences

repeti-

And he had

not had time

views within a proper social and political

context and to relate his analysis to a clear enough

summary

of

the evolution of mankind, the growth of institutions and the necessities of

his case,

if

human

governance. Rousseau was anxious to

possible, in

such a way that

wide and make everybody

impending

as clearly

would reach

aware

make

far

and

as possible of the

crisis.

There were

six replies

by Rousseau

among them,

made

of

to Narcisse

and, taken together, they were more than twice as

long as the Discourse

itself.

They were

75 1 and the end of 1753.

all his critics

to the criticisms

one includes the preface

his First Discourse, seven if

1

it

all

written between June

Had Rousseau

wished

to reply to

he would have written many more. But

the end, must have appeared to

meantime he had

him

this, in

a pointless task, for in the

seized another opportunity to develop inde-

pendently the thoughts that had been forming in his mind: by

November 1753 the Academy of Dijon had come to his rescue by providing him with the theme of the origins of inequality. [84]

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT Some

of Rousseau's critics

were people with ideas (Bordes and

the adviser to the king of Poland), some were petty polemists

Gautier).

Freron,

(Lecat,

wanted

to

Some,

widen the discussion around Rousseau's

Rousseau answered some of them

nal).

not at

rectly, yet others

The

directly,

a

Monsieur VAbbe Raynal, was

published in the Mercure de France of June 175

some observations which were probably due This

the briefest of the replies, and

is

better

known

ideas (Ray-

others indi-

all.

Lettre

reply,

first

who

were friends

finally,

it

1,

answer

in

to

Raynal himself.

to

7

was followed by the

Observations de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, de Geneve,

published in the Mercure for September 1751, in answer to

also

an anonymous author known, however,

much November

Poland. This

Grimm

of

a

is

longer essay.

to

The

discussing

1751,

be Stanislas, king of third

was a

Gautier's

published by the Mercure the previous October.

letter to

refutation

The

fourth,

Derniere Response de Jean-Jacques Rousseau de Geneve, was published in the Mercure of April 1752 and Discours sur

les

a reply to the

et

des arts by Charles

same journal

in

December 1751.

Bordes, published in the is

is

avantages des sciences

the longest and the most important of the replies.

was published

Lettre a Lecat,

The

sixth

and

d'une seconde

last

The seau.

a Bordes,

Lyon

in

in 1752.

fragment of a more

a five-page

8

had been exceptionally

had been a great deal of the time

even sometimes

seemed

is

which was never concluded.

years since 1750

He

pamphlet

active for Rous-

and

in the limelight

at the center of the fashionable salon life

to reject.

It

fifth,

reply to a second attack by Bordes, Preface

lettre

extensive essay

as a

The

These had been years

of both successful

he

and

unsuccessful presentation of his plays, of tension between the pull of the bright culture of his times 7

O.C.

8

All the replies are in O.C.

Ill,

and the urge

to establish

1256. Ill,

31-107; see

also

C.C.

II,

149-53. [85]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU his

own

on the principles he was advocating. The

private life

publication of the Discourse had faced Rousseau with the issue

"How to reconcile the

of his personal life:

adopted with a

how

them, and

could

I,

severe principles

which bore very

style of life

little

March 1751 he

had

cashier of a collector general of finances,

preach with good grace disinterestedness and poverty?" In

I

relationship to

9

resigned his post and henceforth earned his

He

livelihood by copying music.

thus became free to

fix

the

proper order of priorities and to set the stage for the bombshell of the Discourse on Inequality. In the end Rousseau proudly an-

nounces that

his "system"

is

ready.

Throughout the debate, Rousseau

He

and uncompromising.

are sharp ing.

What

he has said in the

much thought and paradoxes, and he

is

has no intention of retreat-

First

Discourse

and confidence

They do

is

He

as

his

is

full

he

mind. This explains

he addresses himself

to his contra-

has in store for them for he

fight.

convinced that his judgment on

is

He

What

merely on the periphery of the

know what he

not

has barely begun to

right.

the result of

anxious to restate his ideas clearly.

more complex structure shaping up in

dictors.

is

not of an idle wish to amuse himself with

is

has said in the First Discourse

his elation

confident and his replies

of

hope about

his

ability

mystery of existence and the relation of

man

human to

nature

is

penetrate the

to nature,

and

to

9

Confessions, O.C. I, 361—2. Giving up his job with Francueil may have forced Rousseau to give up his children too. But he brought himself to see the problem as part of the larger struggle between rich and poor. A

poor

man

cannot nourish properly his children:

"It is the class of the rich,

need for my children." In any case, Rousseau's children would have been brought up as peasants and not as writers or office workers and his action is not due to vicious

your

class,

which robs

my

class of the

character but to poverty (letter to

C.G. [86]

I,

308-10; C.C.

II,

142-6).

bread

Madame

I

de Francueil, April 20, 1751,

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT common man. He

understand the virtues of the philosopher (Descartes?) piercing God's secrets eternal

wisdom:

He

"who

pities

the great

thinks of himself as capable of

and dares

vaunted wisdom

to link his

to

approves, he blames, he corrects, he dictates

laws to nature and limits to divinity; and while he busies himself

with his vain systems and goes to endless efforts to arrange the

machine of the world, the

laborer,

who

sees the rain

and then

the sun in turn bring fruits to his field, admires, praises blesses the

hand from which he

attempting to understand the

Not them

all his

are

way

and

receives these graces without in

which they reach him."

opponents have the same ambitious views.

Some

of

mere children. Others when they are not publicity

seekers are guilty of having

shrunk the content of the debate

from a consideration of morality and goodness

to

one of fortune

One writer Rousseau holds up by name to public scorn: Melon, who was destined to be the first to justify a 10 "poisonous doctrine" about economic man and luxury. and grandeur.

With

d'Alembert, Rousseau

not been any

less critical

more

is

but Rousseau

cautious. calls

His views had

them important. For

d'Alembert had asked whether the difference in morals and customs to be noticed

among

different countries

was due not

only to the development of arts and sciences but also to the climate of the country, the temper of the people, the the government, the customs factors

This

and the

laws.

economy

Any one

of

of these

might have caused the decadence of morals. is

what d'Alembert had written

course of the

We might

first

volume

in the Preliminary Dis-

of the Encyclopedic:

perhaps

at this

point reject the strictures that an eloquent

writer has recently

aimed

at the Arts

corrupting morals.

It

at

the beginning of a

10

would be out work such

and Sciences, accusing them of

of place to agree with such views

as this;

and even the worthy writer

O.C. 111,41,76,95. [87]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU we have

in

mind, having supported with enthusiasm and success our

undertaking, seems to have given

him

accusing

it

undoubtedly reply that such abuse

we do

ask

him

its

we

are not

abuses (he would

inseparable from culture)

is

examine whether most

to

Indeed

his approval.

of having confused culture with

of the evils

he

but

:

attributes to

Arts and Sciences are not due to entirely different causes, which

would be both long and certainly helps to

prove that is

men

make

society

are better

more

from

laws be proscribed because they

we (something we

may make

to

and

are far

from doing), we

in addition

we would be

do not believe that

still

our vices would remain

it:

ignorant.

Rousseau could not disagree with tem. " His reply

tells

us that he

11

statement for

this

which these can hamper

and

to a discussion of the

The

political

which Rousseau

is

problem

now

is

the premises had been

view of

man

Then

will

made

accepted, then

be feasible

to

and

ways

part of a

trying to disen-

tangle the threads to explain the present condition of man.

it

"sys-

not ready yet at this point to

is

or facilitate the establishment of

morals in a given community. larger social problem, of

in-

it

own

to the specific questions of the political structure

of the institutional arrangements in

Finally,

human knowledge

cluded "great views" and was certainly a part of his

come down

this

possible the commission

admit the disadvantages of

anything would be gained by destroying us,

difficult to

whose authors would be punished among savages?

even were

with

would be

it

can be denied even to morals. Furthermore, must

a benefit that

of crimes

pleasant;

and virtue more common: but

it

it

enumerate here. Learning

indiscreet to

clear it

and the

will

Once

validity of his overall

be time

to consider politics.

"examine the hidden but no

less real

relationships which are to be found between the nature of govern-

ment and

the genius, the morals and the degree of instruction of

the citizens." But this

11

is

an ultimate objective only and one

"Discours preliminaire des editeurs," Encyclopedic, ou Dictionnaire

raisonne des sciences, des arts et [88]

d,es

metiers (Paris, 1751),

I,

xxxiii.

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT which Rousseau sidered, this

is

not prepared to pursue now: everything con-

is

a field of research

he might carry out in Geneva.

which

in different circumstances

12

Geneva, the symbol of the only modern virtuous people he has been able seau's

to find,

mind.

And

a "citizen of Inequality,

13

continues to be the ideal standard in Rous-

even before he was ready

Geneva" on the

he had called himself a

explanation given in frontispiece of the that of the sciences

seeing

fire for

the

Discourse:

torch of Prometheus

him and wants

time, rushes to

men who,

embrace

seduced by the brilliance

who

the citizen of

is

14

of

citizen

Geneva

soon be ready to redeem his

will

promise to d'Alembert and go to his native city

more

to

them: the Prometheus

and warns them of the danger they incur

The

is

animating the great geniuses; the Satyr who,

first

him, represents the vulgar

Geneva."

in the

decorating the

illustration

"The

of letters, indiscreetly rush to study

shouts

himself as

Geneva

citizen of

1752 of the

first

to identify

page of the Discourse on

title

to

undertake his

having beforehand told the

specific political research,

citi-

zens of that city of his intentions and of his general views on the organization of the political community.

15

For he

has to

still

proceed to define his views from the beginning, by clarifying an

argument which was getting

lost in

polemical confusion.

He

is

proud of what he has written and even more certain of the importance of what he has not yet illusions as to his

knows

that

men

said,

even though he has no

He

chances of success in reforming mankind.

"will be

no

less

eager to secure glory and

money

after I will

have convinced them that these two passions are at

the root of

all

the former

He 12 15

their miseries

and that men are rendered

and unhappy by the

will nevertheless continue

O.C. Ill, 43. Cf. infra, pp. 157

13 ff.

O.C.

Ill, 16

latter."

evil

on the path he has assigned 14

42.

O.C.

Ill,

by

16

O.C.

Ill,

1

to

02.

104. [89]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU himself, because of an inner urge to state

man

what

his understand-

He

happy

tells

him

is

back into the consciousness of

man

the Gospel

ing of the nature of

It is

not because of the

true.

to

bring to the soul the love of

the will to accomplish His precepts.

Never has

not be one,

its

Author and

virtue spoken

sweeter language; never the deepest wisdom has expressed

much

so

itself

a

with

energy and simplicity. 17

Rousseau was things."

and

to a Christian,

who might

even for somebody

all

needs only reflection

bring

admirable beauty has penetrated

its

This divine book, the only necessary

the most useful of

to

and sciences that the Gospel has spread

arts

throughout the universe and that all hearts.

is

18

convinced that he had "discovered great

also

His independence and

strength and he

now had

his solitude

had given him

the right to speak without reticence.

In this interlude between the two Discourses, Rousseau wanted

and sciences and the

to consider the relationship of

morals to

issue of their decline with the

growth of a philosophy which was

only the fruit of

human

too easily spread

pride.

That

arts

this

kind of culture should

not surprising, "for

is

it

is

less

painful to

distinguish oneself through idle babble than through good mor-

no longer necessary

als, as

soon as

one

an agreeable man."

is

But

earlier

were not

it is

man

there.

he

sees

which

and the

justice." 17

an

this

man

provided

is

when

the sources of corruption

trying to see through "the obscurity

rusticity of ancient peoples."

And what

the prevalence of "the severity of morals

all

infallible

Today

be a good

mark

of their purity, good faith, hospitality,

no longer true and polished peoples have

is

48-9. In the Fourth Letter from the Mountain Rousseau king of Poland, from which the above passage taken, as one of his writings which showed his love for the Gospel

was is

above

is

is

lived at a time

Rousseau

of ancient times

to

19

O.C.

(O.C. 18

[90]

Ill,

to call his reply to the

Ill,

O.C.

768, 1264). Ill,

103.

19

O.C.

Ill,

73.

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT become corrupted and widened the gulf between what they and what they appear

What a series zation! The fate

to be.

of religion

have come

Our

pride themselves in not having

with books on theology and casuists

are to be

found everywhere. In other times we had

casuists.

Science progresses and faith

wants

to teach to

filled

readily

with

we

critics

is

to

all

20

Our world

confuse erudition and wisdom.

is

and antiquarians: "Pamphlets become volumes, is

forgotten

:

this is

after clarifications contained in

the fate of literary polemics:

endless in-folio volumes one always ends

And

we have

to learn;

be Christians/'

books are multiplied but the original question

bearings."

and no

saints

destroyed. Everybody

do good but nobody wants

become doctors and we have ceased

How

what advan-

arts are shining;

Let us ask the question to the

who

libraries are filled

civili-

a striking example: "Sciences are

is

and the

to religion?

multitude of philosophers any.

by our advanced

of paradoxes are offered

flourishing today, literature tages

are

just as this "learning"

is

up by

praised so

losing one's

is

"ignorance"

condemned. But there are two kinds of ignorance.

One

is

"the criminal

ignorance which extends to the duties of humanity and multiplies vices,

men

which degrades reason, depresses the

similar to animals."

The

other

is

soul, renders

the reasonable ignorance,

"which

consists

faculties

one has received; a modest ignorance born of a

...

for virtue

a

pure person

to limit one's

a sweet

satisfied

within himself

.

.

.

curiosity

to

the extent of the real love

and precious ignorance, the possession of

with himself and

and does not need

who

finds his happiness

to seek a false

and vain

happiness in the opinion others might have of his lights."

But

it is

this

comprehend 20

O.C.

Ill,

21

kind of ignorance which the philosophers cannot

or accept. For they believe that

74,61,48.

21

O.C.

Ill,

all is

well simply

54.

[91]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU because

we have

given our vices

and corruption pleasant-

sounding names so that they need not embarrass us any longer.

The

man upon

retreat of

trying

hide

to

its

himself

is

not acceptable in a world

empty manners: "The

intentions behind

greater the internal corruption the greater the external tranquility: in this

way

the cultivation of letters generates

politeness. Taste

is

public approbation natural that those care ways with

which

also derived is

who

the

which

in the long

by

condition of literary works,

first

are

little

little

from the same source. As soon it

as is

engaged in them should consider with

to obtain

run form

it;

these are the considerations

style, refine taste

where graces and urbanity. These things may

and spread everybe,

one wants,

if

the supplement of virtue: but never will one be able to see that

they are virtue

itself

and

rarely they will go with

performance of a comedy of Moliere, Rousseau

"A

the delicacy of the audience:

slightly risky

sion merely vulgar rather than obscene,

chaste ears;

them

I

have no doubt

to the

see the issue in

its

to

wound

their

most corrupted among

22

proper perspective Rousseau goes back

This

is

the historical development of

by

led to admire

beginnings of history and to the nature of

original state of nature.

a

word, an expres-

enough

at all that the

are always the most scandalized."

To

is

is

At

it."

man

in the

a time well before that phase in

mankind which has been

selected

theorists as corresponding to the state of nature, a condition

which has nothing and

socialized

ical

man.

Going back

to

do with the already complicated

man who

as a rule

to the origins,

22

[92]

man O.C.

taken as the

Rousseau

views on the goodness of man, of a

is

or,

sees

more

norm

nothing

precisely,

to

civilized

of prepolit-

change

on the

his

qualities

incapable of doing evil because the setting was such

Ill,

73-4.

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT that there

was no incentive or motive

for

man

an

to act in

evil

way.

There scholars

savage.

historical evidence available in the records of

is

and

travelers, all of

But there

is

whom

also a logical

both

point to the goodness of the

approach which

is

even more

and

persuasive. In the absence of the scaffolding of institutions social

customs which have grown through the centuries and

which have made man what he could act as

if

those institutions

more important statements

the

is, it is

how man

difficult to see

and customs

one of

existed. In

of this period, in his Last Refly,

Rousseau writes: Before the invention of those shocking words, yours and mine; before the appearance of that breed of cruel masters,

and

of that other breed of

and brutal men who are called

men,

rascals

and

liars,

who

are

men abominable enough to men are dying of hunger;

called slaves; before the appearance of

dare to possess the superfluous while other

before the development of a mutual dependence has forced

become shrewd,

to

someone explain

to

jealous

and

me what

traitorous;

I

would

like

the

Golden Age.

now we have been

Why

is it

the chain of consequences

is

are

some

story

which Rousseau

human

remains always essentially the same. the

O.C.

told

now we

sees as the

condition.

There

variations over the years in the exact order of priorities

establishment

of

distinctions

property and the social isolation of

23

am

23

in the identification of the several links in the chain.

with

have

disabused of the chimera of

controlling factor in his analysis of the

and

I

not also said that for a long time

have been disabused of the chimera of virtue?

This

to

all

could have been those vices, those

crimes with which so emphatically one reproaches them. that for a long time

them

Ill,

But the

The beginning comes based

man which

on

results

claims

to

from those

80.

[93]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

A

distinctions.

protective shell of rights leads to the aggressive

man

assertiveness of

against

man. In the ensuing

struggle, the

natural inequalities which distinguish the individual

the

human

tive

game

race

come

creating two classes of

and the

to the forefront

They

of competition.

What

slaves.

men

and are used

members

in a destruc-

succeed, in the long run, in

opposed

to

happens next

one another, the masters that as a result of the

is

both the masters and

dialectical process of reciprocal influence

the slaves deteriorate and each group begins to exhibit traits. It is all

of

mankind

spreads

tic conflict

its

that

of

worst

its

becomes corrupted

as a materialis-

among

the oppressors

poison impartially

and the oppressed.

A further consequence in the

human

And

society.

which leads

process poor,

the growing accumulation of wealth

is

hands of the masters

who

to the

again this

to a further

in order to survive,

disadvantage of the rest of

is

the result of a dialectical

debasing of the nature of the

and given the increasing mutual

dependence thrust upon men, are forced top and, with them,

to imitate those at the

become engaged

under the appearance of acceptable

in

antisocial

activities

social behavior.

Perhaps the Golden Age has never existed, Rousseau suggests at this point,

Golden Age

even though two years

as

phatically

is

he will refer

one necessary point of passage, however

the transition of

Golden Age

later

man from

vision

is

to the

brief, in

the origins to the present. But

what

rejected,

is

rejected even

the present possibility of a virtuous

In denying both the Golden

Age and

if

the

more em-

life.

the empire of virtue,

Rousseau's adversaries are refusing to consider the possibility that the

the

way

in

vanishing

opposite offered

—

that

which men of is,

virtue.

live

today has anything to do with

Rousseau

by commerce, the very

life,

institutions of

thing in sum, conspire to multiply [94]

convinced

is

that the conditions of

of

the

the temptations

government, every-

human

weaknesses.

The

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT hold of cupidity on strengthening life.

What

it

man

is

already great enough, and yet

everything that surrounds

by

we

are

in his daily

when we push him to the acquisition of most desirable of human goals, "to accumulate

will

riches as the

happen,

wealth regardless of the consequences?"

The

him

24

corrupting influence of the system

is

universal.

Rousseau

has already said that wealth destroys both the rich and the poor.

There '

calls

is

something inevitable about the process which Rousseau

"The

genealogical":

inequality wealth relative

is

first

source of evil

and wherever men

from

inequality;

will be equal there will

From wealth luxury and

poor.

is

born, for these words poor and rich are

be no rich or

idleness have come."

becomes both the end product of a degenerative process

Luxury as well

as the symbol, the most visible aspect, of present civilization.

Rousseau dismisses

as entirely worthless the

arguments of con-

temporary economists that luxury was performing a necessary function by keeping the poor employed and fed. For

social

without luxury there would be no poor:

Luxury feeds

hundred poor

a

hundred thousand of them

demand latter

and causes the death of

hands of the rich and of the

in the

lates

in our cities

in our countryside:

for superfluities

is lost

money which

artists

to

a

circu-

satisfy

their

for the subsistence of the laborer: the

goes without dress precisely because the former need gold

trimmings on

theirs.

nourishment of

man

The is

wastage of foodstuffs necessary to the

itself

enough

to

make luxury

hateful to

We need sauces in our kitchens, this why so many sick people have no soup. We need wine on our tables, this why the peasant drinks only water. We need powder for our wigs, this

mankind.

.

.

.

is

is

is

why

so

many

Nor can

poor have no bread.

the question of luxury be solved by proposing to limit

luxury, to admit the usefulness of

24

O.C.

Ill,

some luxury and

to say that

32.

[95]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU beyond

The

a certain threshold luxury will not be tolerated.

acceptable position

everything

that

is

no luxury

a source of evil

is

cally necessary.

at all

is

only

necessary and that

which goes beyond what

is

physi-

"Nature gives us already too many needs and

it is

very least highly imprudent to multiply them without

at the

necessity

and

dependent." It is

no

to

make

in this

way

the soul of

man

even more

25

less

wrong

defend luxury on the basis of

to

historical

evolution and of the gradual acquisition of needs which, because of the passage of time, are then

In

spread,

was

of evils.

It

no longer considered

as luxury.

Rousseau maintains, luxury, even though wide-

ages,

all

at least considered as the source of

was reserved

to

Melon

to

an

infinite variety

support for the

first

time the

doctrine of the economic necessity and of the historical cation of luxury: "I

am

not afraid at

all to fight,

maxims which only tend

century, these hateful

justifi-

alone in

to destroy

my and

debase virtue and to create both rich and miserable men, that

is

always bad men."

To

say this does not

mean

that history can be rewritten

what has happened can be removed and

that

ments made, suddenly, in the intention of "reducing sities,"

men

to

be

life

of

and

radical readjust-

men. Rousseau has no

satisfied

with the merest neces-

even though they might provide the substance of happi-

ness.

He

burn

libraries

has no wish to "upset present social arrangements, to

and

all

His only purpose

is

books, to destroy colleges and academies." that of determining as far as

'

he can the

causes of present discontents, because without a clear notion of

how we have become what we are, we shall never be able to change. And change there ought to be. The task of finding specific remedies Rousseau is almost willing at this point to leave to others more courageous or more

25

[96]

O.C.

Ill,

49-50, 74, 79, 95.

26

O.C.

Ill,

95, 104.

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT reckless than

he

But

is.

this

hold for very long, because soon

one concrete reference

to

Rousseau

a position

is

we

citizenship.

For the links between morals and customs and close, as are those

problems.

between culture,

The ways

in

unable to

more than

problems of war and duty, the needs of

and the hard requirements of

political life,

is

find in the replies

which

arts

and

political life are

sciences,

and

social

grow, defend themselves,

societies

survive or decline, are functions of the moral fiber of their

members. There

no escaping the

is

political repercussions of a

social

system in which goodness has been abandoned for luxury

and

hard

of

a

life

up

of sacrifice given

in favor of the conveniences

life.

The problem

of education

teaching young people the

them

useful to

point

is

for their

anyone

who

many

for

enough be drawn

and yet

is

the one

And what saries

in

which might be

are

this

to

way

life to

grown up. The

The

whatever tends

to derive

flatterer

egoistic

to

make

end

for others.

from

this

never overlooks a

his contribution to social life

who works

For

the performance

the citizen will grow with

accommodating, hoping

he works only with an

citizen

no point

starting point of the educational process.

attitude advantages for himself. to please

is

no bearing on the duties of citizenship

and agreeable. In

a tendency to be

chance

pleasant things

has been taught to prefer his

of his duty will soon his life easy

There

primordial.

amusement once they

that they have

which must be the

is

in view.

is

negative,

The

useful

27

does the community need most? Rousseau's adver-

lamented the dismal

possibility of a

sively of workers, soldiers, hunters,

world made up exclu-

and shepherds. But

to

Rous-

seau this would be "a spectacle infinitely more beautiful than that of

27

mankind made up

O.C.

Ill,

of cooks, poets, printers,

and musi-

63, 64, 74. [97]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The

cians."

latter

would be pursuing

idle activities,

while out of

the former, hard-working communities capable of maintaining their

freedom would undoubtedly be born,

pared

to eliminate soldiering as a profession

a duty

and

to

invade the freedom of others.

the fatherland

mercenaries. "

The

:

only

'War

we is

are pre-

sometimes

not to be conceived as a profession. Everybody must

is

be a soldier for the defense of his freedom.

one

if

is

And

Nobody must become to die in the service of

too beautiful an occupation to be entrusted to

28

fact of the matter

must not only

that the ideal citizen

is

be far removed from the temptations of the amenities of

must be prepared

to die for his country.

He

of the harshness of the necessities of political

one would admire

that in

which the

citizen

a

homme

life. It is

would not be constrained

live in a state

de bien. But

Romans:

where each

is

life,

but

be aware

easy to say

one

state,

to the practice of

"It is certainly

more

exempted from being

we

the citizens of this state

if

also

powerful and well-governed

the "cruel" virtues of the early

convenient to

must

were by the unhappy turn of events forced either

a

are admiring

to give

up

their

virtue or to practice these cruel virtues, and supposing further

found the strength

that they

because of

Let

admire them

perform their duty, would

less?"

life

by the community

if

They

work

continuing participation in

to a

is necessary to its own many others, from hard the common tasks. But the

this

survival.

include undoubtedly

ultimate cruel virtue the citizen must exhibit

understand and support the decision which with

finality

with those

who

[98]

O.C.

Ill,

82.

29

O.C.

is

Ill,

88.

his capacity to

may be

are threatening to

action the coherence of the political

28

we

29

be clear that the cruel virtues include the taking of

it

human

this

to

taken to deal

weaken by

community. Rousseau,

their car-

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT away bv the

ried

short of

rhetoric of his argument,

is

unwilling to stop

most extreme point.

its

The taking of life seems to be justified both in the case of those who attempt to violate the established pattern of life in a given community and in the case of those who are trying to get away from the community

And

Africa

In the

first

Rousseau

instance,

right of self-defense of

manner tend

in order to escape

to consider inferior

need of our

been able

of

its

burdens.

sees the issue in terms of the

what Europeans

we know nothing but which we in

some

the testing ground.

is

to penetrate into the is

their supercilious

savage societies, about which

are tempted to consider as being

civilizing intervention:

we do not know what

in

"Because

we have

not

continent of Africa and because

taking place there,

we T

are

pushed

to

conclude that the African people exhibit innumerable vices, a conclusion which should rather be

drawn had we been

able to

export ours."

Against the cosmopolitanism of his century, Rousseau

de-

is

fending the irreplaceable and unique qualities of each separate culture, for

he believes that from the commingling of cultures

onlv further degeneration can come. Since

all societies

have not

reached the same stage of development, Rousseau, given his premises,

and the

is

bound

to say that the least

never existed and even less

continue

to

If this is true,

right to

This

is

them:

developed are the best

closest to that ideal state of nature if

we cannot

which even

return to

it,

has

if it

must neverthe-

be the standard of comparison and judgment. the so-called primitive societies of Africa have a

defend themselves against the intrusion of outsiders.

what Rousseau would do "If

I

declare that

on which

I

if

he were in charge of any of

were the head of any of the peoples of Africa, I

would

erect

on the

frontier of

would hang without

pity the

my

I

country a gibbet

first

European who [99]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU would dare leave

it."

to cross

it,

as well as the first citizen

There would thus be two separate

who would

try to

one

lines of gallows:

reserved for advancing Europeans, the other for fleeing Africans.

Rousseau

feels that

no further

justification

needed

is

for the

hanging of Europeans, but the hanging of escaping Africans gives

him pause and induces him

more general

to deal

community, by

right of the

all

is

which the

state

is

common good

pursue

Rousseau gives

who

evil rather

tries to

the exit of a citizen

who

case, the

corrupted."

he

is

If this is

he wants

life

this: better to see a

the answer

is

be opposed

"He

to pursue.

of the nation

nation dedicated to the virtues, of traditions

a full integration of

to develop:

he was opposing preservation

committed

to

man

Ecchtomy, of the defense of

human

the essence of the general will.

[100]

Ill,

90,90-1, 91.

of

The

In any

than

life

with his

They

it.

aspects of first,

of the

to the cosmopolis, a

beauty,

peace and restraint

other nations; the second, to be found

O.C.

to

hurts

man hanging

deprived of the freedom to abandon

Rousseau's thought that he was soon

30

the

someone who

must be considered, however, along with two other

humane view

in

30

These views imply such society that

And this why we should

and

by the bad example he gives and he hurts

law must prevent

him

is

never intends to come back:

himself because of the vicious

to see

run away

than good.

to the question of

the other citizens

inspire public action

never guilty of an unjust action.

then the citizen to

This can be

an ideal community in which, in principle,

is

only truth and the

wants

all its citizens.

by Rousseau only on the ground that the community he

talking about

case,

that of the

is

available means, to force the

presence and retain the allegiance of justified

with the problem in

terms. For the issue he has raised

of

cultural

vis-a-vis all

especially in the Political

and

justice that

was

to

be

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT Rousseau

is

forever caught

up

tween the awful dilemmas he

manner

is

in the tension

awaken

as possible in order to

he creates be-

setting forth in as shocking a his readers to a serious

consideration of the problem, and the infinitely happier, tere, vision

But the

of the days to come.

tide

must

aus-

if

be turned.

first

Rousseau's views of democratic'life find another concrete ex-

model among the republics of antiquity,

emplification in his

His

Sparta.

critics

example of Sparta Greece been

had asked in

had challenged Rousseau by drawing on the to

support their

like Sparta,

own

rhetorically. Since

it

Had

arguments.

what would be

of

all

us today? Bordes

left to

would have held

arts

and sciences

contempt no historians therefore would have been bred and

nurtured

to transmit its glory to posterity.

Rousseau, in his Last Refly, suggests that, had a Spartan been

persuaded of the validity of address his

countrymen

this

argument, he would have had

as follows:

Fellow citizens, open your eyes for you have been blinded.

pained

you are working only

to notice that

practice your courage

what

is

it

to

be good

Of what

men when nobody

matter in the centuries to

Thermopylae

amusing the

that of

the possible use of virtue

is

be bruited about throughout the world?

have been

to acquire

am

I

virtue,

to

and maintain your freedom. You are forgetting

your most important duty which generations. Tell me,

to

come

for the salvation of the

idle of future

not to

if it is

possible use will

will talk of

you?

What

you should have died

that

Athenians

if

it

will at

you do not leave

behind, as they did, philosophical systems, poetry, comedies, sculpture?

Hurry then

to

abandon laws which are useful only

how to make people talk here. And never forget that if

happy and think only you

will

be no longer

not be commemorated,

The

condition of

statesmanship

is

of

it

would be

human

whether

useless to be

happiness

is

this condition

Rousseau has doubts about

Pericles, not

make you

great

men

could

one of them.

good laws.

is

to

about you once

satisfied.

as a city

The This

test of is

why

planner but as a [101]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and

magistrate. His magnificence

we

ever,

taste

is

"How-

not disputed:

do not know whether Pericles has been a good

still

magistrate because in the

management

of states the problem

is

not that of raising statues but that of the good governance of

men." Well-governed men

men

will also

living without splendor

men. There

human

is

become good men. And good

and without wealth

be happy

will

no shorter and more secure way of creating

happiness.

31

But often the commonwealths of antiquity have offered us venerable images in which "I see

men

tions to the highest degree of greatness

human wisdom." This institutions in

proves

how

raised

by sublime

institu-

and virtue attainable by

great can be the role of

shaping the fortune of men. History displays

before us the long series of stages of development of mankind.

After

man

successive

has abandoned the state of nature, he meets with

and different conditions of organized

In each,

life.

In the state of nature

institutions exert their influence.

enjoys natural freedom. In varying forms of associated enjoys varying degrees of constitutions form ate steps

are "derived

It

man man

freedom. "The different political

between these two terms

which begin with the excesses of

those of tyranny."

of

civil

life

as

many

license

and end with

soon will become obvious that

more from the constitution

intermedi-

disorders

all

of society than

from that

man."

What

is

to

be done today

will,

political institutions of a country.

then, concern primarily the

But Rousseau

is

not yet ready

to face that task. In those years of diatribes, Rousseau's energies

were concentrated on the negative task of thought was wrong with the times.

The

criticism of

O.C. 111,84-5, 85.

[102]

is

only

exists.

The

ultimate ideal

barely visible in the turmoil of his fight against

sl

what he

what

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT sophisms of the reasoners must they do

For

The damage

set aside.

immense.

is

we

if

be

first

think seriously about the problems of social

human

we

bound

man and

give

up

"all

these great words of society, justice, laws, mutual defense,

the prejudices of

vanity,

are

to see that

assistance to the weak, philosophy, progress of reason, are tricks

invented by skillful politicians, 32

the simple-minded. "

coward

all

flatterers, to

sweep of the

First a clean

dominate

rhetoric;

then

some thoughts for the future. In his parting polemical shot, the Preface to a Second Letter to Bordes, Rousseau gives us to understand that he has a great deal

more on

mind than he has

his

conveys the feeling that Rousseau grounds. his

He

is

This short fragment

so far said. is

completely confident of his

no longer overly concerned with the arguments of

opponents: he seems to have gone beyond that stage and to

have become the carrier of what, four times, he Precisely

what the system

and great system, the of

man, of

fruit of a sincere

his faculties

Rousseau, even though not,

he does not

is

and it

say,

only that

we must tutes

What

examination of the nature

"humiliates" him. But

matters

is

is

dear to

what matters

man which

is

cannot

not to hesitate to lower man, since

avoid making a fundamental mistake as to what consti-

man's veritable greatness. By trying

the stars

33

a "sad

it is

of his destiny." This system

because of vain pride, to make claims for

be sustained.

calls his system.

we

rather fear

are preparing is

him

32

Fragments politiques, O.C.

33

As the

we Ill,

will

man toward What we must

push

for his downfall.

that "by persisting in

ourselves above our nature

to

our attempts to elevate

end by

falling

below

it,"

or

538, 540, 478, 475.

editors of the Confessions,

Gagnebin and Raymond,

write:

"As the polemical debate unfolds, one sees Rousseau's thought, in two or

and strengthen

three years, develop fashion.

Under

itself

in

an altogether surprising

the pressure of the adversary, he

is

going to anchor

himself to his ideas and take possession of what he will call his "sad and great system"

(O.C.

I,

1435-6). [103]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU that

we may end up by

rather than poor It is a

of truth

and miserable,

preferring to be "vicious

and uncivilized."

"system" which Rousseau will defend because

and virtue and we

"The majority

of

suffer because

we

men, having degenerated from

which crush them."

It is a

which he could not have revealed true intentions

continue at

under a

them and the

all at

once.

He

had

veil of casualness in order to

hide his

to

be able to

34

all.

clear that Rousseau, in speaking of his "system,"

the complex of ideas,

many

of

them grim

ones,

accumulating in his mind and which he was in the Discourse is

it.

"true but painful system"

In spite of some obscurity and ambiguity of language

he

that

their primitive

goodness, have fallen into the errors which blind miseries

it is

have abandoned

on Inequality. More than

"system," leading to the present.

seems

referring to

which had been

to set forth in full

to the present as such,

referring to the concatenation of events 35

is

it

which he

Rousseau

is

sees as a

aware of the

scandal caused by his Discourse on Arts and Sciences. After 1750, he implies that he could not reveal

which would have caused

a far greater

all at

once a system

commotion.

tion of the gradual unfolding of his views

The

was necessary

precauso that

But by 1753 one of his more worthy opponents had become aware that what Rousseau was he would be heard

to the end.

34

O.C. Ill, 103-7. This interpretation differs in emphasis from that offered by Francois Bouchardy, the editor of the First Discourse and of the replies, who writes that "these somber epithets relate to present facts which he denounces, and not to the conclusion he reaches and, in spite of everything, he 35

hopes will come true" QO.C. Ill, 1284). But Gagnebin and Raymond, speaking of Book VIII of the Confessions, suggest a direct link between the "system"

and the Second Discourse:

"It is astonishing that

such a

small place be reserved to 'ideas/ in years which must have been devoted to

very wide readings and to the meditation of the 'sad and great system'

whose

first

1425). [104]

account will be given in the Discourse on Inequality" (O.C.

I,

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT offering

was "a decided system. "

the question of the origins

men, and

this

was about

There

was

to reveal to the world.

is

no open appeal

present corruption of man. the only remedy, but

foresee

time had come to answer

be the heart of the revolutionary system he

to

might

we

heal. It

is

But a

to revolution in the replies. itself

tion will certainly be necessary

it

The

and foundations of inequality among

revolutionary will manifests

which

36

A

if

in almost every line, a revolu-

an end

is

be sought

to

future "great revolution''

should fear

it

almost as

both wrong to wish

it

much

to the

may be

as the

ills

and impossible

to

it.

Narcisse Before proceeding to the "system," to Narcisse.

37

The

us consider the preface

let

play had failed after two performances at the

end of 1752. But Rousseau would publish

so that

it

he could

address himself to the yet unfinished task of replying to his adversaries.

that

This could be done by adding a preface, a document

Grimm found

better than the play

worthy of Montesquieu," called "one of

the author

man and

my

38

and

good pieces."

39

From

38

learn

much

that Rousseau wants to

about

of politics,

should those

who

him from

widen and

his "adversaries."

oppose him not be called adversaries?

prevailing reluctance of writers with different opinions

to clarify their respective positions 36

we

and about some of the major problems

About the author we learn

The

it

later

society, property, wealth, the state.

not to narrow the gap which separates

Why

with "some pages

itself,

Rousseau himself

that

Cf., infra, p.

no,

n. 45.

37

is

O.C.

typical of a century in II,

959-74.

Cited by Jacques Scherer, the editor of Narcisse, O.C.

II,

1

861-2.

See the whole of Scherer's interesting note (1858-65) on the long history (going back to 39

Confessions, O.C.

1729) of the play and on I,

its

interpretation.

388.

[105]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU which nothing

by

called

is

its

word can be found Rousseau meantime, he intends

proper name.

If

an alternative

be happy

to

use

will

"continue to

to

call

adversaries because in spite of the politeness as

rough

There

as the is

Macedonians

I

have upheld. " But the

do not believe one word

that

test is

he believes in what he

is

is

not

seriously

one

simple: "It

whenever a man speaks

permissible to ignore that

must think

In the

my adversaries my of my century, I am

of Philip."

a general conviction that "I

of the truths

it.

saying, unless his

actions or his speech should contradict him." Rousseau could

believe

by 1753 that

way

his

of

He

life.

intended to give incontrovertible public

evidence of that in case there were

For the

and

care

and

his thoughts corresponded to his actions

moment he

still

any doubters.

challenges the doubters to watch

and

to study his principles

him with

his personal behavior before

they accuse him of contradiction and inconsequence: If,

however, they were to note that

the public or that

I

pretty songs or that

comedies, petitors I

am

that

or

...

tried

I

or that

beginning

I

with the work of

fame makes me publicly,

books.

and

I

if

membership

women

fashionable

powerful

my

contempt the profession towards wealth,

solicit

the suffrage of

damage the glory

to

aspire to

to court

skies the stupidities of live

begin to

I

am becoming vain because I have written some I am ashamed because I have written some bad

I

men

or that

hands, or

if

I

or that

I

of

my

com-

in academies or that I

no longer

were

to

have chosen and were

praise to the

am

trying to

begin to hold in to start to

move

they were ever to notice in one word that love of

forget that of virtue,

promise that

I

will

I

beg them

burn

at

once

to let

my

me know,

even

writings and

my

40

In the meantime, Rousseau will continue to write books, verses

and music,

if

he can do

openly about the world of 40

O.C.

[106]

II,

960, 961,973-4.

it,

and he

letters. If in

will continue to write

the future someone will

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT say that this declared

enemy

But the

writes

still

talk will be "a very bitter satire

pieces for the theatre, such

not at myself but at

and sciences

of arts

aimed

my century."

issues matter

more than

his person. Rousseau's critics

have accused him of opposing the sciences

bad and by themselves the cause of

all

our

as

being intrinsically

vices,

and of wanting

to proscribe them, to burn the libraries, to close the universities,

and

to

plunge us back into the barbarism of early centuries.

Rousseau considers for arts

way

in

and sciences

this a travesty of his position.

in principle, but

which culture

in general has

One may be

be concerned

still

at the

been used and developed

to

cause the corruption of morals. This corruption which affecting

morals extends to is

all

aspects of

too visible to be denied.

obvious symbol of

human

While

arts

life,

individual and social,

and sciences

are the most

there are a thousand other sources of

it,

corruption which have contributed to our lamentable condition. History, since the collapse of the

has been a carrier of

human

commonwealths

tragedy.

The

of antiquity,

ruin of the

Roman

Empire, the invasion of Europe, the Crusades, the discovery of

commerce and

the Indies, "disorder."

"Whatever

navigation, have increased

facilitates

human

communications between

dif-

ferent nations brings to each not the virtues of the others but their crimes

and

alters for all the

are proper to their climate

and

morals and the customs which

to the constitution of their gov-

ernment."

Of

course, our historians are hiding the realities of history

the increasing corruption of history

is

written. For

them

and

man. They do not know why or how history seems to be

made up

of such

important matters as "the births, the weddings, the deaths of a

few princes; pleasures

41

O.C.

their hunts, their loves, their boring feasts, their sad

and the poverty of

II,

their peoples."

964; Fragments politiques, O.C.

Ill,

41

Perhaps the true

544.

t.o 7 ]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU historian should ject

remove himself

when the submen and not

to earlier times

when

matter of history was different and

real

mere semblances of men were the protagonists of from that vantage point

try to

and

history,

understand better the course of

events.

While whose

and sciences have become

arts

responsibility

is

a

kind of generic culprit

that of giving "to our vices an agreeable

honest air which stops us from being horrified by

color, a certain

them," there are more immediate targets Rousseau intends to First of

all,

that part of the educational system

relate the individual to the society in

has become purely

which he

Worse, "we learn

literary.

which

lives.

fails to

Education

the rules of

all

grammar before we even have heard anything about the of

man."

We

provided

worry

we

as to

word about what we must do: no one

are capable of eloquent statements,

whether we know how

to act or

how to

This empty and formal education, better suited

and

citizen,

to provide for

make him

to vanity. In the ideal state this

him

would not happen:

and these

tasks are too important

own

"in a

allotted tasks to

and dear

him

to

to leave

the leisure to engage in frivolous speculations. In a well-

organized state

all citizens

being equal no one can be preferred

over others as the most learned, not even as the most at

most

as the best."

Directing the tant a

human

but

skillful,

42

state,

Rousseau seems

activity to

be

left to

to

be saying,

is

the philosophers.

too impor-

How

little

does the eighteenth century realize what are the tasks that

ahead in the management of 42

a

the result of overrefinement and leads to idleness

is

well-organized state each citizen has his fulfill

will

think."

the survival of a student in a drawing room than to

good

duties

been accom-

are taught in detail of all that has

plished until today, "but not a

hit.

O.C.

[108]

II,

966, 965.

human

affairs

and how much

lie

less

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT optimistic

face

trie

and easygoing an

one has

attitude

responsibility of keeping

to take in order to

on an even

political societies

keel.

how much modern

frightening to see

It is

phers,

from Hobbes

tried to distinguish

political philoso-

Mandeville and a "thousand others," have

to

themselves with their dangerous doctrines of

contempt for the duties of

man and

of the citizen.

ing century" has accepted

them

too readily.

in the relaxation of

men est

all

customs and laws.

Contempt

"Our

The danger "The

morality of the people."

small-

advantageous from a certain point

if

Customs

are the

these conditions

become

of view, always brings prejudice to morals. 43

lies

for the duties of

breeds contempt for established political ways.

change in customs, even

reason-

Laws under

may sometimes

merely negative barriers which

succeed in pre-

venting the worst but can never create the good society.

The most dangerous

thing those

who have

taken charge of our

culture have succeeded in bringing about, Rousseau suggests,

the

weakening "of

linking cast

men

all

the

to society."

ties

of

mutual regard and benevolence

Those who have

fallen

under the

by our writers see themselves above everybody

indifference for

mankind grows

same proportion

as his love for himself.

become

him words empty

for

parent, citizen or

But there

work

is

is

man, he

more

a process

to

bound

of those intended

by

is

is

else.

spell

The

in the afflicted person in the

"The

family, his country,

he

of significance:

is

no longer

a philosopher."

Rousseau's criticism. to lead to results

a philosophy based

What he

which on

sees at

are the opposite

interest

and

utility.

"All our writers consider as the masterpiece of the politics of our

century a system of arts and sciences, luxury and commerce, laws

and other relationships, which, by strengthening among ties

43

men

of society through appeal to personal interest, places

O.C.

II,

the

all

of

971. [109]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU them

in a condition of

common

needs and

mutual dependence, gives them reciprocal

and compels each

interests

them

of

tribute to the happiness of others in order to achieve

its

to con-

own."

Rousseau suggests the simultaneous development of two con-

Having

tradictory forces.

said that philosophy

based on mutual regard, he strengthen social

ment does

ties

is

it

social ties

attempts to

One

develop-

in effect lead to the other, "for one cannot indeed ties

without weakening the other."

44

theory maintaining that a strong society can be built

primarily

upon individual

relationships of interest leads to the

opposite result by weakening the

ties

alone can keep that society strong. interest

instead

weakens

saying that

based on personal interest.

strengthen one of these

Any

now

is is

mutual

foundation of personal

not enough to create a community.

solidarity

What

a potential state of civil war, a condition in

cannot continue

to live together

tual destruction. "It

seen for what

we

which

of

A

is

created

which men

without cheating, treason, mu-

becomes necessary never

really are: for every

two

to let ourselves

men whose

be

interests

can be reconciled there are a hundred thousand others opposed to

them."

45

This

utilitarian

philosophy

the tragic source of

is

44

O.C. II, 967, 968 and note. During 1752—3, Charles Bordes had been busy preparing his own last reply to Rousseau's Last Reply. As the writing dragged on, Narcisse, with its preface, had appeared in print. Thus Bordes had the happy chance of answering two of his enemy's tracts. His Second Discours sur les wantages des sciences et des arts, of 1753 (to be found in Bordes, Oeuvres diver ses [Lyon, 1783], II, 361-468), is interesting not only because it has the standing of an "official" reply by the academic world of France, but because it shows a rather quick mind that has become convinced that what was being spread by Rousseau was "a decided system" (361). He has easily seized upon two of the most important points in the preface, and tries to disprove both of them. It is wrong to say that for every two men whose interests coincide 100,000 have opposing 45

interests, for the opposite is true

(465).

And

a well-organized state all citizens are equal is

true

[no]

is

that wealth

is

Rousseau's statement that in also

and luxury are harmless;

wrong (463-4). What remedy their few evil

to

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT "the violence sarily

and

required by

treason, the perfidies a state of affairs in

and

all

the horrors neces-

which every person, while

appearing to work for the welfare or the reputation of his fellow

men, and

is

in effect only concerned with increasing his

expense

at the

This

is

of,

everybody

above,

else's."

the constitution which our philosophers praise as the

culmination of a century-long flowering of the

"A

own

and sciences

arts

strange and calamitous constitution under

which accumu-

lated wealth always paves the way for the accumulation of even

under which any accumulation

greater wealth but

is

out of the

question for the poverty-stricken; a constitution in which the

honest

man

cannot

lift

himself above his misery; in which the

worst rascals receive the most honors/'

Rousseau

is

well aware that this has been said a hundred

times, but purely in a rhetorical

way. While others

may have

pointed to these evils Rousseau claims to have discovered their causes. For

because he to

man

as

all is

is

an optimist

trying to prove that "all these vices are not attached

such but

consequences,

when

the pessimism of his overview, he

we

to

man

badly governed. "

should not try

to

go back

to

46

the rusticity of early times,

and where war was meant fewer wars and greater happiness (422-3) and wealth has become a source of innumerable moral goods, first among them a love of peace (424-5, 433). As for the poor, they are much better off today than in the past. One should not describe as unhappy "men whose work and industry are exercised freely and to their profit; who, born in truth poor, are at least not deprived of the hope of wealth and are maintained by the law in the possession of their freedom, the dearest of all our goods, and of a kind of equality even with the wealthy and the powerful" (426). Bordes had prefaced his essay with an agreeable letter he had received from Rousseau in May 1753: "I have learned of your last reply from M. Duclos who has read it and thinks highly of it" equality did not exist in any case (416—20),

the rule. Progress has

C359 _ 6o). Perhaps Bordes thought that his former friend could still be over. In any case, the flattery of Rousseau could not yet do any harm

won

in the provinces. 46

O.C.

II,

968-9.

[in]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The not

best proof of this decisive statement,

making

for the first time,

and primitive

civilized

which Rousseau was

words, between Euro-

societies, or, in his

societies.

they are both alike and one true philosopher

is

bound

is

between

in a comparison

The pseudophilosopher European is a man and the savage

pean and savage that since the

lies

is

is

likely to say also a

man,

not better than the other. But the

to say:

In Europe, the government, the laws, the customs, the interests,

everything forces the individuals to constant mutual treachery: everything makes a vice a duty; their there

no

is

expense.

greater folly than to

Among

the savages personal interest speaks as loudly as

among

us,

society

and the care

but the message

bind them.

wisdom consists in being bad for make a rascal happy at one's own

it

common

of their

The word

carries

property

.

is

a different one: the love of

defense are the only

.

.

which

ties

has practically no meaning

among them: they do not have divisive interests and nothing brings them to cheat one another. ... It is quite possible that a savage be guilty of to

an

evil action

do so out of habit,

but

with regret: the good

man

anybody, and the savage

Even

is

not possible that he should continue

it is

for this

would not help him is

the one

that

man. 47

who

at all.

...

I

say

it

does not have to cheat

in societies closer to us in time, not every institution has

been contrived interest,

to

maximize, by the legal sanctioning of private

a constant antagonism

those remote times in

between

their

members: "In

which a barely born and weak

right of

property was not yet established by laws, wealth was seen only as

usurpation and it,

to take

when

is

the reasons 47

48

was

away what did not

considered theft."

What

it

to

possible to deprive in effect belong to

possessors of

them was hardly

4S

be done? Should the discovery of the "system," of

why mankind had

degenerated, justify the plunge

O.C. II, 969-70 note. Parallele entre Sparte et Rome, Fragments

[112]

its

politiques,

O.C.

Ill,

543.

ROUSSEAU FACES THE ENLIGHTENMENT into chaos, the violent overturn of present institutions, the burn-

ing of books and the closing of universities?

The answer

is

no.

Rousseau reluctantly concludes that the semblance of order covering the horrible confusion, the simulacrum of civility hiding savagery, are better than total upheaval.

A

certain sweetness of

custom, the mask of virtue acquired by crime,

open crime and slaughter. better than to live

among

To

live

brigands.

is

preferable to

among rascals is perhaps Time should be gained to

think more carefully on a possible course of action.

[113]

V The Roots The Recovery of the

of the Trouble

Time, and the Study

Past, the Passage of

Man

of

IN

the eighth book of the Confessions Rousseau gives an ac-

count of his

trip to the forest of St.

Germain, where he hoped

find in the wilderness the inspiration

new theme proposed by among men. was November 1753 and

with the

he was seeking

Academy

the

to

of Dijon

to

cope

on the

origin of inequality It

the

weather was beautiful.

Therese, with a friend, relieved him of

and Rousseau appeared only Throughout the

traced;

I

seized

buried in the

rest of the day,

and found, the image

of the

first

upon the small

times,

lies

nature, follow the progress of time disfigured

it,

them, for

all

miseries.

My

and comparing the man his

all

cares

of

men,

and of

forest, I

whose I

of the events

man

1

O.C.

[114]

I,

I

proudly

dared lay bare their

which have

with natural man, show

vaunted improvement, the veritable source of

soul exalted

his

by these sublime contemplations, ... fools,

I

you who

complain about nature, know that you are responsible for

your misfortunes. 1

all

was searching,

history

proclaimed with a feeble voice they could not hear: ceaselessly

and expenses,

for the meals.

388-9-

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE In this way, born.

2

we

are told, the Discourse

on Inequality was

Lost in the forest, Rousseau found the image of the

beginning of time and the outlines of the history of man.

Whether

that history

was

he wrote in the Confessions, or

real, as

imaginary as he said in the Discourse, did not really matter.

Perhaps the imaginary history was better. For

By

heart of his quest.

he could unveil man's

centuries,

the passage of time

it

him

led

to the

tearing aside the accumulated lies of

and

real

nature and follow through

history the changes

which have

altered

it.

When

Rousseau wrote the Discourse on the Origins of Ine-

quality in

1

753-1 754

his

from what he describes

purpose had not indeed been different

much

later in the Confessions. It

had

already been that of finding beneath the successive layers of civilization the original

make-up

of

man and

from

to trace

changes which had caused the present inequalities.

no doubt,

certain, as a

as his previous

the

it

He

was

work had already shown, that

consequence of the passage of time there had been a

loss of

was good, of much of the natural freedom and equal-

much

that

ity of

man. But he was much

less certain of

how

this loss

could

be established, or that the task of showing the difference be-

tween I'homme de I'homme and I'homme naturel was

at all

feasible.

The

knew

the

origins,

and

recovery of the past was imperative and he

influence of time was great. But to retrace time to

its

from that point follow the evolution of mankind, appeared

him an overwhelmingly arduous and did not yet have

He

2

He

was

fully

aware of

it

the certainties of 1762.

envisaged an unmeasurable gulf separating the past from

the present, the state.

all

task.

to

first

natural state of

man from

the present civil

"In thus discovering and following the forgotten and

Discours sur Vorigine

hommes, O.C.

Ill,

et

les

fondemens de Vinegalite farmi

lost les

109-223.

["5]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU routes that

must have led man from the natural

state to the civil

state

every attentive reader cannot

be struck by the

.

.

.

immense span was

that separates these

convinced that

it

two

fail to

states."

Furthermore, he

was only through an awareness of the slow

succession of things that a solution could be found to a multitude of moral

and

problems which philosophers could not

political

3

solve.

But Rousseau did not claim that he could provide the foundation for their solution.

origin of time

He was

and of the

trying

first

man.

He

life of

with the original condition of

man

of all to go

back

was attempting

—with

to the

to deal

that state of nature

about which every philosopher had written with careless ease, by the simple device of transposing to that time the views and needs

and

own

aspirations of his

while

at the

time. Rousseau refused to do this,

same time underlining the

reconstructing a state of

man on

obstacles to be faced in

a basis other than our

own

And yet the fundamental man before the onset of

prejudices or our present condition.

problem remains: that of understanding civilization

mined

and of the

his behavior.

institutions

which had

This was the root of the

so largely deter-

issue: the contrast

anything was to be done

between the past and the present.

If

about the current plight of man,

was necessary

it

to

understand

how he had got where he was. The difficulties were great, for our ignorance was complete. The Europeans had been writing about man as they traveled around the world

for the past three or four

apart from the fact that filling their

many

of

hundred

them seemed

years,

but

interested in

purses rather than their heads, they had mostly been

writing about themselves. Rousseau laments that the story of

man 3

has not begun.

4

When

the "tourbe philosophesque"

°

tells

O.C. Ill, 191-2. His program of field expeditions is not a modest one: "All of Africa and its numerous inhabitants, as distinctive in character as in color, are 4

[n6]

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE us that

"men

are everywhere the same,"

only to hide the differences

it

uses a short-cut, useful

among men and

the transformations

caused by varying economic and political systems. This equality

among men perhaps

did exist a long time ago, but today has been

canceled by national variations due to the

have organized in different manners-their If

the study of

new world would

man

own

with which

still

its

all its variety.

We could see mankind

evolution, even today.

only the names

—

And from

we

a

could learn

about the moral and political problems

are struggling.

6

be examined; the whole earth

to

know

we

which men

affairs.

contemplation and comparison of the findings essential information

in

could be undertaken on a wide scale, a

appear in

in different stages of

way

yet

we

is

covered by nations of which

dabble in judging the

human

race!

we

Let us

suppose a Montesquieu, Buffon, Diderot, Duclos, d'Alembert, Condillac, or

men

of that

stamp traveling in order to inform their compatriots, know how, Turkey, Egypt, Barbary, the

observing and describing, as they

empire of Morocco, Guinea, the land of the Bantus, the interior of Africa

and its eastern coasts, the Malabars, Mogul, the banks of the Ganges, the kingdoms of Siam, Pegu, and Ava, China, Tartary, and especially Japan; then, in the other hemisphere, Mexico, Peru, Chile, the straits of Magellan, not forgetting the Patagonias true or false, Tucuman, Paraguay if possible, Brazil; finally the Caribbean islands, Florida, and all the savage countries: the most important voyage of all and the one that must be undertaken with the greatest care. Let us suppose that these new Hercules, back from these memorable expeditions, then at leisure wrote the natural, moral, and political history of what they would have seen; we ourselves would see a new world come from their pens, and we would thus learn to 5

O.C.

6

To

III,

know our own" CO.C.

Ill,

213—4).

212.

say that Rousseau was the founder of the science of

exaggeration.

He

sponsored research project to carry out the necessary

admires the lavishness of some curious people

made have

who

difficulty

is

not an

and conceiving how,

of ruins there

to

field

work. "One

have, at great expense,

or arranged voyages to the Orient with learned

draw pictures

man

even suggested the modern technique of a foundation-

men and

painters, to

decipher or copy inscriptions. But

I

in a century taking pride in splendid

["7]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU If direct observation

to the

had

to wait, Rousseau's only recourse

powers of imagination and of speculative

search for natural man, the

known

were of

little

and imagination had to be used to remove from

man

layers of habits

and

interests

facts

was

insight. In the

relevance,

many

the

superimposed by time. Rousseau

re-

fused to be deprived of the speculative tools which had enabled

He

the scientists to inquire about the origins of the world.

fused to black out the ideas suggested to

He might in

ing from what

what we

way establish

this

we were

him by

his imagination.

the pattern of change which,

in the youth of

start-

mankind, has made us

are today. This, he tells us, has led

him

to discover

follow paths of inquiry which proved revealing and fruitful. his

mind, what usually appeared

of the encounters

and

'civilized

and

as the

were no longer such,

in America,

of

man

essential clues

To

between "savage man"

but were like flashes of lightning illuminating the

man. They were the

and

absurd or comical aspects

of the relationships

man," in Africa,

re-

needed

real history of

to reveal the

nature

in his infancy.

Natural Man, Natural Law, the Original State of Nature

and

Its

End

Unlike other

political philosophers before

him, Rousseau faces

man in the state of nature by starting from the man in the state of nature was a radically different

the problems of

premise that

being from civilized man, and that the main knowledge, there are not in

money and

immortality

to

effort

be found two closely united

must be

men

—

to get

rich,

one

the other in genius, both loving glory and aspiring to

—one

of

whom would

sacrifice

wealth and the other ten years of his

twenty thousand crowns of his

life to a

celebrated voyage around

the world, in order to study, not always stones and plants, but for once

men and

morals, and who, examine the house, should its

inhabitants" (O.C.

[118]

Ill,

many centuries used to measure and make up their minds to want to know

after so finally

213).

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE behind the

artificial,

the new, in order to find the natural, the

man.

original, characteristics of

man

belief that, since

and since the possible the

result

way

in

is is

largely

7

There

what

no wavering in the

is

have made him,

institutions

bad, only by reconstructing as

much

as

which the change has occurred and thus

identifying the multiple causes of the transformation of

man, can

any hope be nourished for a redress in the present intolerable state of affairs.

Rousseau's most worthy opponent

is

Hobbes, a philosopher

whose

whose genius and power Rousseau recognized, analysis of the harsh

and competitive world

which modern

in

man moved Rousseau made his own, but whose man Rousseau sharply rejected.

relentless

vision of natural

For Hobbes was the typical, as well as the most important,

when

representative of those schools which,

man

in the state of nature,

advanced

man

already

and needs which

complex

societies,

which assume the

and

fight; this

thing to fight about. nasty, short,

What

they gave us was a

endowed with

a multitude of pas-

man endowed full

to

also

with

exercise of reason,

man and

would be

Nor

and brutish

is

life.

natural

The

man

I,

at

peace and whose body

Montesquieu had come

were some-

miserable, leading a

is

man

something

concept of unhappiness pre-

whose heart

natural

and

of his innate inclination to

logical only if there

unknown

is

traits

Rousseau.

supposes distress or painful deprivation,

7

an

Rousseau cannot accept Hobbes' view of the

aggressiveness of natural attack

in

and which presuppose the existence of an

which appeared impossible Specifically,

man

are actually the result of conditions of

elaborate system of laws; a desires

describing natural

in effect describing

state of social relationships.

pseudoprimitive sions

were

to a free

being

healthy.

close to Rousseau's position

either speculative or rational powers.

Cf

.

by denying

to

Esprit des Lois, Bk.

ch. 2.

[119]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Nor,

finally, is

Hobbes

fails to

draw the

Hobbes

(amour de

oneself

which

essential distinction

at the root of all that

is

between love of

soi)> a natural pillar of self-preservation,

(amour froyre),

pride or vanity

man.

right in ascribing pride to natural

and

a fictitious, social sentiment

evil in civilization:

is

Vanity and love of oneself, two passions very different in their nature

and

their effects,

must not be confused. Love

of oneself

sentiment which inclines every animal to watch over vation,

and which, directed

in

man by

and born

in society,

which

harm they do

to

is

is

only a relative sentiment,

else, inspires in

man

inevitable consequence.

its

becomes a necessity

The

men

tangled

of an advanced

which makes war the normal condition of man, and tion

have

the true source of honor.

a picture of

the contradictions and difficulties

all

is

anyone

one another, and

Thus, what Hobbes gives us

preser-

inclines each individual to

a greater esteem for himself than for

the

a natural

is

own

reason and modified by pity,

produces humanity and virtue. Vanity artificial

its

all 8

up

society,

in

one

his destruc-

imposition of government

to stop that war. Rousseau's

disagreement

is

complete, for he reverses the historical vision of Hobbes and places

war

course of history force

The

at the end, not at the beginning, of history. is

not from war to a peace maintained through

by the Leviathan, but rather from

relative

peace to increas-

ingly bitter social tensions and finally to a condition of latent civil

war which can only be stopped from breaking out

war by the removal

of the causes

into

open

which have brought

that

condition about.

Hobbes views the establishment happy development costs, for there is

dissolute

for

O.C.

[120]

government

mankind and one

no condition worse than

to

Ill,

sociability,

153-4, 152, 219.

as

a most

be maintained at

that of masterless

man. Rousseau views government

admirable fruit of man's 8

of

as

all

and

the potentially

but considers the beginnings

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE of

governments such

certain forces

and

they exist today as the consolidation of

as

course

unhampered, would be

dom

man.

of

What that, to

then

which,

institutions

allowed to run their happiness and free-

fatal to the

Rousseau's picture of natural

is

man? He

tells

us

reach his conclusions, he had to destroy a multitude of

and prejudices, and that he had

errors

if

things to prove his

main contention

down

to dig

to the roots of

that natural inequality

is

far

from having had the importance and influence usually attributed to

He had

it.

to discard all

by which natural

man

utility, it

He

books which only show us

become and not

By tion

common

to accept for their cohabitation."

"scientific

were nothing

lived, for these principles

but "rules which, for the

men

bookish descriptions of the principles

would be proper

for

push aside

all

had

men

to

such

as they

9

as they were."

retreating to the superior vantage point offered

on the

first

could begin to discern what appeared to

Two

are

by "medita-

and simplest operations of the human

characteristics of natural

internal, not external, pressure:

and

him

"rules

which reason

pity.

dations

man,

is

And

to reason," the fruit of

love of it is

self,

or the spirit of

from these two

that

its

principles,

If self-preservation

9

it is

O.C.

a

Ill,

no

less

125, 160.

is

is

a later

the rules of natural law flow:

on other foun-

successive developments

ceeded in suffocating nature."

though

all

later forced to re-establish

when, through

he

be the true

to

without the concurrence of that of sociability which historical attribute of

soul,"

man.

fundamental and "anterior

self-preservation,

have

it

has suc-

10

readily admitted, pity

universal

is

less

so,

even

and spontaneous quality of man.

Throughout

his

life,

Rousseau will warn about

blind reliance on book wisdom. 10

O.C.

Ill,

125-6. Cf. the

skillful

comments

of Starobinski, ibid.,

1299.

[121]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU But, Rousseau adds, even that most outrageous detractor of man,

Mandeville, has acknowledged that pity

men would have been monsters. quality of man we still find in abundance

that without

This

a

is

developed

and

it

societies, or

among

the

humbler people.

which the modern philosopher, troubled and torn from

his

But savage

man

in the less

to the

whole

of

does not possess the cosmic

and he always thoughtlessly

of the philosopher,

a virtue

It is

in his tranquil sleep

bed only by vast dangers

society, does not feel.

wisdom

a natural virtue

is

yields to

the sentiments of humanity: "In street fights the populace gathers,

the prudent

the fighters.

To

.

.

man ."

runs away.

find natural law, then,

boundaries of

It is

the canaille' that separates

u

human

we must move

within the premoral

behavior and refuse sternly to identify

it

common utility of an organized The presumed permanent beliefs of mankind Rousseau

with the accepted maxims of society.

finds to be nothing but the prevailing beliefs of civilized

collection of rules

aimed

to settle the

busy in the pursuit of their at those

who have made

interests.

primitive

complicated

Rousseau's irony

—man —

man

without commerce, without property

men,

affairs of is

a

men

directed

without language,

the possessor of a sophis-

ticated metaphysical system capable of developing alone sublime

on abstract reason. In what today we

truth based

law,

we must

thought

which

to

see

no more than the assemblage

be helpful

to the

call natural

of those rules

maintenance of order in society and

certainly do not reflect the essence of "law" in the state of

nature.

12

In the original state of nature, then,

man

first

of all

wanted

to

In the second place, he was controlled by the law of

keep

alive.

pity,

based not on sociability but on a repugnance not linked to

reason, to see sufferings in similar beings. Furthermore,

"O.C. [122]

Ill,

154, 156.

12

O.C.

Ill,

145-6.

he had

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE which might be part of

to achieve

none of that frenzied drive

calvinist ethics but not of the nonexistent ethics of original

What he had was a wish his fellow men as much

be free

sum

This was the

man had

—

social

is,

to

be

alone by

left

Natural freedom meant

commitments. law and

total of natural

it

was only

after

what we today mistakenly

the state of nature that

left

that

as possible.

and the avoidance of

isolation

call

to

man.

natural law was invented; by then nature was dead.

Within

this context,

Rousseau has

his

famous vision of natural

man.

He

is

being roaming the face of

easily the best, the cleverest

the earth. All available evidence

The power and

skill

and speed

even in historical times.

How

qualities of the savage tribes

is

incontrovertible on this point.

of natural

man

has been proved

can one doubt that these were the

who

over the centuries have in-

vaded Europe and Asia and easily overturned advanced tion, all

well

doubt the travelers

endowed with customs,

many

from

all

and

laws,

civiliza-

Who

can

eyewitness accounts brought back by modern the continents and

all

recounting the speed of

the Ottentots, the strength of the Indians, superior ability of all the savages

come

codes.

with

whom

and

in general the

the Europeans have

in contact.

These superior physical

characteristics

went with

other qualities such as those of foresight

fundamental reason was that natural

a lack of

and planning. The

man had no

needs that he

could not easily satisfy: the abundance of nature was within easy reach and he lived a daily routine

which did not require any

thought for tomorrow.

Nor can one that

say that the limited nature of his desires

meant

he was miserable and poor. By the same token he was

neither

happy nor unhappy. These

are sentiments requiring

comparisons and standards, moral relationships and identified duties.

Natural

man was

neither good nor bad, and had neither [123]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU vices nor virtues.

abandon

to

13

The even

tenor of his

life

made him

reluctant

one cannot speak of happiness in modern terms,

If

it.

one can speak of a

that satisfied man's essential requirements.

life

Rousseau writes that he has never heard of a savage lamenting

wanting

his plight or

travelers

all

is

to kill himself,

overwhelming

and again the evidence

showing the lack of

in

savages for the refinements of European

ment

to their

savages

The

who

own way

of

life,

their

life,

interest of

deep attach-

and the eagerness with which

seemingly had been Europeanized went back

physical strength of natural

man

has as

its

contradictory to say that

is

it

dependent.

Man

is

weak when he

state of nature, the strength of

omy. The mobility of man, shelter,

do not lead

which these terms 13

14

is

man

is

to

14

state of

both strong and

dependent. In the original

each leads

to

freedom and auton-

and

his ability to find sustenance

to aggression

all it.

main conse-

quence the capacity of being independent. For in the nature

of

and oppression

are understood in society.

O.C.

Ill,

"It is

an extremely remarkable thing, for

By

in the sense in

those terms

we

152.

have been tormenting themselves in the world to their

way

of

life,

to

all

the years that Europeans

bring the savages of various countries

that they have not yet been able to

win

over a single one, not even with the aid of Christianity; for our missionar-

sometimes make Christians of them, but never civilized men. Nothing can overcome the invincible repugnance they have against adopting our morals and living in our way. If these poor savages are as unhappy as it is

ies

claimed they

are,

by what inconceivable depravity of judgment do they

constantly refuse to civilize themselves by imitating us or to learn to live

happily

among

men and

us;

whereas one reads in a thousand places that French-

other Europeans have voluntarily taken refuge

among

these

no longer able to leave such a strange way of life; and whereas one sees even sensible missionaries touchingly regret the calm and innocent days they have spent among such greatly scorned peoples? If one answers that they do not have enough intellect to judge soundly about their state and ours, I shall reply that the nations, spent their entire lives there,

estimation of happiness

(O.C. [124]

Ill,

220-1).

is less

the concern of reason than of sentiment"

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE mean

a set of relationships

set of institutions

The

strong.

loose

from which the weak cannot escape, a

which give sanction and

to the greater

free condition of primitive

over the possession of the a

with each

which the

The

man

his life

state of

once resolved,

nature gave him.

15

make is that there was no among natural men. This is true about natural man we cannot say that

or exchange of goods

we

if

talk

was characterized by the

Hence, without thine, or

trade,

any idea of

maintain in

arts,

sufficient

artificial

of today.

activities

without pride, or any idea of mine and

justice, his casual relationships

full his

were such

autonomy and freedom.

summing up

Rousseau's

ble of

at

provided

retreating into the unlimited area of freedom

by definition, for

out

were

tree,

other assumption one must

commerce

as to

conflicts

in

acts of hostility

same animal or the same

framework within which these

of the

man roaming

and

the forest, while not preventing encounters

power

is

well-known natural :

man was

with-

without language, without war, without a family,

and

making

discoveries,

but he could not communicate them:

"The invention died with the or progress,

self-

His intelligence was there, and he was capa-

free.

inventor.

There was no education

and generations succeeded one another

uselessly;

and each one moving out from the same point, centuries were going by with already old, but If this

all

the grossness of the

man remained

was the

first

times, the race

always a child."

original state of nature,

a Christian gentleman described

it

was

16

was not the world of

by so many philosophers.

It

was

not the world of justice and injustice, of legal systems, of belief in ideas

which could only be born

in society.

according to Rousseau, that while everybody has

The

felt

truth

the need of

reaching the state of nature no one has arrived there: talked about savage

15

O.C.

Ill,

man

154, 156.

"They 1T

but were describing civilized man." 16

O.C.

Ill,

159-60.

17

is,

O.C.

Ill,

132.

[125]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The in

has set

might rather be described

original state of nature

which time stands in, or, if

there

still, is

as

one

one in which no cycle of development

one within the

human

cycle of every

life

being, growth and change are limited to a time span no longer

than that of a

human

and always

life,

point with each generation. revolution or upheaval

is

It

back

fall

a state,

is

to their starting

then, in

which no

likely to take place, a state defined

by

the rough conditions of equality which nature has placed in

man, one

in

which natural

brief confrontations

of

inequalities are quickly resolved

which do not

alter the essential pattern.

mutual dependence and of slavery are only the

by

Ties

result of

conditions which do not exist in the original state of nature,

where, each being free of any constraint, the autonomy of primi-

man is possible. The key lesson in

tive

all

of this, according to Rousseau, wholly

apart from any empirical findings,

the original state of nature has an ple.

Even

if

we

say that

probably will never notion It is,

"if

we want

it

exist,"

is

that a proper conception of

immense

significance of princi-

has 'perhaps never existed, that

it is still

necessary to have of

to appraise correctly

it

it

a just

our present condition."

18

then, as a standard of measure, as a model, as a term a quo,

that Rousseau wants to

come

to grips

with what he clearly

conceives as a most hazardous, but most essential preliminary question.

The

state of nature

to justify the present:

Once

this point

it is

is

not a conceptual tool to be used

a tool

we need

to

understand

has been established, Rousseau

tries to

the boundary line of the original state of nature; that line

is,

beyond which man cannot move without entering

different

from the original one. As

has faith in the potential of

will

human

become progress.

clear,

it.

look at at the

a state

Rousseau

Thus, having

defined the original state of nature as one in which time stands

18

O.C.

[126]

Ill,

123.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE he

still,

is

aware of the

fact that time did not always stand

still,

and that sometime, somewhere, movement got under way. After a

man

while the frontiers of the state of nature were reached and

abandoned

There

it.

are three

main such boundaries language,

agriculture,

:

and property. The development of language

is

linked by Rous-

seau to the establishment of a more settled family influence the child, in need of help

had on the parents,

and trying

life,

to the

to express himself,

as well as to the further relationships be-

tween family groups and the necessity of a more complex system

communication

of

to express greater

nity with a language state of nature,

far

it

may

a

a

new phase

be from a

still

community which has

which has already

and has entered

it,

is

A

mutual needs. left

commu-

the original

a great deal of history

of development

behind

no matter how

social state.

In his Essay on the Origin of Languages,

Discourse on Inequality,

20

19

which

is

part of the

Rousseau contends that while on the

one hand physical needs can be conveyed by signs, on the other

hand

passions, moral needs, the unfolding of reason,

ually give rise to languages.

Languages grow with

with the increasing complexities of their needs; they the language of poetry

and song, which

is

must grad-

societies

move from

the language of the

earliest societies, to that of the alphabet, a characteristic of

ples already organized in political

19

ed., 20

Essai sur Vorigine des langues, I,

communities.

Oeuvres de

and

].-).

peo-

21

Rousseau, Hachette

370-408.

The

decisive evidence

is

given by Rousseau himself who, around

it was nothing but a fragment on Inequality which he cut off as too long and out of place (Pierre Masson, "Questions de chronologic rousseauiste," Annates, IX [1913], 45-49).

1763, in referring to the Essay, writes that

of the Discourse

21

On

music and language,

seau/' Studies

1964), 319

on

cf.

Voltaire, ed.

Gossman, "Time and History in RousTheodore Besterman, XXX (Geneva,

ff.

[127]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Agriculture became another of the paths leading away from the state of nature. Earlier,

men were

scattered over the face of

the earth, with the family the only society, the laws of nature the

only laws. Rousseau

calls these

times "those of the dispersion of

men. Since Rousseau recognizes that the family was part of the

man human

of

at this time, life

life

he does not have in mind the beginning of

but a subsequent

complete freedom but

state, still of

one in which a basic nucleus had been organized around the family. This he calls the "golden century" or the "age of happi-

This was so not because

ness."

men were

united but because

they were separated: "Each considered himself the master of all.

.

men

.

.

His needs

separated

state of

far

from bringing him

closer to his fellow

him from them." The paradox

war seemed

that while a

whole earth was

to prevail, "the

We know why this was so.

is

Needs could

easily

be

at peace."

satisfied in a

noncompetitive world, amidst the abundance of the fruit of the earth. Casual encounters did not lead to

Movement and cattle-raising

flexibility

were the

permanent

conflict.

Hunting and nomadic

were the principal occupations. There was no fixed

cultivation of the land, since there

no establishment

of property rights

requires foresight.

man

rule.

Man

had been no :

division of

"Agriculture

is

an

art

it

and

which

in society tries to extend himself, isolated

to limit himself."

Therefore, the turning point, on which everything else depends, was agriculture:

"it

brings property, government, laws and

by stages poverty and crimes." agriculture

would have been

And

even the development of

different without the decisive inter-

vention of climates and of great natural events. "Suppose the existence of a perpetual springtime on earth and everywhere the

presence of water, cattle and pastures; suppose

men coming from

the hands of nature and scattered in the midst of [128]

all

this,

I

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE cannot imagine them ever renouncing their primitive freedom

and abandoning

their isolated

and

pastoral

life,

one so well

adapted to their natural indolence, in order to impose needlessly

upon themselves the

slavery, the toil

inseparable from the social state."

and the miseries which are

22

Undoubtedly then, great natural commotions, such quakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and great forest

men

fires,

as earth-

brought

together in order to defend themselves and repair the

dam-

warm countries of brought men together in a

ages they had suffered. Also the necessity in

using scarce resources, such as water,

way which, initial

ment

over a long period of time, facilitated not only the

strengthening of the family but gradually the developof those other ties

which underlie

Before the hardening of

hours, nothing compelled

forgot

its

imposed by an organized

development, "where nothing marked the

its

man

to

keep time, time having no

amusement and boredom. Under

other measurement than trees,

life

became unavoidable, mankind went through the

agriculture

happiest stage in

oak

human

larger communities.

old

the conquerors of time, an ardent youth gradually ferocity.

.

.

There the

.

first festivals

took place

.

.

.

the solicitous gesture was no longer adequate, voice accompanied it

with impassioned accents; pleasure and desire, merged into one,

made themselves cradle of peoples; fires

of love

23

less

the same time:

and of the pure

were born."

Something 22

felt at

That was the

veritable

crystal of fountains the first

23

noble than love was gradually born too. Culti-

Essai, 384, 385, 388, 392. Essai, 392.

tiation

which

is

Are these

festivals fulfilling a role of individual differen-

the opposite of the collectivistic role of the civic festival

of the Letter to d'Alembert? (Cf. Starobinski's affirmative answer,

O.C. 1344-5.) hi the Essai Rousseau was describing the evolution from festivals to civil societies. In the Letter, he was trying to recover the lost

Ill,

conditions of

community

life.

[129]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU vation began and with crops by those

had been destroyed.

With

24

the allotment of lands and the claims to

it

who had

raised them.

By then

the state of nature

Because property had been born.

settlements followed by accumulation, a process leading

among men,

to increasing differences

demands on goods

fixed

were made by those possessing those goods. These claims gave

became had

to

Where

the idea of property.

rise to

a necessity, vast forests

be watered by the sweat of

property appeared, "work

became smiling

men and

which

fields

which quite soon,

in

one saw slavery and poverty grow together with the harvest."

The

''

complexity, indeed the mystery, of this prolonged process

did not escape Rousseau.

He

dealt with

it

by envisaging a succes-

sion of states of nature, from the beginning of time

moment when

certain

the evolution

may be

down

to a

considered closed.

After this terminal point Rousseau does not deny the reality of

continuous change. But loss of

freedom

is

it is

a

change of

a different kind.

For the

what happens

later, in

already complete, and

the dazzling display of lights of our civilization, fling of the chains

What we

man

has fastened around himself.

see of savage life today

is

not a representation of the

original state of nature, but quite certainly the historical unfolding.

only a shuf-

is

Somewhere

in

end

of a long

between, Rousseau imagined

he had caught a brief vision of an age of innocence, of the golden age of Utopia, a state in which with

human

faculties

"keeping a just balance between the indolence of man's primi-

and the petulant

tive state

activity of

our pride,"

26

man had

enjoyed the longest era of happiness, one which represented the veritable youth of

How

far

reach the

24

O.C.

[130]

mankind and might have

we have come from

last of society,

Ill,

145.

25

those

lasted forever.

happy

days.

How

did

we

"where nothing can be changed any

O.C.

Ill,

171.

26

Ibid.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE money and since one has nothing people except 'give money/ one says it with

longer except with guns and

anymore

to tell the

manifestos posted at the street corners or with soldiers in the

To

houses?" Language has become useless.

orders, orators or popular assemblies are

the contrary, the

first

it is

rule of

which

is

politics."

concludes: "Therefore,

say that any language

I

a servile language. It

is

impossible that a people

is

could remain free and talk such a language." looks ahead, Rousseau

of nature to be

found tomorrow

is

drawn

at the

closing of the cycle of man's evolution.

obscurity of prophecy.

mankind

in

The

in

its

all

we have

His thought here has the

he seems

to

be saying

is

that with

and oppression under

state of nature, "different

at

from the one

because one was the state of nature

started,

is

the fruit of total corruption."

which Rousseau is

28

believes a revolution

attained there

lies

the

forward social development of man. Progress must be

Progress

for.

and Inequality

language,

Essai, 408.

and property have had such

agriculture,

reaching consequences,

27

at the

notions of good and justice are dissolved

purity, while this last

accounted

If

end of history and

be unavoidable. But before that point

entire

to consider a final state

state of inequality

new

This must be the point to

27

only law becomes that of the strongest and every-

thing goes back to a

with which

What

an extreme

the rule of a master, entirely.

is

incapable of making oneself understood to the assem-

bled people

As he

government

necessary to keep the subjects scattered. This

modern

And Rousseau

carry out

no longer needed: "On

28

it is

O.C.

because

Ill,

man had

far-

the capacity to use

191.

[131]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU them tial

unique fashion. For he had within himself the poten-

in a

29

of "perfectibility"

which distinguished him from

other

all

animals on earth. It is

be forced

for us to

nearly unlimited faculty that

this faculty

it is

him away from tranquil

Yet

drama

in this potential that Rousseau sees the

would be sad

is

is

admit that

the origin of

all

of

man

:

that original condition in

of man's misfortunes;

which he would spend

30

what happened. Writing

Rousseau pre-

in 1754,

mankind

sents a picture of the progress of

all

the

more

for being written before the industrial revolution.

He

startling

struck

is

with awe by the immense material progress of mankind, inventiveness and power.

and

Man

to

is

man

role of

that

The

conclusion must be

pursuing his downfall in trying to secure what the

is

protecting

The

is

an astonishing lack of proportion between these material

achievements and the happiness of man. that

huge

raise

buildings and cover the sea with vessels. But the truth there

its

has been able to raise mountains

and dry marshes,

valleys, to dig lakes

fill

"It

and

this distinctive

which, over the course of time, has pulled

and innocent days."

this

to

hand

of nature

had

tried to

possibility of perfection

hide from him.

31

limited or heightened by the

is

What

chance and hazard in the progress of mankind.

has happened, might not have happened. points in the history of

man were

in part

How many due

to the fortuitous

presence of events which might never have happened at

we have seen,

nature plays a contradictory

that great natural catastrophes

—have forced men

—

role,

turning

because

all.

it is

As

likely

floods, volcanic eruptions,

and

come together

for their protec-

Hence, the unresolved ambiguity of nature's

role in forcing

earthquakes

to

tion.

29

A

neologism, making

its first

appearance around 1750. Cf. O.C.

13 1 7-8. 30

O.C.

[132]

Ill,

142.

31

O.C.

Ill,

202.

Ill,

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE progress

on man. Rousseau

is

hinting at

many

things at the

same

time: progress should never have taken place, progress might

never have taken place, progress was inevitable given the nature of man. The latter appears to be The problem then was that of how

Rousseau's overriding belief. to reconcile progress

with the

freedom of man.

The

long forward trek beyorid the state of nature begins.

Man, endowed by nature with starts

the potential of perfectibility,

on a long journey which

is

to

end

for him.

tragically

man

Stimulated by necessity, driven by interest,

begins to de-

velop the social drives which during an unmeasured period of

time had lain dormant.

Once on

the move, he could not halt to

enjoy the balanced happiness which the very settlements gave him. ity,

the joy of family

Man may then life,

the disadvantages of civil bigger,

more organized

organized

first

have had a sense of

solidar-

a greater feeling of security, without life

and the

loss of

social structures.

The

freedom of

later,

process of change

was, however, a continuous one, and Rousseau does not suggest

anything about the duration or the real character of

this inter-

vening and best age of man. For there life

is

no going back, once the

have been abandoned.

ually

man

Common

static

conditions of early

interests multiply

acquires certain ideas about mutual

the advantages to himself in fulfilling them.

and grad-

commitments and

He

learns to distin-

guish between actions to be carried out alone and actions requiring the help of others. his well-being

become

He

begins to

depends on others for

part of fixed family groups

the basis of relationships existing

experience that

his realization.

and determines

among

family has become a self-sufficient,

group of families leads

know from

if

also has

his actions

separate families.

small, society,

on

Each

and each

to the gradual transformation of a variety

of qualities

and sentiments which natural man had

Love tends

to

become

He

jealousy, strength

in himself.

becomes vanity,

skill

[i33l

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

A

becomes competition.

which causes

dialectical process begins

profound transformation in

human

coming communal, change

their nature.

a

behavior. Activities, by be-

Singing and dancing

move from innocence to the stimulation of prideful feelings and a desire to show off to better advantage. The inequalities which nature has placed in

man become more

keenly

and

felt

and

seen,

therefore tend to increase.

But these are not the only causes of inequality which receives an extraordinary impulse from the development of the

which man provides

for his increasing needs

and

skills

by

new

for his

needs, or exploits the inventions which time and chance, and his

imagination as well, have placed

at his disposal.

Agriculture and ironmongering were the two

duced

this great revolution, "civilized

The American fits

Indians, Rousseau

of agriculture

men and

tells us,

to

Regardless of the

our

own

way

in

which

pro-

mankind."

32

were spared the bene-

and ironmongering, and

remained "savages"

arts

lost

for this reason

have

day.

which these two

discoveries

were

made, certain consequences followed inevitably. For both techniques were based on the possibility of greater rewards for greater tasks

—

on the need

skills,

in brief, they

Rousseau

made

for organization

and the

possible the rule of

man

division of

over man.

produced by the com-

stresses the multiplier effect

ing together of natural inequalities with the inequalities of "combination."

By

that

is

meant the technical

inequalities

which

are

favored by the processes of production and exchange, once goods are produced in different different purposes. inequalities,

amounts by

It is at this

different

men and

point that the balance of natural

which might have been maintained

in the original

freedom of nature without the enslavement of the weaker bers of the

32

O.C.

[134]

human

Ill,

171.

race,

is

for

lost in

organized society and

mem-

is lost in a

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE way which makes

for a

widening gulf among

men

placed in

different circumstances.

The widening and of

archies

which

living,

gulf can be seen in the development of hier-

make

unknown

they are

simplicities.

which

civil society,

in the state of nature with

its

whilst

uniformities and

to hierarchies, hierarchies lead to institu-

are the final stage in the sanctioning of inequality.

backed by laws, which are the voice of

Institutions

freeze, for a

image the

appearance in

their

33

As techniques lead tions

and of standards of

orders, of types of education all

time at

men. By

make them what they actions, they give

They mold

least, a fluid process.

activities of

them

are.

telling

them what

By providing

civil justice,

to their

to do,

they

a guidepost for their

their beliefs of right

and wrong.

With the appearance of institutions, government is founded, and man has realized his potential for sociability. Man has become

man and

Savage hearts of

But what

a citizen.

civilized

a price

man

he has paid:

differ so

much

in the

bottom of their

and inclinations that what constitutes the supreme happiness

one would reduce the other

to despair.

repose and freedom; he wants only to live

The

former breathes only idle;

and even

the perfect quietude of the Stoic does not approach his

profound

indifference for

all

other objects.

active, sweats, agitates himself,

On

and remain

the contrary, the citizen, always

torments himself incessantly in order

to seek still

more laborious occupations; he works

rushes to

in order to get in condition to live, or renounces life in

it

order to acquire immortality. hates,

and

to the rich

whom

He

he

to death,

pays court to the great

scorns.

He

he even

whom

spares nothing in order

he to

obtain the honor of serving them; he proudly boasts of his baseness

and

their protection;

of those

who do

difficult

and envied

33

O.C.

Ill,

and proud

of his slavery,

he speaks with disdain

not have the honor of sharing

174,

1

labors of a

it.

European minister

What

a sight the

are for a Carib!

60-1. [135]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU How many cruel

deaths would that indolent savage not prefer to the

horror of such a

which often

life,

not even sweetened by the

is

pleasure of doing good.

Man

no longer knows

He

others.

security,

and

in effect

he

is

a slave of

has reached a condition of inequality which defies

any comparison with any natural inequality. Indeed, the inequality of

mankind has

roots

its

and draws

the development and progress of the

power of growth from

its

human

In the end,

spirit.

it

has become fixed and has been legitimized by the rights of property and by the systems of laws.

How

can anyone doubt that

Rousseau understands

man,

that

it,

it

the hungry multitude

What

is

itself

man

with superfluities, while

deprived of the essentials of life?"

an incredible contrast faces us

men" with

ings,

as

we compare

the other hand, he

is

no longer

a multitude of

fellow men, even

when he

needs their work;

if

the middle, he

God

he

still

treachery, jealousy,

is

is

new

free

needs, he

their master. If

poor, he needs their

cannot act alone.

become

and independent.

35

is

he

moved only by

[136]

192-4.

to his

wealthy, he

money;

part of man's daily

if

he

is

in

life.

Society be-

interests

who

a latent desire to destroy one another at the

opportunity. In the society of

Ill,

bound

is

Harshness, ambition,

comes a forced cohabitation of men of conflicting

O.C.

is

has implanted in

reason, the mind.

Having acquired

34

man

other animals. All his faculties have ripened:

memory, imagination,

are

"the

has developed his capacity for perfectibility, he

him alone among

first

34

"natural man." After untold centuries of suffer-

reaping the fruits of the qualities which

On

as

an imbecile should lead a wise man, and that a

handful of people should fatten

of

against natural law,

is

"that a child should rule over an old

35

O.C.

Ill,

man 175.

brought

to flower in the

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, everything property and competition.

The mask

who may

hides an ever-present urge to destroy those

way

reduced to

is

mutual benevolence

of

stand in the

The mul-

of the further acquisition of personal advantages.

tiplication of private

needs does not lead to an increase of public

were saying, but rather

benefits, as the economists of the time

the multiplication of

wounds

inflicted

on private men,

to

to a rise in

the tensions of society, to a weakening of the chances of peace

and happiness. In the Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau delivers himself of

some of

his

most celebrated utterances. Social

bad because he

way which

man

is

is

is

man

is

bad.

He

is

forced by the institutional setting to act in a

contrary to the interests of other men. Thinking

a depraved animal. Natural

man

is

a child of intuition

and passion. The development of man's rational

faculties has

taken place within a progressively worsening framework:

The extreme

inequality of our

way

of

life;

excess of idleness in some,

excess of labor in others; the ease of stimulating appetites

and our

which nourish them with binding indigestion; the

satisfying our

and overwhelm them with

juices

bad food of the poor, which they do not even have

most of the time, so that their want inclines them

when

stomachs greedily

to

overburden their

the occasion permits; late nights, excesses of

kinds, immoderate ecstasies

all

and

sensuality; the overly refined foods of the rich,

of all

the passions,

fatigues

and

exhaustion of mind; numberless sorrows and afflictions which are felt in all

conditions and by which souls are perpetually tormented:

these are the fatal proofs that most of our that

we would have

simple, uniform, If

and

avoided almost solitary

way

nature destined us to be healthy,

of reflection

meditates 36

O.C.

is

Ill,

is

all

ills

of

own

of life prescribed to us I

work, and

by nature.

almost dare affirm that the state

a state contrary to nature

a depraved animal.

are our

them by preserving the

and that the man who

36

138.

[i37]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The contrast between natural man and civilized man is clear when we consider the consequences of their actions. They are limited for the former,

and cumulative

for the latter.

seau has often said, a clash in the state of nature

knit

men

web

are not only

man and

fluous

more frequent because of the

more

of existing relationships, they are

aftermath. There

pushes

quickly

is

no permanent harm behind. Clashes among

resolved and leaves civilized

As Rous-

is

closely

vicious in their

the driving force of gain and greed, which

to look first for necessities

and then

for the super-

later still for useless riches acquired at the

expense of

others.

Forces are at work which support the reaching for limitless

power and wealth. There

is

a nightmarish vision

summoned up

by Rousseau in which the strongest and most successful all

the wealth of

else, rules

alone over the

earth has finally succeeded in getting hold of

the world, and having killed everybody universe.

man on

37

Long before this awful state is ever reached, hypocrisy has come to characterize civil life. Rousseau again uses, as he had done in the Discourse on Arts and Sciences, the notion of moral dissembling to explain the

way

in

which men

the inequalities by which they are afflicted. the qualities and the

needed

man, affect

it

skills,

one does not have

If

and approval of one's fellow

then becomes important to appear to

and

the wealth and the power, that are

to acquire the consideration

them, and

live in society

parade before others

as

to

have them or

something that one

to is

"Being and appearing became two altogether different

not.

things,

and from

tricky treachery,

this distinction

and

Life becomes a

all

have come the showing

accompanying

vices."

off,

the

38

game with an empty facade

of philosophy, of

humanitarianism and polite manners, behind which hides a 37

O.C.

[138]

Ill,

203.

38

O.C.

Ill,

174.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE

We

quite different reality. virtue, of reason

triumph of honor without

see the

without wisdom, of pleasure without happiness.

This was certainly not the original condition of man. with

changed our natural

inequalities has

its

If society

inclinations, the

men

purpose of political philosophers should be that of teaching

how

to try to rediscover

and practice them. But the

state stands

in the way.

The

First State, Property,

As man was nearing the end first

was born. Society had

state

certain practical arrangements

had become tutional in

its

of his evolution to civility, the to

become

made

predominant purpose.

to allow

The

with

political society, it

what

to fulfill

absence of some

insti-

agreement could no longer be endured. Rousseau leaves

no doubt the reason why: the

men

not possible that

It is

Man

and Economic

rich could

no longer

tolerate

it.

should not at least have reflected upon

such a miserable situation and upon the calamities overwhelming them.

The

them was in

rich above all

a perpetual

which the

was

must have soon

war

risk of life

in

felt

how

disadvantageous to

which they alone paid

was common

to all

the costs, and

all

while the

risk to

goods

Moreover, whatever pretext they might give for

theirs alone.

their usurpations, they

were well aware that these were established

only on a precarious and abusive right, and that having been ac-

quired only by force, force could take them

away without

having grounds for complaint. Even those enriched by their alone could hardly base their property

At

much

first sight,

in the

answer they give

The

meaning. For Locke

O.C.

Ill,

better

titles.

Locke and Rousseau do not appear

to secure property.

39

upon

it

to the origin of

difference

means the

lies

efforts

39

to differ very

government:

in their

their

it

was

judgment of

its

translation into a constitutional

176.

[139]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU on natural law. For Rous-

right of a fully validated right based

seau, the translation into tyrannical a usurpation

by the few

at the

and temporary

For Rousseau maintains that what the rich had gains based on force

defend were

to

and on precarious and abusive

who had

that even those

institutions of

expense of the many.

and

titles,

own

acquired wealth through their

individual labors could not claim

more acceptable

All were

titles.

exposed to the harassment of the propertyless, the vengeance of the poor.

It

was

at this point that

what Rousseau with

bitter

irony calls "the most thoughtful project ever conceived by the

mind

of

man" was put forward by

the hard-pressed rich

who

to use in his favor the very forces of those

make

them other

"It

was

them with

his defenders out of his adversaries, inspire

other maxims, and give

:

attacked him, to

institutions

which were

as

40

him as natural right was against him." By appearing to guarantee equality under law, order, and the peaceful enjoyment of individual possessions, they managed to favorable to

subdue and ferent.

to

persuade those whose interests were quite

Everybody rushed

to

be put in irons thinking

it

was

dif-

their

freedom they were defending. This

and

of

class.

is

a

view which explains the

law purely on the basis of the

interests of the possessing

origin of society

and of laws."

No

matter

camouflaged their public announcements were, hiding be-

hind them was the determination of the rich in a better condition to defend

to place themselves

what they had. The

arrangement "which gave new

fetters

to

the

tablished forever the law of property

and

clever usurpation into an irrevocable right,

O.C.

[140]

Ill,

177.

result

all

inequality,

and

was an

weak and new

forces to the rich, destroyed natural freedom for

40

government

origins of

Regardless of specific historical evidence, "such was, or

must have been, the

how

first

time, es-

changed a

for the profit of a

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE few ambitious men henceforth subjected the whole human race to

41

work, servitude, and misery."

Rousseau

aware that

is

would be challenged. the

He

this

view of the origin of government

therefore

lists

two alternative

the second, government as the union of the weak.

Rousseau

feels that the right of military

any

birth to

legal

government, since

it is

possible there

is

no

body

real

for the second,

As

for the

first,

conquest cannot give

based on an act of war

which can have no lawful consequences. Until

As

theories:

the establishment of government by right of conquest;

first,

a free choice

is

politic.

Rousseau finds the words "strong" and

"weak" equivocal and prefers "rich" and "poor." This being the case,

why

should the poor, "with nothing to lose but their free-

dom," be eager

to seize the initiative to give

ing good, to gain nothing in exchange?

hand, being exposed on injury, could with

all sides

much

up

The

one remain-

their

on the other

rich,

and vulnerable

to attack

and

greater justification initiate steps in-

tended to protect them. Rousseau concludes by saying that

"it is

reasonable to believe that something has been invented by those to

whom

it is

useful, rather than

by those

to

whom

it is

damag-

mg.

A government growth, as

ment

it

thus born could not have an easy and constant

was weighted down by an

original sin:

its

commit-

to the defense of property and hence of inequality had

irremediably harmed

its

chances of future development.

From

time to time a wise philosopher could detect the root of the trouble, but little could be

done about

changing the patchwork of started

it.

institutions,

One

kept repairing and

while one should have

by uprooting everything that existed in order

to build

anew.

But 41

this revolutionary clearing of the

0.C.

Ill,

1

78.

42

O.C.

Ill,

1

ground has never been

79-80. [141]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and the resulting gradual evolution of government has

possible,

been

for the worse.

The

property-right laws were followed

initial

by the creation of public

officials

to enforce

them, while

ulti-

mately institutions which in the beginning had the appearance

became the source

of legitimacy

of arbitrary power.

If we follow the progress of inequality in these different we shall find that the establishment of the law and of

property was the

first

stage, the institution of the magistracy the

second, and the third and into arbitrary power.

ized by the

by the

to

was the changing

and

third that of master

and the

inequality

new

last

So that the

status of rich

epoch, that of powerful and

first

revolutions,

the right of

weak by the

which

slave,

which

limit to

of legitimate

is

second, and

the last degree of

the others finally lead, until

all

revolutions dissolve the government altogether or bring

its

legitimate institution.

Human

it

history, then, given lines.

its

starting point,

This

is

must proceed

so because "the vices that

necessary social institutions are the same ones that

their abuse inevitable."

must be

a

"new

closer

43

along certain unavoidable

make

power

and poor was author-

And

make

the terminal point of this process

revolution," a phrase Rousseau

is

using to signify

human freedom lost by the private appropriation common wealth. One can again go back to the parallel between Locke and Rousseau. With the securing of private property rights, individthe recovery of of the

ual liberties were also secured, according to Locke, for the two

could not be separated. By contrast, the securing of the former lost

the

was

latter,

lost,

it

according to Rousseau. But

if

individual liberty

could never be alienated, because one can never

alienate one's

own freedom

as

one can one's own property.

New

generations as they are born cannot admit that their forebears

have

lost

for

them what belongs

natural right. 43

O.C.

[142]

Ill,

187.

to

them

absolutely

and by

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE This then

the real state of the civilized world in which arts

is

and sciences

one in which laws sanction injustice

flourish,

stead of creating justice. It

is

one which tends

and

distance between whatever qualities

the reality of the daily

could be.

It

man had and

virtues

and goods

gives a higher place to material values

than they should have in a well-ordered society.

nomic man the dominant

web

tangled

lengthen the

make man worse than he

tends to

life. It

to

enmesh man

figure

in

human

on the

of wealth, profits,

It

Rousseau

is

the

is

eco-

there to great

first

man

thinker to focus his thoughts on the condition of

been shaped by the uncontrolled

makes

landscape. All the

and power

trade,

a hopeless way.

in-

conflict of private

as

it

has

economic

interests.

The drama is

drama

the

man

of the transformation of natural into civilized

of the poor versus the rich, of the propertyless

versus the property owner.

The

ever-present

theme

in the age-

long history, or ideal history, that Rousseau gives us to explain the origin of political inequality certain

men found

it

the use of economic riches.

founding of organized first

government

was

a

'

is

We

have seen

political society

institutions,

and

contractual" founding,

in

which

power through

how

in the initial

in the shaping of the

wealth played a decisive

This

role.

which had no relationship

"social contract" of Rousseau's later it

way

that of the

possible to acquire decisive

to the

democratic community. For

was a "contract" between those who had and those who had

not,

imposed on one of the contracting parties by the other.

The at that

turning point had, of course, come

moment, ominous

much

for the future of

earlier. It

came

mankind, when

first

someone, in the words of Rousseau, "having built a fence around a piece of land,

thought of saying,

simpleminded enough original state of

to

this

is

believe him."

man came

to

individual control over goods

men

mine, and found

At

an end, and

that all

moment

the

the claims to

made from then on belong

to a

[i43l

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU period of

human

end

which no longer can be confused with

history

the state of nature. of the process.

The founding of government represents the The much longer intervening period is one in

which men of wealth gathered strength and devised the ments

to consolidate

As Rousseau contemplates the contemporary world and means, he

tion

is

rich. The common man, in

is

between the poor and the

man

is

to

be found in the

where natural sentiments can, from time

people,

through. In the higher, that

sentiments "are totally there

of civiliza-

with contempt and anger.

filled

decisive contrast

strength of

instru-

it.

is

The real

the

to time, pierce

wealthier, ranks of society, those

and under the mask of sentiment

stifled,

nothing but interest or vanity."

is

therefore not surprising that Rousseau should analyze

It is

man

civilized

in terms of the scope

quences of his economic

and

dismal,

activities.

and influence and conse-

The

picture he draws

the more striking because, in spite of

all

pates so

many

of the issues

and

having

its

been drawn in the middle of the eighteenth century,

is

it

antici-

come. Rousseau

difficulties to

man in terms of the problems he is creating for own domestic political society, and for the rela-

looks at economic himself, for his

tions of that society to other national

economic

man

societies.

in terms of the practices of a

He

looks at

money economy

based on competition, trade, profits and profiteering, and luxury.

He sums up conditions of

life

Where man has given

one of the ugliest overviews of the

his reflections in

of

modern man.

himself

rise to a

is

concerned, the utilitarian view of

devouring ambition, and has pushed

seek advantages which benefit others,

and

to

tween what he

A [144]

deepen the break really

political society

utilitarianism

him not

wants

to

so

much

do and what he

in

man

to

they damage

in the personality of asserts

based on the acceptance of

must be one

as

life

he

man is

be-

doing.

this individual

which an accelerated trend towards

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE inequality

Such

inevitable.

is

a society soon

becomes unjust

because the inequalities that are increasingly written into the

law are not those that could derive from the small natural ine-

found among men. Those alone could find legitimate

qualities

and generally applicable norms,

recognition, in equitable tive

in posi-

law: "Inequality, being almost null in the state of nature,

draws

its

force

and growth from the development of our

and the progress of the

human mind, and

faculties

becomes

finally

stable

and legitimate by the establishment of property and laws. follows, further, that moral inequality, authorized right alone,

is

contrary to natural right whenever

bined in the same

How soon

this

trend

is

its

become wealth, even

if

actually realized

Wealth

the one to

is

is the final

power

which they

saying,

is

can easily be used to buy everything

then any political revolution aiming

man must

to

com-

wealth

else."

45

If

bring society

be one willing

to

problem of the regulation of wealth.

But wealth has not only damaged man and the in

are

determinant not only of

relationships within the

closer to the conditions of natural

face the

important than

less

munity. In the ultimate analysis, Rousseau

is so,

44

In a society whose basis has

source.

inequality, but of all other

this

not com-

it is

in the beginning of time personal traits

determined inequalities, "wealth reduced in the end/'

is

It

positive

proportion with physical inequality."

the identification of

rules because "it

by

which he

lives, it is also

different nations

political society

responsible for the wars in

have engaged. For

it

was only when

national societies were organized that wars began,

witnessed horrors

unknown

a characteristic of

in the state of nature.

mankind

in

46

which

different

and mankind

War,

then,

later stages of evolution.

its

is

It

tends to increase in intensity with the greater and greater organization

and interdependence of man.

"O.C.

Ill,

193-4.

45

O.C.

Ill,

Man

189.

has been moving away 4G

O.C.

Ill,

178-9. [145]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU from the peace and harmless

conflicts of

early days largely

its

because of the usurpations which destroyed his original inno-

cence and goodness.

The

of the contemporary world, Rousseau

crisis

be fully explained only

and complicated ways

How

being used. tive

if

in

far are

we

his field?

which wealth and economic power

first

Ours has become

signs representative of wealth have

are

the relatively harmless primi-

man a

to put up an money economy

been invented

which Locke considered an invaluable device processes of economic accumulation (gold

which Rousseau envisages

deteriorate) but

many new

take into account the

we from

greed that prompted the

around

can

tells us,

—

in

which

those signs

for the orderly

and

as

4T

enclosure

did not

silver

damaging

tools in

economic

activity

worsening equalities among men. For

man

could

now plunge

into a frenzy of

such as was not possible before, and engage in trading and

producing

—

roles in

which competition,

violence to the welfare of the

profits,

many became

and downright the guidelines.

Hence, the deepening of the gap between appearance and

real-

the appearance of a busy world in which interdependence

ity,

keeps everybody in line and working for the happiness of others

and from which flows reality.

Under

his

own

happiness, and the far different

the mantle of universal benevolence, there

is

concealed the increasing hate with which each individual operator

views the

activities of his competitors.

a desire to inflict as

many

Commerce

based on

on

others. Traders

rivals' ships, just as

individuals long

losses as possible

wish for the sinking of their

is

for the death of their rich relatives.

The

profit

motive leads

tional calamities,

on the

to profiteering

sick

by speculators on na-

and the wounded

in wartime.

Wars

themselves become the source of great wealth. In the end there 47

O.C.

[146]

Ill,

175.

is

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE man

no doubt that

profits

more economically by doing

by doing good, and

that this

which

based.

his society

is

evil

than

favored by the institutions on

is

How

can one avoid the conclusion,

Rousseau writes, that that system

bad which

is

dictates rules of

action "directly contrary to those that public reason preaches to

the social body?"

The ury.

final

corruption of developed societies

is

caused by lux-

Rousseau might agree that luxury was impossible

where men were tion

48

after their

and approval of

others.

own convenience and But

let

to

the considera-

no doubt that what

there be

luxury achieved was to bring to a head the sickness of a ian society

and

that far

from enabling the poor

impoverishing the entire community. could befall a

evils that

of lackeys

state, large or

and miserable people

ruins the farmer

and the

It

was the worst

small

:

utilitar-

to survive,

"To feed

has created,

it

prevent

it

of

it

was

all

the

the crowds

crushes and

burning winds in the

citizen, like those

south which, covering the grass and greenery with devouring insects, take subsistence

famine and death

away from useful animals, and bring

to every place

where they make themselves

49

felt."

The

economic reason on which Rousseau based

specific

his

stand against luxury was essentially the belief in the superiority of agriculture over industry. Agriculture

the most important activity of

man

was

for

as well as the least profitable.

The two went

together in his judgment:

tant because

provided the food without which

survive;

it

mankind,

it

was the it

had

the poorest of

to

of

man from

that of the superfluous

48

O.C.

Ill,

at prices

202-3.

O.C.

man

could not

given the poverty of

therefore,

for

by

which drew

the production of the essentials to

would lead 49

was the most impor-

which could be paid

man. Any economic system,

away the energy

it

least lucrative because,

produce

Rousseau both

Ill,

to the decline,

both economic

206. [147]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and moral,

With

of the state.

the countryside

the growth of arts and industries

emptied and the peasants look for bread in

is

while they should bring

cities,

to

it

them.

The more we

struck with admiration by the splendor of the great capital

the

more we must

realize that this

is

happening

at the

are

cities,

expense of

an abandoned countryside.

Happy

is

the state which has

known how

tive influence of luxury. In the

to avoid the destruc-

Dedication to the Republic of

Geneva which opens the Discourse on

Inequality,

imagines that Geneva has succeeded in doing

that.

Rousseau

He

is

glad to

think that the so-called gentlemen of taste will have to look

elsewhere for "grandiose buildings, beautiful carriages, superb furniture, the

pomp

of theaters,

and

and luxury." In Geneva they

ness

community morally strong because degradation of civilization.

all

the refinements of soft-

will only find it

a

has avoided the extreme

itself,

of

how

long community

under the conditions which seemed

to

present in the more advanced societies. In these the

life

an era

of civilized

to

mankind

man, Rousseau

is

life

comments on

describing a world to come,

For

if it is

true that he

was polemizing with

a society

and sciences in which modern industry had made

appearance, this was

still

Even

his description applies to a full-fledged industrial society

the

mass

more remarkable

societies of the

its

an industrial system based on limited

production, in which quality and not quantity counted.

all

was

be universally

be born of an industrial revolution that was just beyond

his horizon.

of arts

else

phase of development which posed the question of

the end of civilization possible

a

50

But Geneva was the exception, and everywhere

had reached

men and

as

it

anticipates the life of

middle of our

own

man

and

so, is

in the

century.

Industrial workers are forced into unhealthy jobs, in mining,

50

O.C.

[148]

Ill,

120.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE in metalwork, in metallurgy,

great cities

man

is

which shorten

more and more forced

He

tures of improperly kept foodstuffs.

mislabeled drugs and

them

their lives. In the

monstrous mix-

to eat

has to heal himself with

who

to suffer the thievery of those

as well as the errors of those

who

sell

The

administer them.

large metropolitan centers with their poisoned air multiply epi-

demic

diseases,

while the natural strength of

by the conditions under which he can see

how

high a price nature

the contempt in

One

is

lives.

man

Adding

exacting from

weakened

is

all this

man

we

up,

because of

which he now holds nature's teachings.

51

has only to think of what representative philosophers of

the Enlightenment, from Voltaire to Condorcet, were saying on the benefits of progress, to measure the distance

which separates

Rousseau from his culture. At a time when belief in the marvels

was leading

of science

which the coordinated and planned

politics in

51

"If

to the first attempts to build a doctrine of activities of the

you consider the mental anguish that consumes

us, the violent

passions that exhaust and desolate us, the excessive labors with

poor are overburdened, the

still

more dangerous

softness to

which the which the rich their needs and

abandon themselves, and which cause the former to die of the latter of their excesses; if you think of the monstrous mixtures of foods, their pernicious seasonings, corrupted foodstuffs, falsified drugs,

the knavery of those

who

sell

them, the errors of those

who

them, the poison of the containers in which they are prepared; attention to the epidemic illnesses engendered

men gathered together, our way of life, by the

multitudes of delicacy of interior of

our houses into the fresh

taken off with too

little

by the bad

to the illnesses

alternating

air,

precaution, and

air

administer if

you pay

among

the

occasioned by the

movements from the

the use of garments put on or all

the cares that our excessive

sensuality has turned into necessary habits, the neglect or privation of

which then costs us our life or our health; if you take into account fires and earthquakes which, burning or upsetting whole cities, cause their inhabitants to die by the thousands; in a word, if you unite the dangers that

all

these causes continually gather over our heads, you will sense

dearly nature

(O.C.

Ill,

makes us pay

for the scorn

we have shown

how

for its lessons'*

203-5). [149]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU scientists

would be harnessed

able rate the inventions societies

produce

to

and

at a regular

and new techniques needed

to

foresee-

push

civil

toward dazzling peaks of perfection and happiness,

Rousseau was describing an age of anguish and violent passions,

an age of revolution in which the machine, urban

man on

increasing dependence of

far

artifacts,

the

life,

from being

sources of strength and welfare, were creating moral, political,

and economic problems whose very existence everyone had

as yet

refused to admit.

To have

anticipated the crisis of the industrial revolution

before that revolution had occurred, and on the basis alone of a speculative image of the nature of

man

to

have offered a criticism

of the premises of utilitarian individualism

—these

are

why we

Rousseau's greatest achievements and a main reason read

him

The

"Dedication" and the Ideal State

today.

Emile learns manual work, because "we are approaching of

crisis,

two of

and the century of revolutions/' The

a state

crisis will arise

out of the disorders and conflicts of our civilization, which under a peaceful sion,

outward appearance conceals the germs of cruel

divi-

with different classes harboring for each other suspicions

and mutual hatred because of the opposition of

The extreme

their interests.

inequality of conditions will give an opportunity

to political chiefs "to stir

up

by dividing them." Society

all

will

that can

weaken men

in society

be atomized by an exploitation of

the deep uneasiness created by social injustice, and leaders will arise capable of

using for their ends the resulting conditions. As

society disintegrates a revolutionary phase will begin.

Out itself

of these revolutions a despotism will be born to establish

over the ruins of the republic and

would precede [150]

this last

its

laws.

"The

times that

change would be times of troubles and

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE but in the end everything would be engulfed by the

calamities,

monster, and peoples would no longer have chiefs or laws but

only tyrants.

From

that

cease to be in question/'

In this

human

total

moment

also morals

despotism there would be a dissolution of the

personality

could cling. This

is

state of nature, in

and of any rule or

institution to

what Rousseau means by

which

Faced by

live in a state

and innocence

this fearful picture of a totalitarian future,

"Must we demolish

societies, destroy

between mine and thine, and go back the bears?" This conclusion seau,

and he

drawing

But the

states

it

of the

would

to live in the forests

suit his enemies, writes

with

Rous-

53

to social life

acquisitions,

is

only two. For the few

and who can cut

who

are not

their bonds, a retreat

the best solution. "You can leave your fatal

your worried minds, your corrupt hearts, and your

unbridled desires in the midst of you, your ancient sight

is

himself rather than leave them "the shame

real alternatives are

committed

what

the distinctions

it."

into the wilderness

and

first

cities;

reclaim, since

it is

up

to

innocence; go into the woods to lose

and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries, and

have no fear of debasing your species in renouncing

enment But self,

it

state of nature.

there to do?

of

which

a return to a second

men would

totally isolated

of corruption quite unlike that of goodness first

and virtue would

52

in order to renounce

its

enlight-

vices."

for the great majority of

men, including Rousseau him-

"whose passions have forever destroyed

plicity,

its

their original sim-

and who cannot any longer nourish themselves on

and nuts, nor do without laws and

rulers," this easy

way

grass

out

is

impossible. It

52

may O.C.

also

Ill,

1

be impossible because 90-1.

53

O.C.

Ill,

men have been

persuaded

207.

[151]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU humankind to develop its communal living (what Rousseau

that a divine voice has called all faculties is

and

to participate in

actually saying

man was

more obscure and imprecise: while

rather

becoming one, and he may

potential of gift

is

not born a political animal, he had in himself the

from a divine power). They must,

ground and

They

fight against the

will respect the sacred

members; they

will love their

surrounding

bonds of the

and

are their authors

and wise princes who

multitude of abuses and

therefore, hold their

which they are

honor above

evils

all

men who

obey the laws, and the

know how

the good

all

to prevent, cure, or palliate that

always ready to crush us; they will

animate the zeal of these worthy

and

this

evils.

societies of

ministers; they will will

he received

fellowmen and will serve them with

their power; they will scrupulously

fear

feel that

chiefs,

by showing them without

and the

flattery the greatness of their task

rigor of their

duty. But they will nonetheless scorn a constitution that can be

maintained only with the help of so are desired

their care, always arise tages.

many

more often than obtained

more

citizen

who

days of the extreme

will

crisis

all

than apparent advan-

real calamities

undertake

which has

carry out his activity gladly,

and

These state of

is

his

first

unthinkable.

we cannot go back totally corrupt

intolerable.

he must O.C.

to

it.

The

condition of

fight for Ill,

The

it is

in the tragic

his society will still

be to the

unworkable and

will

more harm than good. to the original

man has followed canmemory of a lost age, but

road

acceptance of an ultimate and

and despotic second

The

all this

upon

duty will

yield

still

We must cultivate the

not be retraced.

do

dilemmas of Rousseau; a return

are the

nature

change

to

fallen

constitution, in spite of his belief that in the absence of drastic

[152]

—who

despite

54

The good

54

respectable people

—and from which,

state of

modern man

is

nature

a tragic

is

equally

one because

improvements and reforms he knows are inca-

207-8.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE pable of achieving the desired results. As he concludes the Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau cannot indicate a

dilemma. But

same

at the

he

time,

is

way out

of the

anxious to see whether

something can be done.

Much

thinking back upon these years of the mid-i75o

later,

he wrote "I saw that everything depended in a radical :

politics/'

55

This

not an expression of despair.

is

such a

way

as to

human

affairs

s,

way upon

If politics

occupy

bound

to

and might be influenced

in

the foreground of the social structure, then they are play a primary role in

,

produce the desired

results. If politics express

themselves in institutions, then institutions can be changed and

shaped to

suit the interests of the

despair of

man, unable

to

community. Thus the hopeless

go back

nature and

to the first state of

powerless to avoid the coming of the second, might give before the decisive role of politics true that

no people would ever be

ment made might lead

it,

Rousseau had in

some

man

he was certain

institutions

better than

what

recovery of

effect

if it

its

was

govern-

government

wisdom and freedom.

been expressing

this

thought repeat-

time. In the preface to Narcisse

he had said

he was lamenting were not so much part of

that the social vices

the nature of

belief that,

a reshaping of the institutions of

to the partial

edly and for

that

and the

way

as the

consequence of bad government, and

that, in the

long run, people were what their

had made them.

In the Discourse on Inequality he thought he had on balance

strengthened the argument of the opportunities open to social

man

to

improve his

55

Confessions, bk.

56

Lettre de

].

J.

lot.

In an important Letter to Philopolis,

ix, O.C. I, 404. Rousseau a M. Philoyolis, O.C.

Ill,

56

230-36. The

was not published until 1782. It was addressed to Charles Bonnet, a Genevan scientist who had published in the Mercure de France of October 1755 a criticism of the Discourse on Inequality (its text will be found in O.C. Ill, 1383-6). letter,

written in the

fall

of 1755,

[153]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU written shortly after the Discourse, Rousseau had, from a parallel

between the aging of

drawn

dom

the shift from nature to society,

certain very significant conclusions, vindicating the free-

of

man

mankind

difference,

namely

and

as old

age

is

you

as

say,

but only, as

at least

may be is still

from the nature of

as

a key

man

from the nature of mankind, not have shown, with the aid

I

which might

of certain external circumstances,

have happened, or

society

to individuals, there

that "old age flows

that society flows

immediately

Even though

to act politically.

natural to

alone,

man and

or

might not

might have happened either sooner or

later."

What

matters

is

accelerate or slow

to

be quite clear that

down

feasible for

upon the

will of

man."

in our power, then, to influence the course of history

the initiative in order to do

what

is

wrong means

perfect quietism

to

so.

man

to

and that many of the circum-

progress

stances that affect us "depend

it is

To

give

up the

We have and

it

to seize

struggle to correct

oppose any action whatever: "The most

would be the only

virtue left to

man." This

is

not possible, and Rousseau was convinced that the Discourse had

man to how little

offered very strong reasons against a withdrawal of

a life

in the forest: "I feel too strongly within myself

I

do without men

as corrupt as I

am, and the wise man,

if

can

there

is

one, will not today seek his happiness in the midst of a desert.

When

possible,

country, to love

Given

man

this

to act

one must it

on

it,

On

one's

to serve it."

primacy of

course of history.

undone.

and

fix

there

political intervention,

was then nothing

What man had

the foundations of a

more virtuous

life for

own abode

man

in one's

and the duty of

inevitable about the

done, or tolerated, could be

new

constitution, a happier

could be built.

Once

O.C.

[154]

Ill,

232, 234, 235.

and

the possibility

was admitted that the welfare of man could be linked 57

own

5T

to this

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE political task, the

ideal state.

question was that of outlining the frame of this

What was

the nature of a government capable of

achieving these results? to

the law?

Which government would keep

And what was

the content of the law?

Rousseau made up his mind

to

dedicate the Discourse on

Inequality to the Republic of Geneva.

Confessions that

dom

closest

He was

to write in the

he thought Geneva's notions of law and

free-

not just enough or clear enough to suit him, in spite of the

praise

he publicly lavished on them.

search for a

way

out,

and the

homeland, combined

to

The moral

imperative of the

practical opportunity of helping his

push Rousseau

to try his

hand now

the drafting of the requirements of the ideal state. If politics

at

was

all,

then he should outline the conditions under which

life

could produce the results he wanted. In the Dedication this

is

what he

political

did.

During most of the two centuries since the publication

of the

Discourse on Arts and Sciences and the Discourse on Inequality, the so-called individualism of the two Discourses tivism of the Social Contract

From the very beginning, the

and the

collec-

have been frequently contrasted. early

Rousseau was portrayed

as

favoring a return to the state of nature, as opposed to civilization

and culture, and, therefore, opposed

to all

forms of social

life.

In

the twentieth century, one of the most distinguished of Rousseau

C. E. Vaughan,

scholars,

felt that

the second Discourse

landmark of the greatest importance, both for ideas

and

for

its

practical consequences.

For

"it

its

was a

speculative

suggested more

extreme forms of individualism than any previous writer had ventured ing,

was

to set forth,"

"to

and

the French Revolution." If 58

its

chief significance, politically speak-

be found in the vast influence which

it

yielded

upon

58

such views be true,

Cf. C. E. Vaughan, ed., Rousseau (Cambridge, 191 5),

it

would be an impossible

The I,

Political

task to

Writings of Jean Jacques

119.

[155]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU reconcile the Rousseau of the Discourses with the Rousseau of

the Social Contract. But the point

that

no

direct

comparison as

between the Discourses and the Social Contract.

such

is

The

purpose of any

possible

is

critical analysis

must be that

of identifying

the successive frames of reference with which an author devel-

The

ops his thoughts.

Discourses are in essence keyed to a

review of the consequences of certain historical and cultural

phenomena. The Social Contract presents of

what ought

liberty

a rational discussion

be the principles of a society in which both

and authority

The sets

to

are to be found.

Discourses are polemical documents in which Rousseau

about to

criticize the position of his adversaries,

ian, materialistic, godless philosophers

the utilitar-

he saw in the forefront of

the Enlightenment. In the First Discourse Rousseau

is

defend-

ing the concept of nature as the revelation of divine goodness against the soulless nature of the Enlightenment.

advocacy of any return

to nature,

takes a stand against

no

Second Discourse Rousseau

Locke and the defenders of theories of the

based on a view of property rights deriving from the state of

nature.

As

a result,

ments and

he gives a striking analysis of the maladjust-

social troubles of a political

legal sanction of

tional arrangements. It

Rousseau

because

rests

is

upon

all

is

on the revolu-

existing institu-

against "civilization" to the extent that

equating civilization with the materialistic paroxysm

is

of his age.

system that

economic inequality. His argument

tionary because of the frontal attack

It

this

does not deal with the nature of the ideal state

was not Rousseau's

object.

manifestation of the jansenistic spirit with its

is

but a clear affirmation of the

superiority of nature over art. In the

state

There

dissatisfaction

The its

Discourses are a

rigorous moralism,

with the probabilism and compromises of an

age which, politically speaking, could readily be satisfied with the despotism of enlightened princes.

In any study of the development of Rousseau's political [156]

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE thought, the two Discourses must be seen as descriptions of what

Rousseau did not want

way

accept as a

to

of

life,

descriptions of the ideal organization of society

They

are the latter only

of discourse: one,

and

of the state.

by indirection.

Rousseau was keeping els

rather than as

alive simultaneously

more open and

the world around him; the other,

still

exciting,

two different

lev-

an attack against

hidden before 1754 by his

polemical offensive, a vision of the nature of political society and the role of the citizen in

The

"contrast"

tract is that

Rousseau

between analysis and prescription. In the former, us what

tells

is

wrong with the world

give us the criteria

tries to

In the

it.

between the Discourses and the Social Con-

latter,

as

it

exists

and

by which we can evaluate ourselves.

he provides the norms that ought

to

be followed in

a free democratic state.

What

is

no

even

less interesting,

within the text

itself

if

only seldom noticed,

is

of the Discourse on Inequality, the

that

same

tension exists between the denunciation of the evils of present social life

and the outline of the

ideal state. It

is

the tension

between the Discourse and the Dedication of the Discourse. this

the

is

And

time Rousseau gives us an opportunity to look at

first

the two aspects of his thought.

The

Dedication

Geneva

in

May

is

1754.

linked to Rousseau's decision to return to

The

return to the native city of which he

proclaimed himself to be a citizen, was to prove to his friends and

enemies that he had accepted in practice for himself the admonition given in the Discourse to all but a in political life.

But effect

since

just to

few

Rousseau was going back

to participate actively

to the city.

go back was not enough: Rousseau had also in

committed himself

to

provide a schema of the ideal

he believed that everything flowed from

politics

state,

and that

make better men. The best way of embody it within the Discourse on

the right kind of politics could

providing this schema was to

[157]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU members

Inequality with a dedication to the citizens of Geneva,

of the General Council. Written early in 1754, the Dedication

is

the most complete outline of Rousseau's theory of the state

before the Social Contract. In the Discourse he had retraced the steps that

had

men and

led to the downfall of

equality and freedom. In the Dedication he

of the ideals of

would give

his views

both of what was needed to recover those ideals and of what

were the basic principles

The

be adopted by a democratic

to

the Discourse

glitter of

itself

which was intended by Rousseau

background a

political analysis

to restore his

purposes to a proper perspective.

hoped that

his friends

The

would then be limited

institutions First of

to political life.

most

all,

He

must have

Dedication no one could doubt his

after reading the

commitment

state.

has helped to push into the

only remaining difference with to the

kind of

political life

and

produce free and moral men.

likely to

the ideal state was one to be grounded in history,

with well-defined historical characteristics attached to

it.

Against

the Enlightenment, Rousseau considers a nation's historical heritage

an essential part of

its

strength. Against the generic

uprooted citizen of the world, he outlines the of the community, one of

whose chief

virtues

traits is

patriotism.

This meant the choice (as Rousseau begins

community

qualities of the

born) of "a small

in

society, that

its

laws

...

I

to list the ideal

which he would have is

One, furthermore, not "of recent

one built

to the

institutions,

should have sought out for

and

of the citizen

liked to be

human

scale."

however excellent

my

country some

peaceful and happy republic, whose ancient heritage would be lost in

to

the night of time; and whose vicissitudes had been such as

show and strengthen the courage and

jects;

and whose

citizens,

ence, were not only

This was

to

free,

its

sub-

long accustomed to a wise independ-

but worthy

be

to

be a community isolated

the contentions of national wars. His [158]

patriotism of

as

so."

much

ideal state

as possible

from

was not only to

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE be free of any "fiery love of conquests/'

it

was

also to

be

immune

from the danger of conquest by other nations through a happy balancing of mutual interests.

This community of historically minded patriots could not, however, be one in which rigid class divisions and privileges

tended to perpetuate themselves in the seau saw the danger of appeals

to history

a chief agent of prescription

if

The main

unchanging

right,

itself

history as

meant the

is

institutions, or of

advantage to be derived from history

was rather that of the continuity of the

The community

of history. Rous-

and of using

by prescription

justification of class positions, of

property rights.

name

had

to

legal

and

political system.

be founded not on prescriptive

but upon an identity of interests between the people and

the carriers of sovereign power. This identity, according to Rousseau, could never be obtained in

any

society except a democratic

one.

As we proceed, we

find in the Dedication the principles of the

Social Contract, those ideals

which the

reality of the quite dif-

ferent contract of submission so vividly described in the Dis-

course on Inequality

had rendered vain: the democratic

ideal of

governed by law, the ideal of the identity between the

a society

people and the sovereign, the ideal of a community which does not delegate any of

its

but clearly outlined,

essential,

legislative

powers, and the ideal of not accepting that rupture and antago-

nism between the inevitable I

citizen

and the

state

which was assumed

to

be

by the dominant utilitarian philosophy of his time.

should have wished to be born in a country in which the interest of

the Sovereign

and that

of the people

must be one and the same;

common

to

the end that

all efforts

And

could not be the case, unless the Sovereign and the

as this

might tend always

people were one and the same person,

wished

to

be

born

under

a

it

to the

follows that

democratic

I

happiness.

should have

government,

wisely

tempered. [159]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU I

should have wished to

the laws that neither their

live

and die

nor anybody

I,

free: that

else,

is,

so far subject to

should be able

to cast off

honorable yoke: the sweet and salutary yoke suffered by the

men

proudest of

any

suffer

with the docility which comes from their inability to

other.

should have sought a country in which the right of legislation

I

was vested

in all the citizens; for

who

can judge better than they of

the conditions under which they had best dwell together in the same

Not

society?

among

that I should have approved of plebiscita, like those

Romans; when the

the

preservation,

interested in

its

upon which

often rested

its

rulers in the State,

and those most

were excluded from the deliberations security;

and in which, by the most

absurd inconsistency, the magistrates were deprived of rights which the citizens enjoyed.

Rousseau was aware of the revolutionary implications of such a sweeping grant of legislative powers to the people.

have been interpreted

and continuous change of advancement of

the right of legislation

might

ill-directed,

institutions, to a reckless acceptance of

attempts to manipulate political of the

an irresponsible,

as leading to

It

life in

the

name

of progress

and

science. Therefore, having just said that is

vested in

all

the citizens

—

for they are

the best judges of the conditions under which they must live

together

mon

—Rousseau

defines that right with prudence.

which was

will

emerge from the people's

to

deliberations could not be

of course

assumed

to

be established

and without deliberate care and

This was

to

remain throughout his

question of the

common,

The comlegislative

as a matter

effort.

approach

life his

or the general, will:

its

to the

key

discovery was a

difficult

undertaking, one possible only

when

was

from pressure and had

to deliberate at length,

free

and when

all

of

its

chance

members had succeeded

selves of their egoistic traits this

a

community

purging them-

and preoccupations. Only then, and

meant seldom, could the general

[160]

in

the

will

be expressed.

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE In the Dedication, writing not in theoretical but in constitutional terms,

common good

Rousseau sees the

which, by taking into account the

still

reflected in laws

valid historical traditions,

and by interpreting correctly the present needs of the commucan be accepted as the authentic expression of the people's

nity, will.

This

is

how Rousseau

in a key passage establishes the terms of

the problem I

should have desired that, in order to prevent self-interested and

ill-conceived projects

and

all

such dangerous innovations

as finally

caused the downfall of the Athenians, each citizen should not have the

power

this right

magistrates should use for their part

—

that,

laws, according to his fancy; but that

to the magistrates alone;

it

much

with so

and that even the

circumspection; the people

be so reserved in giving their consent

the promulgation of ty;

new

of proposing

should belong

them

to

such laws, and

carried out only with such great solemni-

before the constitution could be upset by them, there

might be time enough for great antiquity of laws

all to

be convinced that

it is

above

all

which makes them sacred and venerable,

the people soon learn to despise laws

and that by getting accustomed

which they

the that

see daily altered,

to the neglect of

ancient customs

under the pretext of improving them, one often introduced greater evils

than those whose correction

is

sought.

Apart from the unusually strong reiteration of Rousseau's belief in the value of custom, legal

and apart from

his preference for a

system with as few laws as possible, the two points of

exclusive legislative initiative in the hands of the magistrate,

and

of constitutional democracy, deserve attention.

The

issue of legislative initiative involved

difficult task of reconciling

the people with the need of restraint that power.

The

difficulty

Rousseau in the

the exercise of direct sovereignty by

and care

in the actual use of

could be solved, Rousseau thought, by

splitting the legislative process into

two

parts,

one of

initiation

[161]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

We see in the Dedication an

and one of discussion and approval. anticipation of the

theme ten years

much more

detailed development of the

same

from the Mountain,

time

later in the Letters

at a

when Rousseau had broken with the Republic he was now praising. The issue remained throughout the same, the need of the proper and careful formulation of new legislation proposals, and of placing the right of initiation of new laws in the hands of magistrates. The risk of popular legislation pushed through perhaps under the spur of accidents was too great

would

way

certainly prove the shortest

general will.

The

to take, for

from the

to a deviation

right to discuss, to approve,

and

it

promulgate

to

according to proper procedures legislation which had initially

been shaped elsewhere

—

this

Rousseau reserved

right

arrangement was

citizen. If this distributive

surrender by the assembly of the citizens,

which had

to

be

made

it

to

be viewed

to

the as a

was a surrender

in the interests of stability as well as in

that of the well-informed exercise of the nation's will.

The

second point, likely

to strike those

accustomed

of Rousseau as the propounder of an unlimited

democracy,

is

the stress on rules of procedure; that

to thinking

and unruly on those

is,

devices, long identified with constitutional democracy,

more emphasis on the ways

place

than on their substance. interest of

Now,

nomic problems, economic

which

rich

to his

justice,

the relationships of classes

and the poor. These are

constitutional systems have

in their belief that,

laws, the rest

if

specifically the

[162]

problem

been accused of overlooking

and procedures, and

only every citizen were treated alike by the

would take

Rousseau refused

after

continuing concern with eco-

in their exclusive preoccupation with forms

less,

are taken

impossible to discount the

Rousseau in substantive matters, certainly not

one has paid due attention

and of the

which decisions

in

it is

which

care of

itself.

to let the rest take care of itself.

he was equally unwilling

to

Neverthe-

assume that a society could

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE survive without strict adherence to rules of conduct, even

general will

had provided

wealth, and hence of freedom. seau's

dure

How

emphasis on the solemnity

—surrounding

if

the

an authentic balance of power and

for

—

else

can one interpret Rous-

that

the complex proce-

is,

new

the promulgation of

laws? This was

intended to allow time to everybody to register objections, so that in the

end

all

would be convinced, and the consent given

to

new

laws would have been truly founded on a reconciliation of different viewpoints.

Valid legislation must both be the expression of the general will

and conform

lation,

because

it

mental principles.

to constitutional rules. It

must It

rest

on

must be

a

common

cannot be

class legis-

acceptance of funda-

constitutional legislation derived in

equal measure from the historical customs of the past and the legal

framework of the present.

The

Dedication makes yet another important statement. Rous-

seau was opposed to any delegation of power by the sovereign

people to an elected legislative assembly, because of the danger that

it

could commit the community to a course of action of

which the people might not approve. But, legislative initiatives,

he was

the case of

as in

also against the idea of a leaderless

mass democracy, one which, in the exercise of the

totality of its

powers, could claim the right to do without executive leadership and, even more, refuse to recognize the importance of the actual

design of the administrative structure

itself.

Rousseau, whose views on man, property, and the purposes of

government were revolutionary enough, could face the much simpler problems of the practical necessities of government with-

out fear of damaging his ultimate goals. writers could well say that tions

was the excess of

majority of political

what was wrong with

structures

obsolete administrative bodies, ress, a

A

and of

and

great simplification of the

political institu-

rigid hierarchies

that, if there

was

to

and of

be prog-

machinery of government had [163]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU be achieved and change

to

itself

made

given to matters of administration,

it

They

easy.

and

progress with the absence of authority,

if

was only

could equate

any thought was

to

decry the fetters

that restricted men's unlimited capacity to achieve perfection.

But Rousseau had no democracy would authority,

invite

stronger.

by reliance on precarious and weak

He

and undifferentiated organs of government.

the purposes

lifted

hesitation in stressing the dangers that

The

of

tools of

political

had

and made them much

life

government had

to

be stronger

alleged prophet of the return to primitive life

is

too.

The

found here

preaching the necessity of social discipline and the needs of carefully structured authority in a democracy. I

should have particularly avoided as necessarily ill-governed a

re-

public where the people believing to be in a position to do without magistrates or to leave

them with only

a precarious authority

would

imprudently have kept for themselves the administration of affairs

and the execution of

their

own

laws.

civil

Such must have been the

rude constitutions of primitive governments directly emerging from the state of nature.

Having thus condemned

ment which might

at

as

unimaginable a system of govern-

most have

groupings which modern

satisfied the earliest of social

man had

forever left behind, Rousseau

proceeds to outline his views on the needs of today. I

should have chosen a community in which the individuals,

satisfied

with sanctioning their laws, and with deciding the most important public affairs in general assembly and ers,

—had established honored

among

upon

a report of their lead-

had

carefully distinguished

tribunals,

the several administrative departments, electing year after

year some of the most capable and upright of their fellow citizens to

administer justice and govern the

states; a

community

in short in

which, the virtue of the magistrates thus bearing witness to the

wisdom another. [164I

of the people,

both rulers and ruled would honor one

THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE This then was the outline of the ideal contrasted with the

was

state

which Rousseau

on what the common

sensible

men who,

man

could do ("those educated and

and populace,

called in other nations workers

viewed with contempt and under such a

are

Through civic

on the

a state to be built

of the people, the foundation of Rousseau's faith in the

wisdom future,

real one. It

their participation in political life,

light").

false

one could create that

climate which alone might replace the irrevocably lost

natural goodness of

This then

is

man.

59

where Rousseau stood on June

12,

1754.

purpose of most of what he had written had been

man, not

to liberate

for a return to a nonsocial state, but to facilitate his

entry into a

new

community, and even while he was

political

actively demolishing the foundations of the

Rousseau was giving thought

to the

democracy. His writings show a

contemporary world,

major premises of the

fairly

new

continuous preoccupation

with the task of reconstruction and the blueprint of 1754 detailed

The

is

more

and complete than has been commonly recognized.

Rousseau's conflict with his times flows from a rational appraisal of the foundations of society

men

The

to live together.

society of individuals

and of the motives which prompt

him

choice for

with the

state

is

between

a utilitarian

on the outside acting

as a

policeman, and a society of equals trying by dedicated work to achieve together the all

good.

The

choice he makes

is

clear

along.

We a

common

find in Rousseau's writings of this period the essentials of

modern democratic

shunted

aside.

faith.

Economic

Economic complexities

conflicts

and

concern Rousseau from the very beginning. Voltaire the cynic, as he

59

O.C.

Ill,

1 1

is

opposed

are

not

their injustices deeply

He

to Voltaire the

is

opposed

man

to

of great

1-20. [165]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU affairs,

who

refused to the state the right of intervention to

soften the asperities resulting from the extremes of poverty of wealth.

It

is

awareness of the of the will,

a

modern democratic

faith because

difficulties of reconciling liberty

and

it

and

shows

authority,

need of responsible organs of execution of the popular

of the care with

which popular deliberations

are to be

many and delicate. No assumptions of simplicity can be made. The optimism concerning the essentially sound nature of man is tempered by the emphasis on the taken.

The

tasks at

hand

are

indispensable role of leadership.

must seek is

the

[166]

What

the separate individuals

to achieve in their deliberate search for

common

good.

what

is

right,

VI The The Problem

SOON

after

Ideal State

of the Origin of the State

completing the Discourse on Inequality and

its

Dedication, Rousseau was asked to prepare the article on politi-

economy

cal

compendium

for the great

thought, the Encyclopedie.

1

of eighteenth-century

From an overview

of the develop-

ment of mankind and of the tragedies that have accompanied Rousseau would move toward the the issues of the government of

the well-regulated political

and deal with

social contract

man

in

an ideal system. His

was that of defining the conditions

task

it,

new

maintenance of

for the

community with much

greater detail

than in the Dedication.

The

novelty of the Political

tion occupied

Economy

lies in

by the concept of the general

the central posi-

will.

The argument

develops through an analysis of the origins of the state.

1

Discours sur Veconomie 'politique, O.C.

Ill,

2

239—78. As a

rule, the

English translation used here will be that of G. D. H. Cole, in the Every-

man edition of the Social Contract and Discourses (London, 19 13). 2 The content of the Political Economy leaves little doubt as to the date of its composition. One is bound to agree with the majority of commentators

(from Hendel, ]ean-]acques Rousseau, Moralist,

O.C.

Ill,

lxxiii-lxxiv)

and

to

disagree

with

I, 98 ff., to Derathe, Hubert (Rousseau et

[167]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Beyond the

we

stand

it,

human

family, at a different level of

community. In order

find the political

the justification for the political

organization,

and under-

it

community must be

set

and most of the common explanations

forth in theoretical terms,

must be rejected

to find

Not only

as useless.

the model of the family,

but also the agreement (alleged or real) between rich and poor, the right of conquest or

As Rousseau There

this

prescription are

to unite

them.

work only with

a

found inadequate.

summing up:

ways of bringing together men, there

are a thousand

one way

mere

writes in a striking

It is for this

method

reason that

am

is

only

concerned in

for the formation of political societies,

even though in the multitude of aggregations

name

I

be found today

to

under

this

in the

same manner and not one which has been formed according

the

am

method

But

I set forth.

not arguing about

The is

there are not perhaps two

contrast

facts.

I

am

which have been formed

looking for right and reason and

The

political authority

is

specific agreements.

community

political

authority of the family

is

natural, while

conventional, the result of quite different

The

fact that

both organizations have an

apparently similar purpose, that of making jected to

I

3

between the family and the

a radical one.

to

them happy,

is

human

beings sub-

not enough to blur the distinctive line

VEncyclopedie, 58ff.) and say that the Political

Economy

follows the

Discourse on Inequality and was written around 1754— 1755. 3

O.C.

Ill,

297. This quotation

is

from chapter v of Book

I

of the

first

du lien generate du genre

version of the Social Contract. This chapter ("Fausses Notions social") and chapter ii, also in Book I ("De la Societe humain") are considered, by common agreement of Rousseau

be among the very

scholars, to

earliest parts of the first version of the Social Contract,

whose writing was stretched over a number of years. In style and relevance of argument they belong to the years of the Discourse on Inequality and the Political Economy QO.C. Ill, 141 6— 7). Therefore, for the purposes of our discussion, these two chapters are considered to be part of the Political Economy and are discussed with it. a version

[168]

THE IDEAL STATE which separates them. Filmer, Rousseau adds,

is

to

be blamed for

having stressed the contrary view in the "hateful system" he attempted to

set

up

in the Patriarchal

The

parallels

drawn from

relationships leading to the authority of the father, the subordi-

nate position of the mother, the duty and obedience of children, are invalid, since these relationships are absent in political society.

Equally unacceptable

the notion of rights accruing to the

is

rich because of their greater

nomic power may be a

"How

economic power. Such greater eco-

but

fact

it

can never give

rise to a right:

can an individual seize an immense territory and deprive

mankind

of

its

use except as a result of a usurpation to be

punished: for such action deprives the rest of mankind of the land and the food which nature has given them in common."

Mere

possession

not enough to establish property rights. There

is

are clear conditions to be satisfied before

of

first

occupancy

In the

first

to

one can recognize rights

anyone:

place, the land should not yet

have been

settled

by

anybody. In the second place, the surface occupied should not go

beyond

one's

own

must be made

work and

subsistence needs. In the third place, possession

effective not

through a formal gesture but through

cultivation, the only property signs

spected by others. Since the rights of a single state

which must be

man

cannot go beyond this point, and since everything else

violence and usurpation against the laws of nature, a foundation of social rights.

If,

as a result of

not yet

re-

before the social

it

is

only

cannot serve as

5

an ideal chance, the

moved away from an among

distribution of the land

political

community has

earlier condition

in

which the

individuals has taken place on

the basis of the principles oudined by Rousseau, everything that

happens *

O.C.

later in the political

Ill,

244.

5

O.C.

Ill,

community

is

predicated on the

301-2. [169]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU fullest

adherence

to the principle of

even distribution of the land

according to needs. Usurpation has been rejected as creating an acceptable state of affairs in the transition from the state of

nature to

To

civil state.

wealth in the

civil state

prevent the accumulation of excessive

becomes the task of the sovereign and of

the magistrates. Usurpation has no justification in nature and

cannot form the basis of

from

arising in a society

right;

accumulation must be prevented

governed by the general

will.

Both right of war and prescription are equally invalid reasons for establishing the social

and cannot precede to the ble, it.

tie.

War,

if

it

is

a conflict

among

presupposes the existence of the political community

societies,

If it is a private conflict it

it.

problem under discussion. Usurpation

is,

has no relation

of course, possi-

but the passage of time cannot give prescriptive sanction to

There

no lack of authority

is

lacks the support of reason.

6

for this belief, which, however,

No

consent can validate

tacit

tyr-

anny.

The

only acceptable explanation for the founding of

societies

must be the common

derive from

it.

"Hence,

how

from mobs kept together by tion of the object or the

form of

is

if it

illegitimate."

7

if

powers are established

to

common

be solved

is

Derathe (O.C.

Grotius. 7

O.C.

[170]

Ill,

304-5.

Ill,

good,

or of the latter? If the it

follows the spirit of

satisfy the interests of its chiefs,

it

all political

who

are

of course justified in fact, but the

one of principle.

False parallels are as dangerous 6

not through the considera-

Grotius points out that not

is

will

distinguish legitimate states

to favor the interests of those

governed by them, he

problem

force, if

aims only to

And

we

end of the former

society tends to the

founding,

its

which the members

utility

can

civil

and confusing

14 19) suggests that Rousseau

as false explais

thinking of

THE IDEAL STATE nations. For in dealing with the

body

we

politic,

are dealing with

something unique and for which ready-made parallels are

One

often mistakenly used. the

body

a

is

Citizens

is

that of

too

all

comparing

temptation, he was to say

War, must be

moral being with a

may

The

with an organism.

politic

a year later in the State of politic

such parallel

resisted, since the

body

will:

well call themselves

members

They

of the state.

will

never be able to join themselves to the state as real members are

human

is

impossible to avoid a separate and

individual existence for each of

them and through which alone he

joined to the

can

own

suffice to his

body;

conservation.

in the aggregation of the

sum

total of

it

body

.

Let us consider

.

.

politic public force

how much

individual forces,

of strength in the operation of the entire

there

is,

is

how much

inferior to the

so to speak, of loss

machine and we

will

conclude that proportionately speaking the weakest

to

greater force available for his state for its

in the Political

attraction for Rousseau.

by other writers and he state

have has

conservation than the strongest

own. 8

But already little

own

man

is

Economy

He

is

the organic parallel has

aware that

being made

it is

anxious to counteract any theory of the

which surrenders before the automatic operation of

a

whole

which the individual moral being ends up by contributing

in

nothing. Therefore, in spite of the help which at a vulgar level of discourse the organic parallel

might

functioning of the political body, there

is

a difference in kind

it is

offer in

an "inexact"

calls a

parallel, for

which must be grasped. This

ence stems from the fact that the body politic

Rousseau

understanding the

is

differ-

moved by what

general will, described as a will which, "since

it

aims always to preservation and well-being of the whole and of every part, and

8

Que

is

the source of the laws, constitutes for

VEtat de guerre nait de Vetat social, O.C.

Ill,

all

the

606. [171]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU members

and

of the state, in their relations to one another

what

the rule of

is

just

and unjust."

to

it,

9

Rousseau and Diderot

At the beginning

of the discussion of the general will, the

problem of the respective in

roles

played by Rousseau and Diderot

formulation must be mentioned.

its

different

It is

an

issue that looks

from the ones usually met in the history of

Rousseau

himself appears to yield before Diderot.

ideas.

For

Having given

us his definition, he then adds that the source of this "great and

be found in an

luminous principle"

is

same volume

Encychfedie

Economy This

is

of the

to

earlier article in the

entitled Right.

merely a development of

is

Political

it.

a remarkable statement and, given the central impor-

is

tance of the general will in Rousseau's thought, try to

His

10

determine

Diderot. In

its

it,

meaning.

The

it is

necessary to

author of the article on Right

the author assumes that the single individual

has been deprived of the right of deciding by himself what

Who

and what

is

answer

mankind. Particular

is,

good or

evil,

unjust.

it

is

always good;

it

O.C.

Ill,

limits, even, of life

man,

citizen, subject,

and death. "You

will acquire

10

is

not

Vaughan had tended to stress the organic characEconomy. But Derathe cannot agree with him QO.C.

244, 245.

ter of the Political Ill,

can be

has never

the most sacred of natural right to everything which

9

The

to the general will that the individ-

ual can discover the limits of his actions as

— the

right?

just

ever deceive us."

by addressing himself

father, son

this

wills are suspect, they

"but the general will

deceived us nor will It is

then can exercise

is

1393), and a careful reading of Rousseau bears him out. O.C. Ill, 245. Hubert, Rousseau et I'Encyclopedie, 51—3, advances

the hypothesis that Rousseau's reference was to an as yet unwritten article.

[172]

This

is

quite possible, but the question of substance remains.

THE IDEAL STATE Mankind

denied to you by the whole of mankind.

will enlighten

you on the nature of your thoughts and of your desires. Everything you will conceive, everything you will meditate, will be good, great, elevated, sublime,

There

interest.

is

you demand in theirs."

and

I

Man

no quality all

if it is

in the general

man

essential to

your fellow

men

for

must therefore repeat often

and common

apart from the one

your happiness and

to himself, "I

am

a

man

have no other truly inalienable natural rights than those of

humanity/' For Diderot, then, the issue sal

natural rights

that of determining the univer-

is

of man, transcending time and

ing inalienability as another characteristic.

becomes the depository of these

race

eral will.

But how do we know how

general will be consulted?

The

everywhere: "in

of the enemies of

mankind."

phases of

a general will its

which

development, which

is

common

is

to

to

tacit

all

the

conventions

mankind

in all

be found in the actions of

peoples that are called savage and yet are already to "social," as well as in written

can the

organized nations; in the social

all

and barbarous peoples, in the

is

human

by the gen-

Where

proceed?

actions of savage

This

and hav-

entire

rights, verified

to

The answer is,

written principles of law of

space,

some extent

codes of law which presumably

only the most advanced societies will possess. Further, this

is

a general will that appears to float

benevolently

men can find for themselves. man can find in the general fellow man and what his fellow

above mankind and which rational

Having silenced will

all

passions, rational

what he can expect from

man

can expect from him.

for the

conduct of

society of

which he

man is

a

his

The

general will becomes the guide

toward other men, of

member, and

man

other societies. Since of the two wills, the general ular,

only the general will never makes mistakes,

for the happiness of

mankind

toward the

of that society toward the

legislative

and the it is

partic-

clear that

power should be capable [i73]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU and that we should view with

of expressing the general will,

veneration the august mortals whose particular wills bring

to-

gether both the authority and the infallibility of the general will.

11

The

relevance to Rousseau's thought of this notion of the

general will

is

hardly

clear.

For Diderot's universalism cannot be

the source of Rousseau's idea of the general will, and this in spite of Rousseau's formal acknowledgment.

The

provided by Rousseau himself, who, in chapter first

best evidence ii

of

Book

I

is

of the

version of the Social Contract, sets out to destroy Diderot's

argument on the general

society of

have been written immediately

mankind. This chapter must

after the

appearance in the Ency-

clopedic of Diderot's article on natural right.

It

was not ad-

dressed to the idea of natural right as such but rather to Diderot's

argument concerning the general of man's rights.

11

society of

mankind

as a source

12

Diderot, "Droit naturel," in Oeuvres folitiques, Verniere, ed. (Paris,

1963), 32-412

From Vaughan

to

Derathe, there has been a persistent debate as to

the meaning of this chapter and the reasons the final version of the Social Contract.

eliminated this chapter, "not because fatally relevant,

to

his argument;

it

why

Vaughan was

it

was not included

in

suggests that Rousseau

irrelevant,

but because

it

was

because he became aware that, in

refuting the idea of natural law, he

had unwittingly made a deadly

breach in the binding force of the Contract; and because, having no other principle to put in place of the Contract as the foundation of civil society,

he

felt that his

incautiously

and

only course was to silence the battery which he had

unmasked

against

it:

in

one word,

to strike

out the refuta-

Contract stand" (Political Writings,

I, 441-2). But in saying so, Vaughan fails to see the necessary distinctions which must be made in Rousseau's treatment of the problem of natural law. According to Rousseau, there are several kinds of natural law: from the "virtual" one, to be found in man not yet engaged in multiple social relationships, to the more fully developed rational one of a later phase in man's development, and containing many elements of social life. One may, in this connection, point to the distinctions made in the first version

tion,

[174]

to let the Social

THE IDEAL STATE There There

no general society of mankind, Rousseau maintains.

is

no natural

is

society

among men. 13 What

there

is

is

a

gradual evolution such as Rousseau has described in the Discourse on Inequality and out of institutions

man

Having gone beyond

born.

is

which the

necessity of political

his primitive condition,

has acquired increasing needs, and reciprocal help becomes

necessary.

"From

this

new

order of things a multitude of rela-

born without measure, without

tions are

rule,

ency, altered and changed continuously by

busy

to destroy

Mankind

them, against one working to consolidate them."

has left the original state of nature and has entered

into a phase of turmoil fleetingly

where peace and happiness appear only

on the landscape: "Nothing

misery which results from

This misery, evil, is

without consist-

men, one hundred

all

is

permanent except the

these vicissitudes."

this inability to distinguish

14

between good and

the result of the increasing sociability of

man and

of his

having developed needs which require for their satisfaction the of the Social Contract clearly

on

where the

distinguished from

"rules of reasoned natural law" are

"natural law strictly speaking, based only

true but very vague sentiment"

(O.C. Ill, 329). Derathe can, burden of Rousseau's argument is only against Locke's views of natural law and not against natural law itself, and that a

therefore, suggest that the

Rousseau's reasons for the subsequent elimination of this chapter in-

cluded a wish to avoid unnecessary polemics with Diderot and useless repetition

of topics

Inequality QO.C. 13

Any

The

Ill,

he had already dealt with in the Discourse on lxxxv-lxxxviii).

original title of this chapter

was That There

Is

among Men. This was later replaced by General Society of Mankind QO.C. Ill, 14 10). 14

Society

O.C.

Ill,

282. This state of misery

appears to Derathe (O.C.

where

Ill,

is

perhaps

14 12), because this

is

Not Naturally title

The

less surprising

than

the

not the misery of the

it could not exist as Rousseau had on Inequality. By now man has advanced far beyond that stage and finds himself in an intermediate state of nature, preceding the creation of a political society, and itself the source of conflict and usurpation.

state of nature,

in principle

said in the Discourse

[175]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU about a general society of should realize that

it

We

man.

assistance of his fellow

man

may perhaps

at this point,

begin to talk

but

if

we

we

do,

performs none of the tasks which should be

attached to the concept of society:

"The general

society such as

our mutual needs might generate does not therefore offer an efficacious assistance to

most

much

man who now

added strength

gives

it

while the weak,

lost,

has become unhappy, or at

to that

man who

already has too

suffocated and crushed in the multi-

tude, does not find any shelter nor refuge, nor any support to his

weakness and dies in the end

from which he had expected

union

a victim of this deceitful

his happiness."

15

In the midst of misery and the further weakening of the weak, the emerging general society of mankind, already far removed

from the original

state of nature, develops conflicts

The error of Hobbes was not "to have found a among independent men who already had become to

have imagined

have given

it

war natural

to

which

war

sociable,

but

mankind and it

is

to

rather the

16

consequence.

The

this state of

as the cause of vices of

and wars.

state of

question

is

whether

this stage in the

development of

man

can produce anything that can properly be called a general society of

Man

mankind.

has

now

lost

the guidance of the sweet

voice of nature and no longer considers the maintenance of the

independence nature had given him: "Peace and innocence have forever eluded us before

we

could ever taste their delights. "

The

golden age has remained foreign to mankind, either because

was not recognized when mankind could have enjoyed because it.

To

it

talk

was

lost

it,

it

or

by the time mankind could have understood

about a general society of mankind

at a point

when

our original innocence has vanished and a possible golden age has been allowed to 15

O.C.

[176]

Ill,

282.

slip

16

away, but before

O.C.

Ill,

288.

we have been

able to

THE IDEAL STATE create the

union and the discipline which the new conditions

require,

not acceptable.

is

Without communication, without morality and ciety

can be said

to exist.

Even

being which

members.

we would be

so-

would require

a general society

would be

certain precise distinguishing characteristics. It

no

virtue,

moral

a

able to identify as distinct from

its

general society existed anywhere except in the

If the

systems of philosophers, "there would be a universal language

which nature would teach

common

ence of the

men and which would

be the

instrument of their mutual communication. There would be

first

a

to all

all

sum

tion,

but

understanding which would serve

to the correspond-

the parts; the public good or evil would not be merely

of the particular goods or evils as in a simple aggrega-

would be found

it

be greater than

this

in the tie

sum and

which binds them;

public happiness far from being

based on the happiness of individuals, would be If

the general society of

would

it

mankind does not

its

17

source."

exist,

even

can

less

one say that a general tribunal of mankind can function.

The

existence of a tribunal implies an understanding of the rea-

sons

why

man's personal

which

for generalizing ideas

the latest exercises of

he should sub-

interests require that

mit himself to the general

will. is

human

This presupposes a capacity

"one of the most understanding."

difficult

and of

How

can he

18

consult, as Diderot has suggested, "principles of written law, the social actions of all the peoples, the tacit

conventions even of the

enemies of mankind?" 17

O.C.

18

Adam

Ill,

284.

able to

Smith knew Rousseau well enough by the end of 1 762 say that this was one of the problems he had faced:

explain

how

general

thought and what according to his capable of" J.

is

way

(Adam

names were

first

to

be

"To

formed, as they require abstract

called generalization, before they can be formed,

of thinking:

which he thinks men

at first

hardly

Smith, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, ed.

M. Lothian [London,

1963], 3rd Lecture, 22

November 1762,

8).

U77]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Rousseau "it is

is

driven back to his primary position which

only from the social order established

draw the

ideas of the

one

we

among

us that

We

are imagining.

that

is

we can

conceive the

general society after our particular societies, the establishment of

we do

our small republics leads us to dream of the great, and properly begin to become

men

until after

we have been

These considerations show what we must think cosmopolites for

who

A

citizens.

of these alleged

through their love

justify their love of country

mankind, boast of loving the entire world

right not to love anybody."

not

so as to

have the

19

general will established on the basis of a belief in the

general society of

mankind has no

substance.

principle acknowledged in the Political

thought in terms of the concrete ular societies of

Rousseau

human

which men must

invites us to

engage in

Economy must be

first

become

general society to the particular society of there

is

"luminous" re-

experience of the partic-

this task of the

no natural and general society

The

And

citizens.

reduction of the

man: "Even though

among men, even though

men become bad and unhappy in becoming sociable, even though the laws of justice and equality count for nothing for those who live at the

same time

in the independence of the state of nature

while subject to the needs of the

social

condition,

far

from

thinking that virtue and unhappiness are not for us and that the

heavens have abandoned us without resource of the race;

—

let

remedy which must cure repair

19

this

it:

through

art" repair the

O.C. Ill, 287. Fragments politiques, O.C. fragment as belonging

Ill,

new

associations let us

damage caused

479.

to chapter

Social Contract Qbid., 1518).

[178]

degradation

the intrinsic vices of the general society."

through "perfected

20

to the

us attempt to draw from our misfortune the

ii,

The Book

editor, I,

to

:

D

Let

us,

nature by

Derathe, considers

of the

first

draft of the

THE IDEAL STATE 21

"beginning

Once more Rousseau

art."

is

saying: let us control

the arts to get closer to nature.

The

task

was

that of providing the principles of a political

human scale and not on the generalities of And a will serving the needs of a specific

society built to the

the philosophers.

community could not be the

all-purpose universal will described

by Diderot.

The General Will and

the Architect

Rousseau's general will was

found only within organized

first

to regulate their internal life. It rights,

it

of

all

a political concept to

political societies,

was not merely the source of

was, chiefly, the source of duties. It

among

the relations of nations

be

and was intended

could not apply to

themselves, each nation in

its

dealing with others being considered as expressing an individual will.

nity

The and

it

deserved no special veneration.

And

the general will.

ceed in doing that. will

power was made up of the

legislative

Its task

was

commu-

to express

not always did the legislative power suc-

could

It

was not properly

entire

fail,

and then the expression

called the general will. It

had

of

its

better simply

be called "a public deliberation. Rousseau, then,

starts

from a point which

is

at the opposite

pole of the cosmic vision of Diderot. Indeed, a general will might first

be traced

of a political

to the

body

subordinate societies in which the

will organize themselves:

particular societies has always

the association particular will/'

it is 22

two

O.C.

Ill,

288.

members

a general will, for the great society

The

of

is

a

general will of these particular societies

is

members and

modify the general public will of the body 21

will of these

relations: for the

the expression of the interests of their to

"The

members

22

O.C.

Ill,

it

it

will seek

politic.

These

246. [179]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU particular general wills are likely to differ

from the general

will

in direct proportion to the narrowness of the interests of the

association of

which they are the

mirror. Often,

under a sem-

blance of propriety, vicious purposes are discovered.

The same

interpretation applies to the issue of the general will

in larger political entities entities.

A

made up

was engaged

and fusion of

absolutism

—

'

his

of national

polysynodie," the federaliza-

political authority, the rationalization of royal

—could not by themselves To

general will.

greatest

facilitate the finding of the

imagine that the greatest good of the

would depend from the

The

number

in a criticism of the writings of Saint-Pierre. All of

the Abbe's complicated plans tion

of a

year after writing the Political Economy, Rousseau

greatest

good of the

good of each of

state, to

its

parts

state

is false.

be established only through

the general will, cannot depend just on the satisfaction of the

needs of

its

members. For in dealing with a body

dealing with a structured complex and

it is

politic

we

are

most probable that

individual or partial interests will have to be sacrificed to the interest of the whole.

the architect of a palace

The

making plans

it is

parallel

is

that of

"To draw up the plans

not enough to dispose each room conveniently.

One must in addition consider The most comfortable passages, easiest

Rousseau proposes

for a palace:

the relationships of the whole.

the most

commodious

order, the

communications, the most perfect ensemble and the most

regular symmetry. These general objectives are so important that

the skillful architect, for the sake of the whole, sacrifices a

thousand particular advantages which he might have maintained in a less perfect

Hence, the (that

is,

and

less

simple ordering."

task of the statesman in charge of the

the agent

who

will provide the

government

needed guidance in both

determining and carrying out in practice the general will of the people) cannot focus his attention on separate problems of finance, of war, or of trade: [180]

"He

will relate all these particular

THE IDEAL STATE issues to a

common

and from the proportions which

object

best suit them, there will flow the general plans sions can vary in a

The problem to

thousand ways according

who have shaped

views of those

is

will

whose dimen-

to the ideas

and the

them."

that of putting together particular plans so as

have a general plan.

the particular plans

is

It is

not an.easy thing to decide which of

be preferred. There

to

each unit of government can maintain

its

is

own

no doubt that

if

plan there will be

only contradictions in public affairs and embarrassment in their general

management: "But the general plan cannot be the plan

of this or the other

the

man

government and

be related the

:

it is

in the polysynodie to this great

common

Rousseau

is

For a federal

and with

some

must

and the

23

of the difficulties the general

in the large state with a federal structure.

a strong role assigned to

them together

its

many

parts, will find that

into an ultimate

common

will

not an easy one.

There to

that of necessity

organized of necessity on a pluralistic basis,

state

the task of bringing is

member."

outlining here

may encounter

can only be that of

deliberations of each council

particular activity of each

will

model

it

is,

then, a task

overcome the

common

to the small

community, trying

divisive will of partial associations,

and

to the

large federal aggregate, trying to reconcile the scattered wills of its

component

architect.

units.

For both,

it is

The more one moves

in the direction of the higher

general will, the more probable will

what

is

just

and

right.

The

uals

and

become the establishment

only authentic general will

which expresses the view of the lifted itself

a task similar to that of the

entire

is

of

the will

community once

it

has

above the smaller and conflicting interests of individ-

of particular groups.

Rousseau

is

not expressing himself

against the right of association, nor against the possibilities of

23

Jugement sur

la

polysynodie, O.C.

Ill,

641. [.8.]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU federalism. interests

He

is

merely pointing out the

which subordinate groups

are

reality of the selfish

bound

and the

to follow

need of placing the general will of the community above such subordinate wills. Beyond the general will of the body there

is

politic,

nothing.

In the second place, the idea of the general will can help us in classifying political societies, for

some

of

them

have recog-

will

nized the role of the general will, while others will not have done so.

Far from being a universal characteristic, the general will

the distinguishing

mark

is

of well-governed societies. States will

have popular or tyrannical structures. "The former will belong every state in which there

is

between the people and the

to

rulers

unity of interest and of will; the latter will of necessity be found

wherever the government and the people have different

and consequently opposing Hence, the chief the sovereign

interests

wills.

characteristics of legitimate states will

power

is

organized in such a

way

as to

be that

be capable

of expressing itself through the general will, while the chief duty of governments, that

of the

is

power entrusted with the

enforcing the general will, will be that of abiding by as the

that

it

government

acts

only for the public good,

should attack liberty, because

it

it:

impossible

it is

only executing the

is

general will and no one can say he can be enslaved

obeys nothing but his will."

There should be no

distinction

to distinguish

most

To know what it

carefully

difficult to achieve.

And

task.

24

O.C.

[182]

yet

Ill,

it

An

of one's

own

must be accomplished

with which the

the general will

from particular

is

one

—

absorbed naturally

personal will in a political

247, and Fragments folitiques,

is,

wills

understanding of the

general will neither comes from heaven nor

by man. The surrender

when he

24

illusions as to the ease

general will can be found.

must begin

task of

"As long

ibid.,

484.

is

a painful

community

THE IDEAL STATE worthy of

name.

this

will

It

men

be accomplished once

under-

stand the miraculous beauty of the law, that "most sublime of

human

institutions,"

ual will

is

liberty.

It

which makes man

restrained. "It

to

is

which

voice

dictates

public reason and teaches

own judgment and

if

him

to

his individ-

and

justice

all

among men.

establishes in right the natural equality celestial

even

men owe

organ of the will of

this salutary

is

free

law alone that

all

which

re-

this

It is

each citizen the precepts of according to the rules of his

to act

not to be in contradiction with himself/'

;

Governments, the instruments of the sovereign power which has,

through law, expressed the general will of the community,

should, therefore, always act under the law and never above

Governors are never exempted from obedience

duty

also their

to

be always aware of the

is

by the

text of the

itself.

in

If the spirit of the law

not enough to guide governments, then recourse must be had

to the

general will; that

which alone can

to

is,

establish

all,

there

be unable place, the It is

that this

the only proper solution

is

he has serious doubts about is

to

its

use in practice. First

the possibility that even the assembled people

do what they are supposed

method

is

then perhaps better

China, where

to do. In the

may

second

impractical in the case of a large country. to try to establish the general wall of the

community by accepting as in

an assembly of the entire citizenry

it.

While Rousseau contends in principle,

of

law

is

the law in case

which have not been foreseen

decisions have to be taken precise detail

to the law. It

spirit of

it.

as a rule the justice of

"it is

the constant

popular demands,

maxim

of the prince to

decide against his officers in every dispute that arises between

them and the people." 25

26

O.C. "Is

Ill,

248.

bread expensive in a province?

rioting in another? to

26

The

governor

be the best procedure (O.C.

is

Ill,

The

fired."

intendant

is

jailed; is there

In the long run this has proved

251). [183]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU If this is

thought

Rousseau (the bly,

and the

be a weakening of two arguments dear

to

role of the citizens acting rationally

and

to

in assem-

role of the magistrates administering wisely the

long-term interests of the sovereign people),

let it

he was perhaps expressing in another way

was the voice

voice of the people

of

be added that

his belief that the

God, and that

should be

it

heard without captious delays.

These views have tion of

ment

also to

be balanced against Rousseau's inten-

widening the scope and increasing the strength of govern-

action. It

is

dangerous for "the sovereign

functions of the magistracy as those of sovereignty."

27

it is

usurp the

to

for the magistrate to

But Rousseau

usurp

convinced that modern

is

governments have been far too timid in defining the range of their activities. "It

is

said that all peoples

run what government makes them:

when

it

so pleases; or merely populace

chooses to to

make them

show contempt

become

warriors,

in the long

and rabble

Governments have had

so."

for their subjects

and not

men when it

citizens,

a

tendency

to realize the strength

inherent in them. If a government wants to rule over it

must make men

ments appeared

to

first.

This was

understand.

It

a task

was then that there arose "the

many sumptuary laws, the many regulations many public rules of conduct." 28

A

society governed

men

which ancient govern-

by the general

of morals

and the

will must, therefore, also

consider the proper place of a government capable of using that

general will for the purpose of building a better society. general will, mysterious in tion, represents for

effort

its

origin, difficult in

its

The

determina-

Rousseau only the beginning of a prolonged

which must be sustained by

a continuous

commitment on

the part of the magistrates to create daily the conditions leading to responsible citizenship.

27

Rousseau

Fragments politiques, O.C.

[184]

Ill,

488.

is

unhappy 28

O.C.

to realize that

Ill,

251-2.

THE IDEAL STATE modern governments, "believing they have done everything

when

they have raised money/' do not even conceive that the

kind of intervention such as the past had already

level or the

might be necessary or

seen,

must be ended,

the citizen

from

its

possible. Just as the degradation of

so

of Virtue

Rousseau has of an active

just

sounded a keynote, on the needed presence

government interested not only

mercantilistic state was, but also in

lem was how

to achieve this end.

support of political virtue in the Political will

Economy

—

that

calls

is,

in monopolies, as the

good citizenship.

The answer of a quality

The

prob-

through the

is,

which Rousseau

the "conformity of the particular

with the general will," and elsewhere compares to beauty:

"Just as

we can

we

say that beauty

say that virtue

is

is

the

sum

the

sum

of the

of the

commonest

most general

Hence, the task of any government ready to

government

retreat of

be halted.

real responsibilities

The Support

must the

to

traits,

wills."

become

29

active

is

bring the citizens to see the necessity of defining their individ-

ual purposes in relation to the

They will

common good

community.

of the

thus be "virtuous" and achieve the general will.

In proceeding to this end, the government has dual responsibilities.

The

first is

that of creating the conditions within

which

The

the desire to achieve the general will flourishes naturally.

second

is

that of guaranteeing all citizens against

ence or pressure that would diminish or contribution

which each

the general will.

To

of

instill

make

them must make

any

interfer-

impossible the

to the

attainment of

the love of country and to assure the

proper education of the people belong to the former; to protect the essential personal rights of freedom cally 29

balanced society belong to the

Economie

politique,

O.C.

Ill,

and

to create

an economi-

latter.

252; Fragments folitiques,

ibid.,

483.

[185]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Virtue ought to become a quality of

the citizens

all

if

possible.

Certainly the effort of the government must be in that direction.

when

Virtue develops as a quality of the mind, nal beauties and values society

become apparent, and

which had adjusted

ing equally

all its

is

where he can

aware of

The

it

now

can

it

what he

an education,

and does not have

to

inculcation of patriotism

man

virtuous

is

when

guaranteed his energies

whom we

favorably

them,

love." Patriotism

readily

to will

what

is

many

is

is

to consider

by our own attachment finding and supporting I

have given of

of necessity because

we

willed by those

Rousseau's patriotism

First of

it

what

so that in our desire to help

may end up by

country realizes

will

the development

is

the general will: "According to the definition virtue, love of

of

in all things

which brings us

their purposes, stimulated

we more

is

and we gladly

what our neighbors want

them achieve

way

have said already,

I

his particular will

of a feeling of national solidarity

ter to

is

all

the most efficacious

is

to the general will,

willed by those

happy

can, once he

to survive.

conformable

for

up

use

teaching the citizens to be good: "For, as

every

for the first time

the person placed in a

and make of

his country, has received

his rights of freedom,

merely

find

be lived through the

to

is

man who

realize his strength. Virtue resides in

position

commu-

need and the task of welcom-

to the

members. Virtue

personal experience of a

certain

as the fruit of a

we

are

love."

an elusive concept which runs coun-

traditional views.

all,

patriotism

is

different

humanity. "The love of humanity

from

a

mere concern

the source of

is

many

as sweetness, equity, moderation, charity, tolerance,

not inspire courage or firmness,

etc.

:

it

but

for

virtues, it

does

does not give them that

energy which they receive from the love of country through

which they can

While [186]

attain heroism."

the thrust of his argument

is

not in favor of national

THE IDEAL STATE egoism, or of an exacerbated nationalism which sets

itself

above

and against the similar feelings of neighboring communities, Rousseau

opposed

is

creating and

valuable in

abandoned

in favor of a

that the feeling of

extending virtuous try

—

them

we must

The and

its

appears

"It

humanity evaporates and grows feeble by

we wish

to

make

peoples

and governed by laws, capable of disposing

most heroic actions in citizens

its

defense and concerned

happy and good.

patriotism Rousseau has in

spiritual,

tions,

vague humanitarian feeling:

be

to

spirit

begin by inducing them to love their coun-

a country free

with making

community

fortifving

the entire globe." If

itself to

to the

sentiments which are too

to the dilution of

kindled by a

way

mind

of life

and from which the principles

is

something intimate

and by

political institu-

as well as the practice of

freedom cannot be removed: "What one loves in one's country,

what one can

rightfully call the Fatherland, has

our appetites or the habits which flow from them,

no reference it is

the place, not simply the things; the object of this love

to

not simply is

closer to

us.

The

real love of

country flows, then, from the possibility the

citizen has of securing

what he needs

for the fullest realization of

himself: "If the citizens will derive from her

value in their existence sary sustenance,

peoples

—

will not

of

be

any

and the estimation of other

fired for

any veritable

that has

laws, simple customs, the neces-

peace, freedom

their zeal will

know

—wise

all

life

such a tender mother.

Thev

other than that which they

obtain from her, no real happiness other than that of using their lives in

her sendee."

30

This object of love must be a country in which education will have formed the education to

30

O.C.

Ill,

citizens.

kill all

It

passions in

is

not the purpose of a public

man. The magistrate should not

254, 535-6. [187]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU make

the mistake of assuming that a

be a good

citizen.

of education

is

The

contrary

man

without passion would

Hence, while the purpose

true.

is

not that of drilling into men's minds what would

make them obedient to the commands of their masters, it must be directed to make them consider their existence as bound up with community:

that of the

"If they

were early accustomed never

consider their individuality except in the state and not to perceive their

might

of that body, they

some measure with

this greater

and

bers of their country

which every

isolated

man

own

to identify

whole,

to love

it

us that

tells

because there

is

if

themselves in

themselves

to feel

has only for himself."

own

that kind of education

no concern

for the

is

times, Rous-

unavailable,

molding of

citizens

because once the force of habit has been added to the inclinations of

"How

man

can love of country

other passions which suffocate

it?

And what

and vanity?"

moment

If

anything

rights of citizenship, at that

needed

is

to

left for

is

and

selfish

many

the duties

between greed, a mis-

be achieved

it

"If at birth

we

moment we must

is

from the

acquire our

also

begin the

31

practice of our duties."

What

is

must begin:

of birth that one

is

it

ourselves:

midst of so

assert itself in the

of citizenship of a heart already divided tress,

away from

too late to get

is

it

mem-

with that exquisite feeling

Addressing himself to the conditions of his seau

to

body of

existence except as a part

come

at last

relations to the

its

to carry

out the task

is

a public authority in

charge of education, following regulations prescribed by the

government and under the control of magistrates elected by the people. This system

is

legitimate government.

education state.

31

O.C.

[188]

is

Such Ill,

to

be asked

tasks

one of the distinguishing marks of a

To to

must go

259-60.

be entrusted with the responsibility of

perform the highest function in the

to those

who have

proved themselves

THE IDEAL STATE worthy in other public this notable

mark

those

offices, to

who

continuous love of country and

its

and

and

laws, through signal services

rendered to the state in the course of a long of armies

have deserved

"will

of public confidence because of ardent

life in

command

the

in the administration of the greatest affairs of

32

>>

state.

under such guidance, "children are brought up

If,

and

in the midst of equality,

them above

to respect

will learn to cherish

nothing contrary

all

common

they are imbued with the laws of

if

and the principles of the general

the state

in

things

.

.

.

will, if

they are taught

we cannot doubt

one another mutually

that they

as brothers, to will

to the will of society, to substitute the actions of

men and citizens for ists." With such an

the sterile and vain babbling of the soph-

education the government achieves the

purpose of "keeping within narrow boundaries that personal

which

interest

so isolates the individuals that the state

power and has nothing

bled by their will."

to

hope from

is

enfee-

their

good

33

This virtue

is

is

one side of the ledger from whose balance public

to flow.

Having

elicited the patriotism of

its

citizens

and

having, through the heavy burden and discipline of public education, successfully

brought them to consider the public good

above their private one, government must

commitments

in

two other and no

where

its

own

policy,

The safety

first

if

its

own

public

fields of

actions are decisive.

the satisfaction of the pledge to guarantee the

community would be

who might have been

a single

trial

now redeem

important

and the freedom of every member of the community. The

political

citizen

is

less

were

dissolved "if in the state a single

helped were allowed

to perish, or

one were wrongfully confined in prison, or to lead to

32

Draft of the manuscript of the Political Economy, O.C.

33

O.C.

Ill,

if

a single

an obvious injustice: for the fundamental Ill,

1

400-1.

261-2. [189]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU conventions having been broken,

what

right or

what

it

is

impossible to imagine

maintain the people in a social

interest could

union." After the solemn warnings about the general will and the

common

subordination of particular interests to the

good, after

the forceful defense of a far-reaching system of public education

from which

a

new man

is

emerge, Rousseau, in striking

to

language, poses the issue of the defense of the rights and of the life

Is

of the

members

community:

of the

the welfare of a single citizen any less the

of the

whole

perish for

state? If

of us,

all

and virtuous

I

we

will

are told that

the good of his country: but

government

of the multitude, then

I

common is

if

and dutifully

we

an innocent

maxim

this

lips of a

as

worthy

sacrificing himself for

are to understand that

to sacrifice

hold

cause than that

good that one should

admire these words on the

patriot voluntarily

missible for the

it

man

it is

for the

per-

good

one of the most execrable

ever invented by tyranny, as the most false ever to be advanced, as the most dangerous ever to be admitted, and as the most directly

opposed to the fundamental laws of

There

is

no room here

government if

to

society.

for reason of state, for the right of the

engage in the oppression of single individuals,

such actions did not matter

to the

body

politic. If

those

as

who

support similar views are pressed to explain what they mean,

they shall be forced in the end to identify the state with a "small

men who are not the people, but and who having bound themselves by

number people

of

the officers of the

oath to perish for

the welfare of the people, would thence infer that the people itself is to

perish for their own."

34

A far different task awaits the magistrates, at

a task

which

once one of the most necessary and one of the most

is

both

difficult:

that of "protecting the poor against the tyranny of the rich" 34

O.C.

[190]

Ill,

256-7.

by

THE IDEAL STATE preventing the establishment of wealthy classes and hence the

development of poverty. Nothing matters more, because laws can be properly applied only to the citizens

middle range

Those who full force of

the law

is

its

are

found

in the

are in such a condition of "mediocrity" can feel the

the law.

have the power

beyond

who

of the social structure.

to

The law

elude

it

and

be flouted by the rich

will will

even break

its

who

while

rules,

not applicable to the poor, whose misery puts them reach.

A

state

made up

of rich

and poor

is

a lawless

state. It is essential,

therefore, to prevent the worst inequalities in

the distribution of wealth. This can be done not so

taking wealth

away from

those

who have

it,

much by

but by depriving

What

everybody of the means of accumulating excessive wealth. is

necessary

not to "build hospitals for the poor but to guaran-

is

tee the citizens

The most

from becoming poor."

35

obvious causes of both opulence and poverty are

the unequal distribution of the population between cities and countryside, the development of luxury crafts

expense of agriculture. As a

and of trade

at the

not only will the country be

result,

divided between rich and poor, but selfish interest will replace public interest, citizens will

cause and

all

show

indifference for the

common

the springs of government will be weakened.

to avoid all this requires the application of the steady

government in the performance of

a

hundred

How

hand

of

daily tasks of

administration and in the skillful satisfaction of legitimate public needs.

The By

Satisfaction of Public

satisfaction of public needs

by the 35

Needs

state of conditions that will

O.C.

Ill,

Rousseau means the creation enable

all

the

members

of the

258.

[191]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU community

to secure

mean

does not

exempt the

to

is

is

necessary for their subsistence.

It

way

as

from having

citizen

society of plenty,

Work

what

the filling of "private granaries" in such a

work. Work, even in a

to

must always be necessary and never

useless.

the redeeming feature of a democratic society even

if

that society has reached, because of favorable developments, a state of

mean

economic abundance. Just

that the

submission, so

few are able it

can never

to

mean

everybody would find easily effort all that

abundance

human

is

needed

to

at

To have

many

hand without work and without

country where what

is

true state of

necessary to

all

that

he needs

for his

36

maintain an ideal state of abundance the government will to

have available adequate means. Such means are

and preferably

fail to

to

describing the public

losopher

who

a matter can hardly

considered the public

as the most honest and the safest of

provide for the needs of the state."

now

domain

37

—something

thought of a

all

the

means

to

Rousseau has hitherto been

as consisting

gives support to the views of a

Montesquieu.

first

be provided through the public domain. "Any-

share the opinion of Bodin,

domain

36

A

be found in such quantity that "each can,

body who has thought enough about such

he

to a condition of

the other alternative "in which

through his work, easily accumulate livelihood/'

abundance must never

to satisfy his needs."

exists in that

life is

as

reduce the

mostly of lands, but

modern

political phi-

he seldom does, except in the case of

He must

have

man who had

Fragments folitiques,

vii,

2,

felt

a strong affinity with

the

such a lively sense of the require-

O.C.

Ill,

524. This

is

the concluding

paragraph of a fragment of uncertain date but which on the basis of internal evidence appears to belong to the period of the replies

Economy. Cf. Derathe's comments, O.C. conjecture is that the fragment was written before the 37 O.C. Ill, 265. Political

[192]

and the

1528 ff. One Political Economy. Ill,

THE IDEAL STATE ments of

social solidarity

there

and who could give such

a subtle de-

domain: "But besides sovereign power

scription of the public

must always be something enjoyed

common,

in

as

the

public domain, a public treasury, the buildings used by the

whole community, the

roads,

walls,

and

churches,

squares,

markets, as well as the usages, laws, customs, courts, penalties,

and rewards which are either shared concern. There

no commonwealth where there

a notion of the public

is

traditionally tools of

is

or of public

no common

domain extending beyond the

more limited one, and including

economic and

social life

mon concern and which common interest is to be public

common

38

interest."

This

is

in

domain

which carry

controls over the a

burden of com-

the state alone can

manage

protected. Rousseau

too places the

at the center of the

body

politic. It

if

the

becomes the

primary source of public revenues, indeed the only source not likely to

of

weaken the

true economic system

Rousseau would be upset by

which

in the

judgment

policies requiring the introduction

of taxation.

But increasing public expenditures lead and

to the

enriching of

danger of mercenaries.

abandonment tions the

They

They

to social

unbalance

will multiply wars

and the

will result in urbanization

and the

idlers.

of the countryside.

To

maintain such vast opera-

revenues of the public domain will not be adequate.

Rousseau

is,

therefore,

under no

illusion as to the possibility of

avoiding taxation except perhaps in an isolated agrarian

Under more normal

conditions of political

life,

state.

taxation can

hardly be ruled out; and Rousseau thus devoted a great deal of

thought

The

to the

of a static 38

question of establishing the principles of taxation.

resulting proposals are conceived in terms of the needs not

Bodin,

1955), Bk.

and simple community, but of Six Books of the I,

a

growing and advanc-

Commonwealth, Tooley

ed.

(Oxford,

ch. 2.

[193]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU ing state whose policies, favoring a higher output and a balanced

economy, are an important item in the pursuit of

its

goals of

political equality.

The

be solved

issue to

first

is

that of the taxation of farming

which

land. Rousseau has seized the essence of the practices

had already succeeded

some of the more progressive

in

He

cultural countries of Europe.

agri-

therefore maintains that land

and

taxation should not be proportioned to the crops' yield

in-

creased as the yield increases, but should be related to certain fixed standards, such as the surface of the land, or,

seau

is

silent

on

farmer will reap the benefits better cultivation

to

which he

and

to

show

yield.

efforts.

Work and remain be pro-

social goals, will

example of Holland, England, and China

to the

and the

that such a system results in the best cultivated

most productive lands, while, on the contrary, the land

doned wherever "the farmer

It is also

better to tax the

way fraud

is

aban-

taxed in proportion to the yield of

particularly important in the

where the public exhibition

enjoyment he derives from ury goods

is

by the consumer

of the tax

is

consumer rather than the producer.

avoided. This

case of sumptuary taxes,

payment

is

is

39

his field."

In this

anxious

to

is

his purchase.

show himself

of the

an essential part of the

The consumer

of lux-

in the role of taxpayer,

since an invisible display of luxury renders luxury useless. real goal of the state

ing of

39

rest

O.C.

[194]

is

The

that of bringing about a gradual converg-

fortunes toward an average. Rousseau has stated earlier

all

his belief that only state

The

entitled because of

a stronger incentive to

on the land, one of Rousseau's highest

He refers

is

methods and greater personal

intelligence will be rewarded

vided.

though Rous-

some long-range average

this point, to

upon

Ill,

273.

a

through a greatly enlarged middle solid

foundation

class

can a

and be guaranteed the

THE IDEAL STATE alleoiance the rich refuse

and the poor are unable

task of reducing the rich to this ideal '"mediocrity"

But luxury taxes may be one way

one.

in

which

to give. is

The

not an easy

this goal

can be

reached. In any case, thev are likelv to produce favorable conse-

quences under either of two alternatives.

wealthv

will drive the

will benefit the state.

to

means

first is

that the tax

engage only in useful expenses and

The second

tinue to behave as before. If the

The

so,

the government will easily secure

requires to satisfy the real needs of the state.

it

Another key principle of taxation the advantages

which each

measurement of the

is

state" the first consideration

4

'

that of taking into account

citizen derives

"'utilities

this

that the wealthy will con-

is

from

society. In this

which each derives from the must be an awareness

social

of the fact

that the state usually "provides strong protection for the im-

mense possessions poor

man

hands." ful

-ities

who

built with his

the advantages of society are enjoved

rich,

this fact into

while barely leaving the

enjoyment of the hut he has

in the

If all

and the

man

of the wealthy

own

bv the power-

then a legitimate svstem of taxation must take

who

account. Hence, "he

pav nothing

of life should

possesses superfluities may,

thing exceeding his necessities."

if

possesses onlv the simple

at all,

while the tax on him

necessary, take

away

every-

4:

Rousseau's reflections on the twin themes of the disparity of

wealth and of the disparity of social advantage, leads him again to the

theme

of rich versus poor

running through

But

a flaming thread

This

his writings of these earlv years.

rhetorical theme, since analysis.

which forms

it

his rhetoric

is

is

not a

belongs to the heart of his political irresistible

and deserves

to

be quoted

at length.

Are not

all

not

lucrative posts in their hands?

*

all

O.C.

the advantages of society for the rich

III. 2

—

.

-O.C.

III.

Are not

and powerful? Are all

privileges

and

2-1.

[195]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU exemptions reserved for them alone? always on their side?

If a

guilty of other knaveries,

man is

not the public authority

Is

eminence robs

of

his creditors, or

is

he not always assured of impunity"? Are

not the assaults, acts of violence, assassinations, and even murders

committed by the

and

hushed up

great, matters that are

which nothing more

of

is

thought? But

robbed or insulted, the whole police force

and woe even

to

to

escort him. If the axle-tree of his chaise breaks, assistance. If there If

he

is

is

every one makes way.

If his

coach

met on the road by

is

and not the

a farthing:

price of his wealth.

If

flies to

had

wagon,

a

and

How

his all

fifty

better be

his

honest

knocked all

the rich man's right,

is

it

he

hand and

be delayed in his coach. Yet

idle jackanapes

him not

is

in arms to

the crowd, he waves his

pedestrians going quietly about their business

this respect costs

up

everybody

servants are ready to beat the driver's brains out,

on the head than an

is

he speaks but a word, and

a noise at his door,

incommoded by

himself

be suspected.

has to pass through any dangerous road, the country

is silent.

man

immediately in motion,

is

who chance

innocent persons

few months,

in a

a great

if

different

is

the case of the

The more humanity owes him, the more society denies him. Every door is shut against him, even when he has a right to its being opened: and if ever he obtains justice, it is with much greater poor man!

difficulty

than others obtain favours.

the highway to be mended, he

If the militia is to

be raised or

always given the preference; he

is

always bears the burden which his richer neighbor has influence

enough

to get

far

is

he from receiving any

get horsewhipped by the

word, it,

all

undone,

fine daughter,

Any reality

42

society in

Ill,

be overturned in the road, so

assistance, that

impudent lackeys is

denied

cannot pay for

it.

a

I

powerful neighbour.

which

271-2.

this

he of

is

look to

lucky

if

he does not

some young duke:

to the

he has the misfortune

can only arrive

O.C.

[196]

if

and

the least accident that happens to

his cart

if

gratuitous assistance

just because they

totally

On

exempted from.

him, everybody avoids him:

poor

when

in a

they need

upon any poor man

as

have an honest heart, a

42

economic cleavage had become a

at a political contract

which

will not

be

THE IDEAL STATE among equal

agree

because

among

I

am

And

classes.

the text of

condition that

in return for the pains

I

and you are poor;

will permit

I

and simple one:

ruthless

a

rich

ourselves:

serving me, on

But

between two

on Inequality,

Discourse

need me

citizens but

surrender will be, as Rousseau had already said in the

this act of

you

to

me

the

you give

have the honor of little

shall take to rule you."

a society tending to

"You

us therefore

let

you have

left

43

an averaging of wealth will be able

to

enforce a different contract, a social contract, and will also be able to consider the social ends

which taxation must have. Taxes

that are collected only because they produce revenues are not

good.

The

true statesman will

heavy burdens into useful believe that such charges

lift

his sights

and "transform

tools so as to predispose the

had

as their goal the

rather than the yielding of tax revenues."

people to

good of the nation

Such would be

a tax

system which would stop the importation of luxury goods, relieve

and charge the

the poor,

rich.

In this

way one

could, through

taxation, "prevent the continuous increase in the inequality of

wealth," the enslaving of the workers, and the multiplication of idlers in the cities.

Finally,

44

Rousseau maintains that

rectly attack the right of property

tion of political society"

all

personal taxes that "di-

and therefore the true founda-

must always be established only with the

express consent of the people or of

its

representatives.

While

a

host of taxes regulating domestic consumption or foreign trade

do not require such approval, taxation relating does.

to property rights

45

Because of an apparent Lockian influence, Rousseau's views

on private property in the

Political

Economy, have often been

contrasted with his earlier views in the Discourse on Inequality. 43

ist"

O.C.

Ill,

273.

(Capital, Vol.

I,

Marx

places these words in the

mouth

of a "capital-

ch. 30). Rousseau, needless to say, does not use that

word. 44

O.C.

Ill,

275-6.

45

O.C.

Ill,

270, 277. [i97l

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU At the

root of the misunderstanding there

confusion about

is

Rousseau's frame of reference. Property in the Discourse

cerned

as

first

the poor. In the Political it

dis-

an element in the evolution of man, secondly

the source of exploitation in a

of the role

is

must play

In the Political

community imposed by the

Economy

property

rich

as

on

discussed in terms

is

in the well-organized state.

Economy

the issue arises in connection with

property taxes and the need of obtaining an expression of consent on the part of the

"One must remember is

property and that

community before they can be imposed:

that the foundation of the social

condition

its first

is

compact

that everyone should be

maintained in the peaceful enjoyment of what belongs him."

to

46

The

impression of Lockian derivation in these words

initial

away. In the margin of the manu-

tends,

on

script,

Rousseau has added, "see Locke,"

reflection, to fade

47

as if to suggest that

these really are Locke's views. His takeover of Locke's doctrine is,

however, a prudent and limited one. There

Economy

the Political

sanctioned by

by

that property

civil society.

civil society

Property

That

nity.

is

to

be guaranteed

from the primitive

only one of the practical consid-

accompany the organization is,

in

among men which,

fairly late in the evolution

state of nature to civil society,

no statement

a natural right to be

merely

as part of a relationship

having developed

erations to

is

is

is

of the political

accepting the Lockian view that

commu-

civil society

must

guarantee property, Rousseau does not accept the prior and essential

He

Lockian concept that property rights are natural

does not repudiate his earlier statements that

unhappy day first

uttered.

for

mankind when the words mine and

And

it

rights.

was an

thine were

the rights of property are limited by the em-

phasis on the "peaceful enjoyment" each will derive from the

46

O.C.

[198]

Ill,

269-70.

47

O.C.

Ill,

1406.

THE IDEAL STATE safeguarding of his right

human

—

a noncompetitive right, built to the

scale.

Furthermore, property rights, as Rousseau makes serve specific purposes if they are to

them

is

needed

must

clear,

be protected. First

among

concern for the institution of the family. Laws will be to

guide the transfer of property from generation to

generation

and "the

responsibility of the

spirit

government

father to son

and from

should leave

it

seau has in

mind when he

foundation of

these

of

which

laws

to apply,

must be

is

it

that

the

from

relation to relation the goods of a family

or be alienated as

little as

possible."

What

Rous-

says that property rights are the

civil society is that

the continuity of the family,

and not the protection of speculators, comes

first.

Clearly he

is

alluding to land, the basis of his ideal community, and to the

perpetuation of family traditions through the ownership of land across the generations.

The second condition he has in mind is that of social stability. The guarantee of property must be accompanied by laws regulating property, because "nothing

is

more

fatal to

morals and to the

Republic than continuous shifts of condition and of fortune

among

which

and the source of

a

thousand disorders, which overturn and confound everything."

48

The

the citizens; shifts

are the proof

avoidance of the social chaos flowing from the unregulated

and too frequent

transfers of property can best

society in which, as

Rousseau has

be obtained in a

said, there is a

convergence

toward modest average fortunes which, almost by definition, do not lend themselves to the practices of a merchant entrepreneurial society.

The

property rights Rousseau

of the small individual property free

48

and equal O.C.

Ill,

citizens.

is

so anxious to shelter are those

owners of

a democratic society of

In that respect property becomes the

263-4. [199]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The

foundation of society. the goods which

are

directly. It

goods which cannot be taken away

the

a concept of property

is

and

citizen

which

family are using

his

rules out the possibility

of the accumulation of wealth justified in theory

On

by Locke.

in practice

the contrary, as

Rousseau has recommended a policy of

minimum

everything above a certain of

life.

Such

a policy

is

and sanctioned

we have

just seen,

drastic confiscation of

required for the necessities

compatible with Rousseau's view on

property but not with Locke's. Finally, another passage calls for elucidation

the right of property

It is certain that

and

rights of the citizens

some

in

liberty itself; either because

foundation of

ments of the

civil

society

more easy

to

finally

the

usurp and more

citizens: for if material

duties

and

to

because property

and the true guarantee

their proprietors [personnes],

own

all

more important than

defend than the person, one must respect more what can

be more easily taken away; or

one's

the most sacred of

more nearly concerns the preservation

it

of life or because material goods being difficult to

is

respects even

is

the true

of the commit-

goods were not answerable for

nothing would be easier than

evade the laws.

to

elude

49

After the traditional beginning (property more important

than liberty and

vital to life),

conclusion, that property of the citizen,

toward the

is

comes the deliberately shocking

given in hostage for the good behavior

and guarantees the fulfillment of the

state. If

citizen's duties

property were not answerable for the actions

of proprietors, then the temptation to flout the laws might be too great. Property, a usurpation in the prepolitical state, acquires a

new role when the citizens agree to form the political community. now guarantees both the freedom of the citizen and the

Property

fulfillment of his duties. It

is

limited in

inextricably linked to the state. It

49

O.C.

[200]

Ill,

262-3.

is

its

extent and

it

not a right that can

is

be

THE IDEAL STATE claimed against the

state. It is

one of the

wisely to enable the citizens to do

one of the important

tools that

what they must

tools the state will use if

must be used do.

It

wants

it

will

be

to satisfy

public needs and to mortify private gains.

This may be a distant

But there

goal.

should not work to achieve

is

no reason why man

In his Letter to Philopolis, as

it.

we

have seen, Rousseau had turned away from a philosophy of quietism which denied

movement and

exert over his social

Man

we

life.

say that whatever

is,

is

must

right,

the influence

man

can

reject counsels of despair. If

then logically everything was

equally right even before the beginnings of governments and of

which would therefore lack

laws,

certainly taken

present. It

many

disastrous turns in the road leading to the

would be wrong

whatever chance

Mankind has

all justification.

may be

to try to stay

left

where we

are

and miss

us of getting closer to an ideal

state.

The conclusion is that we can through political action control the way in which we move as a society and that therefore political action

The

is

a moral duty.

Profession of Civic Faith

The Lisbon earthquake sends Rousseau back to Pope's Essay on Man. In 1742 he had dealt a first time with Pope: the chain of being was unacceptable as

human and

the

ever

is,

is

50

has

established a continuity

the divine, but Epistle

tion of happiness. In right," if

Voltaire forces

it

IV had

between

the right defini-

1755 he lamented the use of Pope's "whatit

led to political quietism.

him once more

to take

Now

in

1756

up the same problem. 50

August 18, 1756, C.G. II, 303-24. R. A. Leigh published "the actual text read by Voltaire of Rousseau's letter,"

Lettre a Voltaire,

now

which

the text of the Leningrad manuscript: "Rousseau's Letter to on Optimism," Studies on Voltaire, XXX (1964), 247-309. Quotations will be from this text. is

Voltaire

[20.]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Voltaire, in his

Pope

when

right,

is, is

Poeme

to task for his

sur

Desastre de Lisbonne, had called

le

How

optimism.

could one say that whatever

immense

faced by such

disasters?

Europe had been shocked by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Where was the hand of Providence? Voltaire had found in the immensity of the disaster cause for lamenting the optimism of

Pope and Leibniz. Hence, the "paradox" one of the Enlightenment's central harsh

critic of

the

life

and thought of

concerning mankind's past evolution,

and

optimists

of Voltaire attacking

while Rousseau, the

tenets,

his times

rallies to

of the believers in the justness

and

a pessimist

the defense of the

and beneficence of

God.

The paradox strikes Rousseau toward I

cannot avoid noting,

and myself on the

sir,

a

the end of his letter:

most singular contrast between yourself

topic of this letter. Filled with glory

.

.

.

free in the midst of abundance; certain of your immortality

tranquilly philosophizing on the nature of the soul, or heart

is

suffering,

you have Tronchin

you see only

ertheless,

evil

on

earth.

and tormented by an incurable retreat

as doctor

While

is

well.

life,

while

I

you are

and

if

and

friend.

your body

Nev-

with happiness in

What

apparent contradictions? You have explained

live

an obscure man, poor

I,

disease, reflect

and find that everything

you

is it

my

the source of these yourself:

you enjoy

hope, and hope embellishes everything.

The paradox was

only apparent, as Rousseau well knew.

The

"optimism" of the Enlightenment was based on a faith in progress

brought about by science and the philosophical

without

much

concern for what the great majority of

do or of what would happen

to

left to its

own

benefits that the rights of

For the moment,

it.

The

"canaille"

devices, to enjoy later the generalized

men would have

brought to mankind.

institutions, sharp social divisions, grossly

equal distribution of wealth, could [202]

and

could

them. Reason was universal but

not everybody was equally endowed with

could be

elite,

men

all

be

left as

un-

they were, pro-

THE IDEAL STATE vided freedom was granted to those

who had something

intelli-

gent to say and priests and kings went about their business

without interfering with the forward march of philosophy and of the arts.

The

orderly state of affairs needed for the progress of

mankind was disturbed by such events

as the

mass slaughter of

Lisbon. This interference by Providence in the philosophers'

planning required the expression of a suitably pessimistic view, regardless of Condorcet's final vision of near immortality.

The

position of Rousseau

was quite

different.

For him

ulti-

mate happiness would not come from an automatic unfolding of progress achieved by conflict,

man

in semianarchical conditions of social

but in the recovery of certain qualities which

gradually

lost.

Rousseau had

men had

In order to believe that this recovery was possible, to

have confidence in the capacity of

through the imperfections of his current

and

life,

man

to see

to look to a

stage beyond it that was to make possible for him once again happy life that he once knew. More than to reason and to

the

the

flowering of the arts and the sciences, Rousseau felt the need to look

inside

man

himself.

More than

in

the

mathematicians and philosophers, the brilliant given to

life a

theorems

elite

of

which had

veneer of balance and perfection which did not

correspond to the reality of things, Rousseau wanted to find reassurance in the moral strength of the felt

that

common man. Rousseau

what he saw was comforting, and because

of this

he

could reproach Voltaire the famous, the rich, the honored symbol of the eighteenth century, for a pessimistic

view which Rousseau

the poor, the harried, the outcast, did not feel. If Rousseau pessimist concerning the past

was a

and the evolution of man down

to

the present, he saw the possibility of optimism for the future.

"Whatever

is, is

right"

was wrong

of the present, but right

if

used

if

to

used

to

defend the anarchy

understand the design of

nature.

What had

been destroyed in Lisbon was in

effect

an

artifact, a

[203]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU construction of man. Natural

man had

edifices of six or seven stories

on

and not nature had

tion

back

How is which

it

is

possible to

the

those anxieties and

of the

wounded

city to

go

few would have been

blame nature and providence

own making? And

are

we

killed.

something

for

also quite certain that

died in the earthquake would not have suffered

greater sorrows

Of

man

instilled in

civilized habits, very

of our

who

strip of land. Civiliza-

houses to salvage their belongings and their moneys.

to their

Without such

those

narrow

a

which caused the inhabitants

desires

never built a big city with

men

and pains had they

lived longer?

crushed under the ruins of

this

unhappy town, many

without doubt have avoided greater misfortunes; and despite the touching description and the aid that even one of those

it

gives to poetry,

unhappy people has

suffered

it

is

not certain

more than

if

in

the ordinary course of things he had waited in the midst of long

agonies for the death which surprised him. that of a dying

and

heirs,

man

murdered

tormented by useless little

by

little

Is

there a sadder

cares, oppressed

bed by doctors and

in his

barbarous priests describe death with relish? As far as I

see everywhere that the evils to

cruel than the ones

we

of moral evil

free, perfected

not nature skillful

we

is

am

to

whom

concerned

which nature submits us

are less

like to add.

Rousseau can therefore go back

"The source

I

end than

by lawyer

to

one of

main themes:

his

cannot be sought anywhere outside

of

and consequently corrupt man." Civilization and responsible for our troubles

and no matter how

are at multiplying our miseries through "beautiful

institutions,"

we have not yet succeeded

making

life

unbearable

to existence.

The view

in

and we do not yet prefer nothingness

advanced by Voltaire with the support of Erasmus that very few people would like to relive their lives in the same

on

a faulty statistical sample.

by Voltaire? "Perhaps the

Who

is

based

were the people consulted

rich, satiated

with false pleasures and

ignoring the true ones, always bored with [204]

way

life

and always

fearful

THE IDEAL STATE of losing

men

perhaps

it;

fore the

men

of letters, of all the classes of

and

most sedentary, the most unhealthy, the most reflective

the

there-

most unhappy.

Pessimism

is

perhaps

the eyes of the rich

justified if

and

we

mankind through

look at

of the literary

set.

But preferably one

should look at the great mass of the people in order to form a

judgment. Consult an honest bourgeois

comfortablv policy

country, for I

has spent an obscure and tranquil

must

we may

starve so that

dare state as a fact that there

who

is

we were

to

do that then we would believe

God. Rousseau does, and concludes

well sharpen

my

immortality of the soul.

raised

defend

it

until

in

feel last

God Rousseau

"the condition of doubt

A

1

my

is

enough

to justify

sity for its

it, I

believe

51

my

faith in the

want all

a

more strongly

a condition too turbulent for

hand

of providence

human

it,

my

is

life, it is

since soul."

not only a neces-

now

shifts,

on the foundations of

and

editions:

".

.

.

will never cause

of the immortality of the soul

Providence" (Leigh, op.

hope

freedom made strong by the twin guaran-

All other manuscripts

moment

it, I

the questions

to that of the existence of

an optimistic view of

—

and

with the famous

proper organization. Rousseau's argument

freedom

doubt for a

it, I

breath." Indeed,

to justify a civic profession of faith, built

religious

forever.

in providence

his letter

believes all the

belief in the beneficent

Valais a

subtleties of metaphysics can

by Voltaire are brought back

God, and

way

pains, they will never shake 01

High

even of paradise, the

accept, in place

and moving statement: "All the

will

but in the

his nearly automatic life

bargain of being forever reborn to vegetate in this

I

live,

not perhaps in the

unhappy with

is

and who would not gladly

in

lives

example, where you are or generally in any free country.

single 'montagnard'

If

who

good artisan

a

even a peasant, not in France where the

off his trade;

that they

is

who

and without ambition;

life without projects

cit.,

me

to

and of a beneficent

294). [205]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU tees of

freedom of conscience and of the right

No

church.

one should dare

to control

no one can penetrate: "Do kings

ment

their subject

Clearly

on earth

of this world have

and

inspection in the other world

duties

have

said,

and

when

a

man

is

a

thousand bizarre son/'

life is

rites

right of

empowered to

go

be limited by

good servant of the

are better than faith

irreproachable moral

them

some

to tor-

to paradise? its

nature to

anything that the sophist Hobbes

in spite of

render account to anybody of the

Works

are they

to force

human government must

all

civil

to a disestablished

man's conscience, where

way

in

state

which he

may

he must not serves

God."

An

ever a choice has to be made.

if

certainly worth in the eyes of

prescribed by

God

"a

men and rejected by reaGod saying, I have

Rousseau would rather appear before

done good but have not thought about You, rather than

to say

the opposite.

Proceeding from these premises and having made them clear as

he can, Rousseau

states the

terms under which a civic

profession of faith should be made. its

The

negative character.

as

Its

first

quality lies in

profession of faith bans religious

intolerance as an attack on the foundations of society. Intoler-

ance

the most hateful of the

is

necessary to uproot

it

dogmas

at its source

to

be proscribed and

it is

because some of the most

sanguinary fanatics "preach only patience and sweetness

when

they are not the strongest." Rousseau's definition of intolerance applies to "any

good man

damns

man who

cannot imagine

without believing

those

who do

all

that

it

is

possible to be a

he believes and

pitylessly

not think like him." Equally intolerant and

equally to be banned are those

who would

force the believers to

be unbelievers.

The

essential character of the profession of civic faith

seau sums I

would

up

therefore like the adoption in each state of a moral code, or

of a kind of profession of civic faith,

[206]

Rous-

as follows:

which included on the

positive

THE IDEAL STATE side the social

maxims which everybody would be bound

and on the negative

bound

to reject,

side the fanatic

to

admit

maxims which one would be

not as impious but as seditious.

Thus

every religion

which could be reconciled with the code would be admitted, every religion

which could not be reconciled would be proscribed, and

everybody would be free

to

have no other religion than the code

itself.

The code

ideal state

live

belief

some

is

now

complete. Within the walls of the civic

religious believers

and others whose only

and conduct would be provided by the code

scendent and worldly

rules of

itself.

Tran-

commands would be heard within

The difference common adherence to the

the

language would

boundaries of the community.

in

be nullified by a

self-imposed disci-

pline of the democratic state. 52

As

if

52

anticipating the charges that

would be pressed against him

his defense of a civic profession of faith,

Rousseau

tells

for

Voltaire in an

know the distinction that must be made between the intentions of an author and the consequences which may be drawn from his doctrine."

early paragraph of his letter: "I

[207]

VII Beyond the State War and

Peace

ROUSSEAU'S State of War Is first

State of

War,

more

or,

accurately,

That the

Born of the Social State, was published for the 1 it was written. It is only one or two

time 140 years after

years

removed from the Discourse on Inequality and the

Economy and In

it

in

its

ideas

is

Political

very close to them.

Rousseau develops further some of

concerning the natural condition of

man and

his

basic

themes

the requirements

of the ideal state, in relation to the problem of war, to refute once

again Hobbes's doctrine on the permanent conflict

among men

in the state of nature.

Such

a doctrine not only

about the nature of

man

"how can we imagine 1

flies

but

The

Saint-Pierre,

State of

faix perpetuelle;

War

is

[208]

it

in his

one of

and hateful

1896 edition of the Social

a series of Ecrits sur V Abbe

de

Ill,

3.

Que

VEtat de guerre nait de

VAbbe de Saint-Pierre; number of fragments.

dic de

what we know

561-682, written for the most part in 1756. They du projet de paix perpetuelle; 2. jugement sur le projet de

O.C.

are: 1. ~Extra.it

in the face of

also historically untenable, for

that this species so monstrous

E. Dreyfus-Brisac published

Contract.

is

5.

I'etat social; 4.

jugement sur

la

Poly'syno-

polysynodie; plus a

BEYOND THE STATE And

could have lasted even two generations?

yet this

where

is

the wish, or rather the frenzy, to establish despotism and passive

obedience have led one of the greatest geniuses

Even and

were true that

if it

produce that

man was war

state of universal

Hobbes dares

to outline

ever lived. "

:

capable of the unlimited

assumed by such views,

reckless greed

who

would not

"it

still

of each against

which

of

all

the hateful picture. " For there

is

a

contradiction between the two related aspects of Hobbes' as-

sumption, the unlimited urge on the part of

own

everything for his

man

to appropriate

use and the urge to destroy his fellow

men. The absurd conclusion follows that "the conqueror who having killed everybody should have the misfortune

upon the

alone

earth,

The

reason for this

What good would he he were

its

deserts

Who

which he

Who

ures?

all

clear,

in spite of the fact

get from the possession of the

Who will

consume the food

will

his

power?

of his

What

that

I see.

in chains, so that at least

gather for

fame

will carry the

will

To

prove that this

what he has already is

fearful

empire into the vast

he do with his

Instead of slaying slaves.

is so,

war

state of

is

man

he avoids enemies and

any desire

to

3

O.C. O.C.

in the

conflict

to

no longer a

is

remind us of

beginning of time.

wherever

conquer for purposes he cannot

Ill,

61

Ill,

6oi (Vaughans translation,

he will

That changes

lives

see.

He

from

possible,

he

Before he

can acquire the soldierly qualities which go with a warlike 2

treas-

done away. 3

Rousseau has only

said about

all,

and cowardly, he runs away from danger, he

to day,

lacks

The

the harvest of

he has stored? In whose eyes

may have

he

whole universe,

him

the whole face of the argument at a single stroke. It

question of destruction.

day

left

Rousseau thinks

will never reach?

he make boast of

bind

is

sole inhabitant?

every climate?

will

be

he would be master of everything."

that

if

would enjoy nothing

to

spirit,

1.

Political Writings,

I,

288). [209]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU he must already be a

moved in time from

Man

citizen

—

that

is,

must already be

far re-

the original state of nature.

own

has a vivid realization of his

and

limitations of strength

smallness and of the

which nature has imposed on him.

life

His years are numbered; his physical needs cannot be extended

beyond

a certain level.

And

yet, consider

many

the efforts of

philosophers to reverse the true order of things: "Everything brings natural

man

to rest; to eat

and

to sleep are the

he knows; and hunger alone forces him

One

made

has

madman

of him, however, a

torment his fellow

men

up

to give

because of passions

only needs

his laziness.

always ready to

unknown

to

him; on

the contrary, those passions exacerbated within society by every-

thing which can inflame them, are treated as exist in it."

they did not

if

4

True, small individual

conflicts

may arise. But they are The killing of a fellow

quickly quelled and they are not wars.

man

to

which someone may be led

preservation

commit

it

is

an

act that horrifies

and that he

cause natural law

is

will

for

the

sake

him when he

is

of

commit without anger. This

not founded in reason only.

We

forget an earlier natural law, "engraved in the hearts of

ineradicable characters and

than

all

it is

is

man

in

speaks more strongly

The

conclusion leaves no

no general war of man against man and man-

kind has not been created only

War

be-

is

cannot

it

there that

the precepts of philosophers. "

doubt: "There

self-

forced to

to destroy itself/'

must therefore be analyzed from

5

a different starting

premise, one which will not ascribe to a weak, relatively isolated

man, bounded by the confining

traits

guided by the dictates of an original

of his physical nature,

set of principles to

which

reason has not yet contributed much, actions of which he totally incapable.

O.C.

Ill,

605.

War 5

must flow from conditions O.C. III,6o2.

in

which

is

per-

BEYOND THE STATE manent and

intricate

in existence.

War is when

be taken only is

and constant relationships among men are

a process resulting

from decisions which can

War

have come into being.

political societies

the result of problems created by political bodies which, unlike

their individual

members, can grow and change: "The

which

is

and

will always feel itself

appropriate to

Its safety, its

than

is

body without any predetermined measure, the

artificial

it

state

all its

indefinite,

it is

weak

as

it

it

exist.

become more powerful

neighbors." States are not deprived of passions, and

reason of state

is

not

made up

civil society consists in

"The

of reason alone:

the activity of

its

essence of

members, and the

without movement would be a dead body."

These

size

can always be increased

long as stronger states

conservation require that

an

state

6

activities are the result of forces released

by the

es-

tablishment of societies and they are linked to the attainment of selfish

economic advantages. These become the goals of whoever

controls political society: "Land,

money, men,

all

the loot that

can be seized, become therefore the principal objects of reciprocal hostilities.

This vulgar cupidity will gradually change our

ideas about things

and war

will degenerate in brigandage, while

enemies and warriors become

From

this follows

by

little

little

tyrants

and

thieves."

Rousseau's definition of war as "the conse-

quence of a mutual disposition constantly and publicly manifested, to destroy the

available means."

enemy

state or at least to

weaken

The paradox Rousseau by

is

facing has

now

taken shape.

to believe

morality,

by the books of the philosophers and the

all

convinced as he was by their

"to

6

nature was miserable.

Ill,

605.

7

O.C.

He

all

has

Ill,

publicists,

skillful pleadings, that life in

He

the

has therefore been persuaded

admire the peace and justice established by

O.C.

by

the authors of books on law and

been led

state of

it

7

civil society, to

607. [211]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU bless the

since he

wisdom

of public institutions

a citizen."

is

Thus

and

to rejoice to

be a

man

properly indoctrinated about his

happiness, Rousseau closes his books, leaves the classroom and goes out into the world to find confirmation of what he has

unhappy peoples groaning under an

learned: "I see

mankind crushed by

a

iron yoke,

handful of oppressors, a famished crowd

overwhelmed by sorrow and hunger whose blood and rich drinks peacefully,

weak by

the

Rousseau affairs

tears the

and everywhere the strong armed against

the redoubtable power of the laws."

astonished by the fact that this grisly state of

is

accepted with indifference and without resistance. But

is

nothing more than "the tranquillity of the companions of

it is

Ulysses trapped in the cave of the cyclops while they were

waiting to be devoured."

And

the immediate landscape,

lift

suggests,

flames,

and

and you

will

still

if

this

is

the spectacle offered by

your eyes and look

be shocked:

abandoned countrysides, pillaged

see murders, ten thousand

men

afar,

Rousseau

"I perceive fires

cities.

killed,

.

.

.

I

and

get nearer

mountains of dead,

the dying trampled under the horses' hooves, everywhere the

image of death and agony."

The

conclusion

have given us a

is

inevitable.

false picture of

The

writers

mankind.

and the

What we

publicists

see today

is

the fruit of the institutions destined in theory to maintain the peace. Addressing himself to Hobbes, he invites the "barbaric

philosopher" to

come and read

This would put in

its

Hobbes" and would enable us and

see that "it

is

his

book on the

field of battle.

proper setting the "horrible system of to turn his

absurd doctrine around

not true that the state of

war be natural

to

man

but that war has been born of peace, or rather of the precautions

which men have taken peace."

8

O.C.

[212]

8

Ill,

609-10.

to

guarantee

themselves a durable

BEYOND THE STATE anything

If

saving

is

men from

and wars,

result of conflicts

complete destruction as a

the continued presence of those

it is

and benevolence,

natural sentiments of compassion

of those nat-

which even today we have not wholly

ural inclinations

ceeded in destroying.

They

and

are there

dices and the vices multiplied by social

our

resist life.

own

suc-

preju-

Hobbes were

If

man endowed with pity would be a monster and naturally what we have great difficulty in becom-

right, a sensitive

"we would be

ing even in the midst of the depravation which surrounds us."

Even

society has failed to kill

though

ble

it is

dence of war organized that

we

error of

man

for

at the

life.

this

be able

Hobbes and

man

when

is

that

and

is

is

good in man, responsi-

for the catastrophic inci-

understood, Rousseau

to consider

of the philosophers has

who can

be done: "The

been

to take natural

own

eyes and to trans-

only exist in another/'

linked to the progress of civilization.

his soul

is

sound and

have nothing have limited

body doesn't

his

convinced

is

to

what has

they have before their

plant into one system a being

War

all

are

end of the long evolution of mankind toward

Unless

will never

for the

what we

desires, those

Man

suffer.

who do

is

happy

"Those who

not rule over

anybody have limited ambitions. But the superfluous awakens cupidity, the

more one

has, the

much, wants everything." Out extremes of

Our

human

passions

and

superficial philosophers

changed and molded by

more one wants. Whoever has

of this progression have civil societies

look at

social life a

come the

and wars.

man

he has been

as

hundred times and they

imagine they are observing man. Rousseau concludes the State of

War

"They

on

a note already struck in the Discourse

are trying to find out

why

on Inequality:

savages brought

among

not share our passions or our pleasures and do not care at all

the things

only through

we

my

us do all

for

They will find the answer They know only what they see and They know very well what is a bour-

so ardently seek. principles.

they have never seen nature.

[213]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU geois of

man."

London

or of Paris but they will never learn

what

a

is

9

Absolutism and a United Europe If

war

something which potentially or in

is

manently among sovereign

by

weakening of

a

some form

reality exists per-

then peace might be secured

states,

and by arriving

their sovereign attributes

of confederation or union

among them. The

at

possibil-

among the European states which Rousseau sees as many common traits. They form among themselves

ity is greatest

possessing

"a kind of system

which unites them through the same

through the same international law, customs,

and

which

a kind of equilibrium

These common

There

is

traits

have become more than an abstract

commingling of commerce, its

inhabitants

community

in the

religion,

and trade

the necessary result of this."

is

a reality of Europe,

lessness of

letters

visible

at

every point:

10

idea.

the

in

in easy communications, in the rest-

which pushes them

of studies

to

unceasing

travel,

and knowledge brought about by

the printing press and in the general spread of

letters,

in the

multitude of states which their needs should in principle make

mutually dependent.

made

It

is

true to say that these factors have

of Europe, quite unlike Asia

and

whose peoples

Africa,

have in

common only a name, "a

real society

with

morals,

its

customs and even

laws which

it is

its

any of the peoples composing immediate

But

it

to

violate

this ideal

European

society

ships,

has remained a sham, for the truth

basis of so

"brilliant refuge of sciences

[214]

its

impossible for

without causing

which should have become the

many important

on the

O.C.

religion,

difficulties."

reality

9

its

Ill,

61 1-2.

10

and

O.C.

of art"

Ill,

565.

is

activities is

defiled

and

relation-

that daily this

by

conflicts

and

BEYOND THE STATE wars.

And one

at a loss to explain

is

our horrible proceedings, so so

much

"our beautiful speeches and

much humanity

in the

maxims but

cruelty in the actions, such sweet religion

and such

bloodv intolerance, a politics so wise in the books and so harsh in the practice, chiefs so beneficent and peoples so miserable, gov-

ernments so moderate and wars so cruel."

The

reason

means here the Political

national societies are

society

whose model he has

society

which

it is

first

founded on

is

born from relationships of national

in themselves are imperfect.

As he had

so

just given us in the

as well

must degenerate of necessity in quarrels and clash.

still

under law (and Rousseau

Economy^), that European society

nothing but chance, as societies

Our

not far to seek.

is

removed from the only possible

The

surface union

conflict at the first

expressed in the preface to Narcisse,

Rousseau underlines again the

illusion of safety

we imagine can

be found in the multiplication of a thousand reciprocal interests

and needs. The peoples of Europe "are related

movement

that the smallest

of

more intimate

almost the cruelty of

civil

that

have preceded

calculus of interests.

While

shock that

have

wars/'

it,

points

a

more calamitous

1X

This means that the European ties

many

so that their frequent disputes

in the others; their divisions are all the their ties are

at so

one of them must create

society, like the national socie-

has been founded merely on the the brute power of a tyrant within a

national society can keep in check opposed individuals

who

are

constantly at each other's throats in the pursuit of their personal gains and keep

them

strength of the state, conflict

apart by the application of the superior

European national

among themselves

since there

states are in is

permanent

no higher system

to

regulate their affairs. Just as the formation of the ideal state

cannot be 11

O.C.

left to

Ill,

chance but must be the result of

a deliberate

567-8. [215]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU decision of true

man

to accept the

commitments

of political

life,

so a

European union can neither be achieved nor maintained by

the course of chance. Deliberate intervention and not the mere "force of things"

Rousseau rope led by

is

is

needed

brought

Henry IV and

detailed effort

had gone

Europe.

to create

an

to recall

What

Sully.

attempt to unite Eu-

earlier

immense, protracted, and

into their plan.

How much

hardheaded

and subtle diplomatic work had preceded the begin-

reflection

came

to

nothing

but the historical record

is

there to

ning of the application of the plan. All

under the

assassin's blows,

show the tortuous and

paths that

difficult

Europe can be reached.

goal of a united

this

lie

It

ahead before the

was naive of Saint-

Pierre to believe that such a goal could be achieved merely

writing one book.

The

reality of politics

Pierre's plan failed not because

because

many

it

was too good: "The

it

is

was not good enough, but

and the abuses from which

evil

by

such that Saint-

people profit come in by themselves; but what

is

so

useful to

the public can only be introduced by force, since private interests are nearly always opposed to

The

question

is

12

it."

not that of the utility of the project on

perpetual peace prepared by Saint-Pierre, which difficulty rather

on the

lies

is

obvious.

basis of the conflict

and of man and private

between the

interests.

The

real interests of society

former are deep-seated,

not readily identifiable, and cannot express themselves.

be

summed up

The

in the failure to act, in politics as in morals,

as a longing for peace.

The

They can

latter are

expressed in terms of national independence and fortune.

loudly

They

go hand in hand with the two chief objectives of kings, which are to extend their domination abroad

absolute within their

12

O.C.

[216]

Ill,

599.

own

nation.

and

Whatever

to

else

make it more they may say is

BEYOND THE STATE mere

smoke screen

pretext, a

of

empty slogans intended

to de-

ceive the public: "such as the public good, the happiness of the subjects, the glory of the nation,

words forever proscribed within

the walls of cabinets but so heavily used in the public proclama-

and

tions that they always herald calamitous orders

people groan in anticipation of what

them

masters start talking to welfare."

is

to

come

as

that the

soon as their

of their paternal care for their

13

Absolute monarchies, then, are a source of wars

among

and of tyranny within nations, and a great obstacle

nations

united

to a

Europe. Viewing the supporters of benevolent despotism with

unconcealed contempt, Rousseau delivers a scathing criticism of

and of absolute power

royal absolutism of absolute

power aim

their fantasies.

duty a

Nothing of what they do

perform;

to

in general.

to reduce their people to

it is

due

is

The

carriers

an instrument of

a recognition of a

to the pleasure of issuing

commands

to

mass deprived of freedom and judgment.

Nowhere

is

the contrast between

and appearance

reality

greater than here. Ignorant and boring and corrupt rulers are

described and treated as invincible conquerors, kings of kings,

monarchs of the world, and sacred emptiness at the top, the greater

is

majesties.

occupant of the throne. In

this

and manipulators,

and men of

financiers

in maintaining a system

How of the

issues.

greater the

make-believe world, courtesans

which feeds

power can be exercised

main

The

the adulation showered on the

letters, are all interested

their vanity

and

their greed.

in a system of absolutism

is

one

Rousseau sees the ruler making a division

among

the affairs of state, reserving to himself the "greater

affairs"

and delegating

routine affairs of state.

13

O.C.

Ill,

to his ministers the "details," that

The

difficulty

with

this distinction

is,

is

the that

592.

[217]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU the "details' are in effect the "essential" sphere of government,

while the "great

affairs of state,"

have nothing

dors,

What

to

do with the welfare of the people

matters for the citizens

Furthermore, to see that the is

in

including the gossip of ambassa-

be governed justly and in peace.

to

is

state

be great, powerful and expanding,

the private business of the prince and the subjects have it.

Hence, the monarch must

detailed matters

first

of all

which make up the substance

taken care of these matters, to all these great affairs

if

he

still

which

has any time

are of

interest

of civil freedom, of

the safety of the people and even often of his own.

it

no

busy himself about the

no

left,

Once he

has

he can devote

interest to anyone, are

always born only from the vices of the government and which consequently are nothing for a happy people and very wise king.

for a

little

14

Wars, or

a foreign policy of prestige

and grandeur,

purpose of such governments, but the attention

are the real

to the details of

administration alone can establish the welfare of the people and the conditions under which the

with

itself.

But

in

community

about a good or a bad administration? lute ruler cannot be "troubled

not

see,

will live at peace

an absolute system of government,

The

who

cares

happiness of an abso-

by the miseries of a people he can-

by complaints he cannot hear and by public disorders of

which he either with

will never trifles

know

anything." Isolated and concerned

or with matters of personal interest, the carrier

of absolute monarchical

power can

also

be relied upon

to be,

usually, an imbecile, thanks to the operation of the laws of suc-

cession to the throne: "If by a miracle a great soul

might be capa-

ble of filling the painful tasks of royalty, the hereditary system

established for succession

and the extravagant education given

to

the heirs of the throne will always supply ioo imbeciles for

every true king, and there will always be regencies, illnesses,

14

O.C.

[218]

Ill,

61

8.

BEYOND THE STATE and passion which often

interludes of delirium

head of the

Hence,

it

state a

mere simulacrum of

will leave at the

a prince."

narchical government

where power

is

to

is

instability,

its

the uncertainty as to

be found, and the constant search for ways in "Generally one sees republics

which

to

change

their systems less frequently than monarchies."

If

mo-

follows that the chief characteristic of absolute

balance

its

exercise:

one takes for granted that absolute monarchy

should be abolished or changed, the key problem

1

is is

bad and

how

to

proceed. According to Rousseau, one of the weaknesses of SaintPierre

was that he

failed to take into

circumstances, as he merrily cated plans.

governments

No is

went on

and unless

factors are taken into account.

The

immensely compli-

on the reform of existing

political speculation

valid until

account specific existing

to build

all

the relevant historical

chances of being able to do

something about royal absolutism in mid-eighteenth-century

Europe were severely limited by

The

a series of negative factors.

general climate of opinion and of social sentiments were

unfavorable.

It

was impossible

to rely

on "love of country, the

public good, the desire for true glory," for

all

these chimeras

faded away long ago and only traces of them were small republics. in a large

More than

that, the intermediate bodies

Worse

still,

the French

"to render Parliament contemptible

than really give

its

17

to destroy the

O.C. O.C.

few

which

less

16

O.C.

619.

Ill,

643, 637. This

is

Ill,

tried

it

feigned to have

than a trap by which one

intermediate powers.

Ill,

monarchy had

before the people rather

members the authority

given them." This was nothing

15

had

kingdom could perform useful functions had been

allowed to decline.

hoped

left in a

17

642.

a clear allusion to the conflicts that in

marked the relationships between the French monarchy and the parliaments, which, awakened too late to the implications of royal absolutism, had been trying to regain some of their powers the mid-seventeen-fifties

of constitutional control over the king.

U19]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU In effect, the intermediate bodies raise in principle the question of their survival in

Saint-Pierre

is

an absolute monarchy. This

confused.

He

wants

give

to

power

where

is

to

the in-

termediate bodies but leaves to the king alone the final decision. If there are

intermediate bodies between the prince and the peo-

ple, can, or

must, they have a jurisdiction independent of both?

If

they have a precarious authority and are dependent on the

prince, can they ever

become an

integral part of the institution of

the state and have any real influence on

its

The

affairs?

alterna-

tives are clear. Either the deliberations of the intermediate bodies

soon become empty debates, or royal authority altered

and

a trend

bound

is

to

be

toward a republican form of government will

get under way. The

logic of absolutism, as the history of the

French monarchy so well proves, cannot

tolerate the survival of

reallv independent and powerful intermediate bodies.

But even assuming that history

and against the hard

be found

it

might be possible

to

institutional encrustations,

to take the leadership in the

when a whole nation how attentive can it be

ism? "At a time

can concern to great

country where music has become an affairs

of state except songs?

is

to

one

itself

only

problems, in a

affair of state,

When

who

reform of royal absolut-

with

idiocies,

go against

what

will be

sees all of Paris in

turmoil for a buffoon or a wit, and the business of the academy or of the opera placed ahead of the interest of the prince

glory of the nation, affairs closer to the

City?"

what can one hope from bringing public

people and transferred from the Court to the

18

The coming from the

life

of the

day when royal absolutism will be removed

of the state

is

remote.

And

until that day, royal

absolutism will work against a European union.

Diet "would limit the government of each state no 18

O.C.

[220]

and the

Ill,

638.

A

European

less

than

its

BEYOND THE STATE boundaries."

As princes would be guaranteed

of their subjects, so

would the

against the revolt

subjects be guaranteed against the

tyranny of the princes. Otherwise, there could be no European Diet: "I therefore ask myself

where

a single sovereign in the

is

world who, thus blocked forever in his most cherished projects,

would

tolerate

without indignation the mere thought of being

forced to be just, not only with foreigners, but even with his

own

subjects."

By

European union would check the advance

limiting war, a

of despotism

enforced

which

discipline

is

strengthened by war and

and tyrannical

financial

its

accompanying

How

exactions.

could one hope that princes could submit their disputes to a higher European court

if

they proclaim might and not right to be

the foundation of their power? to

"A mere gentleman

doesn't deign

bring his complaints before the tribunal of the marshals of

France and you imagine that a king would bring his before a

European Diet?"

The

sad truth

19

is

that princes

view wars

as a source of

advan-

In war princes hope to

tages greater than the disadvantages.

obtain exclusive gains for themselves alone, while disaster and

death will

fall

more

on

likely

brings real advantages to

all

their subjects.

and

its

But perpetual peace

generalized benefits hold no

interest for princes covetously looking to the

immense personal

gains to be derived from a successful war.

Nor

is it

to

be imagined that ministers advising the princes

could have a different point of view.

The ministers need war They need it to harass necessity, they

need

it

to

make themselves

to give jobs

to their

on the markets and establish in secret olies,

19

.

.

O.C.

.

they would lose

Ill,

indispensable.

.

.

.

the people under the pretext of public

all

a

henchmen, speculate

thousand hateful monop-

these advantages as a result of per-

593. [221]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU petual peace, and yet the public never stops asking why,

perpetual

for

project

adopted

it?

The

peace

possible,

is

the

public does not see that there

is

nothing that

impossible in this project except that the ministers should adopt

Rousseau extends the blame well beyond the ruling

Everybody

guilty. Before

is

peace can assert

the

if

have not

ministers

itself, "it

is

it.

class.

would be

sum of particular interests should not carry common interests and that each should see in

necessary that the the day over the the good of himself."

:

revolution. this

a

is

remote and chancy

possibility. If

it is

not

then peace and union might have to wait for violence or

realized,

if

the greatest good he can hope to achieve for

all

This

°

But on

this basis

European league

perhaps cause a greater

is

to

"who among us could dare be desired or

evil all at

to

once than

be feared?

it

suggest

might

It

might not prevent

for centuries.

In the end, the only conclusion seau's

prudence

feared.

Once

—

is

that reform

is

—seemingly

dictated by Rous-

impossible while revolution

is

old customs and the structure of the state are

changed, the consequences will be immeasurable. "Let us evaluate the danger of once setting in motion the enormous masses

Who

which compose the French monarchy.

will

be there

check the shock that will have been given, or forecast effects

which

it

can cause?"

reason

may

society

which unites

is

the

for the establishment of a

What fortune has started, how "the free and voluntary

clear.

achieve. Let us see all

the

21

But on the conditions necessary European union, Rousseau

all

to

European

states,

by acquiring the

strength and solidity of a real political body, might

become

a real

confederation."

These

are the conditions: (i)

be excluded from 20

O.C.

[222]

Ill,

(2)

it;

21

595.

O.C.

there

Ill,

no great European power can

must be

600, 638.

a single source of

BEYOND THE STATE laws; (3) there uble.

must be

a coercive power;

(4)

it

must be

indissol-

In Rousseau's words, European union will be possible

when

"the confederation be so general

power

will refuse to join

it;

when

no considerable

that

there will be a judicial tribunal

capable of establishing the laws and regulation which must

members; when there

oblige all the

and

will be a coactive

cive force to constrain each state to submit itself to the deliberations, either to act or to abstain

when bers

will

it

from

be strong and durable enough

from seceding

at will as

to

action;

prevent

will

be possible

finally,

its

mem-

soon as they will fancy the existence

of a particular interest contrary to the general interest."

Union

coer-

common

when

22

the states will understand that

the terms which bring individuals together in the social contract, in

an act of renunciation and of freedom, apply

among

national entities and will achieve for

objectives 22

O.C.

and peace

Ill,

also to a contract

them the same

as well.

574.

[223]

VIII The Roots Wealth and

THERE

is

Human

I

Have Cut

Happiness

a little-known essay left for our consideration in this

reconstruction of Rousseau's early thought.

It is

an "extraordi-

nary text" in which Rousseau warns us of the "dangers lying in wait for the wealthy man: greed, avarice, temptations of

and above astonishing

warmth

of heart

all sorts

With an

the taste for oppression and violence.

all

and vehemence, he denounces not

only the individual immorality caused by wealth, but also the social injustice

This

is

it

generates."

1

the Discourse on Wealth, a message addressed to an

imaginary correspondent, Chrysophile, conclusion to the

1

years of public discussion

factors to political life.

a fitting

and anxious relations of

3

Bernard Gagnebin, in his general introduction, "Les Ecrits

tiques," to 2

which forms

on wealth and happiness and the

private debate

economic

many

2

O.C.

Discours sur

Ill,

poli-

xxv-vi.

les richesses,

par

J. -J.

Rousseau, publie pour

la

premiere

par Felix Bovet, Paris, 1853, 24 pp. The Discourse on Wealth has any of the editions of Rousseau's works. It has not since been included

fois

m

not yet been published in O.C.

It is,

however, reproduced in Appendix

of Iring Fetscher, Rousseau's Politische Philosophic

II

(Neuwied, i960),

266-75. 3

It

has not been possible, so

the Discourse. Its

[224]

first

far, to

date with precision the writing of

editor, Bovet, attributes

it,

with very persuasive

THE ROOTS The

up by Rousseau

issue taken

acquisition of riches

knows

that this

is

is

Rousseau

justified.

way

rejects the

many

do good.

good, then

is

means

to acquire the

to

do good

argument on the grounds that

which destroy

Anyone attempting

it.

a

proceed

to

beginning under such a handicap that

is

He

times to defend

the end purpose

if

whether the

is

to

is

involved in trying to achieve good by indulging

is

in all the vices

in this

purpose

an argument advanced

whatever a person does in order

contradiction

in his letter

justified if the

the accumulation of wealth:

is

HAVE CUT

I

most

it is

doubtful whether the end can ever be achieved.

You want like, I

you

do good but you begin by doing

to

be rich so that

say, to

desire to have property

unhappy. As

How

evil.

if

is it

the

it is

I

could use well

to

do good with

man who

taken into account. There

not clear in what

to

if

help the

way

a time

is

this

all his

of a

neighbors in

them alms."

poverty and wealth must also be

gap

to

begin with, and

it is

prolonged interval between

initial

may

indeed

poverty and ultimate wealth can be

lem

and

what would one say

begins by plundering

The immense gap between

to

it

and

possible to enrich oneself without contributing to

order to have later the pleasure of giving

be

my wealth,

good were not that of not committing

first

the impoverishment of others, and charitable

would

"I

evil:

filled.

The

plan

do well once wealth has been attained, but a serious prob-

is

what

enough

to

to

do while wealth

is

being accumulated:

envisage the end of one's voyage

if

"It

one does not

is

not

make

inquiries about the route to be followed." Also, death can inter-

vene before the ultimate goal place at a

moment when

produced only

evil.

will stand

while the

still

is

if so, it

may

take

For one cannot reasonably expect that time efforts to

external evidence, to the years

to suggest the years

become

rich are

under way.

1749— 1756. Bouchardy thinks

written "probably after 1754" QO.C.

would seem

reached, and,

the efforts to accumulate wealth have

1

Ill,

that

it

was

1244). Strong internal evidence

753-1 756. [225]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Nor can

be assumed that during that time there will be no poor

it

people to help, no unhappiness to remove. Will

man

on being approached by a desperate

"My

misfortune, to say:

me

to let

you die because

pounds of income in thirty years

large will be

Another lation of

friend,

I

issue

will

I

is

back

be wealthy and you will see

how

to assist you.

.

.

.

beneficence." is

that of the limits to be placed will

it

on the accumu-

be possible

charity will begin.

The

risk of this

and that one

approach

that the desire to

is

continue until the end of

fired, will

will die buried

under gold, the victim

of avarice, without having accomplished any good at

But the worst

difficulty

accumulation of riches,

is

How

is it

that in trying to

man

and becomes unable

tion

beginning.

to say that

no longer necessary and that on the morrow

accumulate wealth, once one's life

be crushed by

to

sense of humanity compels

Come

wealth. At what point

added wealth

about

be necessary,

have not yet accumulated the 100,000

need in order

when

my

I

my

it

all.

do good through the

undergoes a qualitative transforma-

do what he

to

possible,

Rousseau

out to do in the

set

asks, that a

man, having

spent a lifetime in the ruthless task of accumulating a fortune, will at the

end of

generosity?

"My

his life

friend,

if

open the heart and mind you want

to

be a

man

to pity

obtain nature's guarantee that you will get there,

age,

deluded in your expectation, you stop

life

is

the real issue:

"You

lest,

before reaching good-

ness or die not having lived." For, Rousseau friend, this

and

only in your old

tells his

are today poor

imaginary

and honest. But

do you know what you will become when you will be rich? Don't you

know

principles will yourself, will

that in spite of everything your ideas

change with your situation and

when you

no longer think

For the rich

man

will as

that, in spite of

no longer be what you are today, you

you do today."

will not

be able

influence of the environment in [226]

and your

to

remove himself from the

which he

lives,

from the

THE ROOTS

HAVE CUT

I

thoughts of the people he knows, and from the temptations to

which he

is

The environment

subjected.

the road to honor and to truth. But

it is

idle to

imagine that the

same will be true for those who move among Chrysophile is rich it will be necessary for him "to live as a

wealthy

and be

ridiculous.

placed

him he can

.

man and .

.

be

in the station

Once

the rich.

choose either

to

pitiless, or to live as a

But today

open

of poverty leaves

modestly without shame and practice

live

goodness without having to

fight.

Rousseau considers the rich incapable of expressing the

ments of natural

The

rich

could be

men

man in effect is no man at a man but he wants to be

all.

The

rich."

alternative

continuous work, unable to get from

nance which merely serves does not consider

it

say, for

am

by

The

rich

idler

should

downtrodden people

ex-

where they belong, he

will

of a million

they are born to that estate, habit levels everything, and

not happier under

my

a

rich

be in inverse

mean and voluptuous is

The

a bare suste-

to prolong their misery.

hausted by fatigue and need. This

"He

is:

poor, crushed

more than

at all strange that profit

proportion to work and that a

upon the sweat

it

life.

Having undergone

upon the unhappy

will "look without pity

fatten

senti-

or of participating properly in social

process of self-destruction, he can harbor only cruelty.

man

man

poor

where God has

canopy than

a peasant in his hut,

I

no

more, he should add, than the cattle in their barn."

The

rich

man

who

does not limit his contempt to the poor

surround him in the midst of the advanced civilization in which

he moves. His contempt goes beyond Europe climates,

to those "savage

whose inhabitants without work and without needs

in a state of continuous indolence; then the rich

man

live

tenderly

laments the fate of these unhappy people deprived of the only happiness, which life.

try

And he

is

that of preparing for others the comforts of

could not understand

where there

are

no honest

how one might

live in a

coun-

rich charitably sucking the blood [227]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU how

of the people. Indeed,

who

destiny of those

who

is

Yet

utterly useless as far as this

can one

to prefer the bright

fail

are our slaves to the idleness of the savage

parody of man,

we

are concerned?"

nonman,

this

is

has power and has most of the world at his

unhappy and

afraid.

chains, guards,"

He may

and yet he

feet,

is

well multiply "iron doors, locks,

he may well

erect

other instruments of torture, he

everywhere scaffolds and

may even endow

where "only approved doctrines

versities

He

deeply insecure.

unceasingly place on his payroll

new

chairs at uni-

be taught," or

will

writers capable of describ-

ing "the theft committed by the poor as ever more infamous and the theft of the rich ever avail, for

whom

he

supposed

more

respectable." All this will be to

no

the inevitable reaction will be to corrupt those with is

He

in touch.

to serve

will

be poisoned by those

who

are

him, and everything will acquire shapes con-

trary to reality. In the

end he

will be defeated

:

"Your doors

be broken down, your locks will be smashed, your

will

coffers will

be

forced open."

How

and how worthy. They are

different are the poor,

They work. They can do good

future, for they have retained the qualities

goodness and to

solidarity.

Once poor

be poor: "Rather than

rich, stay in the class of

two

it is

which

much

traits

large,

class of

merit

is

embodies those

an order

aspiration

two

in

human

classes

is

its

as

it

is

on

members. Whether small or

we must defend, if ever established. The gulf which

qualities to

cannot be bridged, and the ultimate

must be the elimination

given the conditions of contemporary [228]

lead to

by nature."

an all-embracing one, based

closer to nature

separates the

man

to try to enter basely the class of the

which nature implanted it

in

better to continue

people of merit and leave between these

classes the eternal separation established

The

free.

today and not in an uncertain

of the rich. civilization,

is

The

danger,

that the rich

THE ROOTS

HAVE CUT

I

might overwhelm the poor and succeed in extending

and

their social views to the entire

How sad it was that the rich ers

among

philosophers and

sees the intellectuals

their habits

community.

should have found ready support-

men

of letters.

Once more Rousseau

and the philosophers of

his time as

being

responsible for the acceptance and defense of the institutions

which have led

to the present state of affairs.

He

taunts them,

those "vaunted wise men," for they do not realize on what

contradictory grounds they stand.

They

are nothing but "cow-

ardly adulators of wealth, even more cowardly detractors of poverty,

who most

know how those who pay

prudently

philosophy to the taste of

A number of other scattered of Rousseau's

life.

and

social

to

and the

consequences flowing from economic

I

rich.

of the longest fragments deal with luxury, commerce, 5

arts.

Rousseau

economic system not, 4

to this period

show the same deep concern

maladjustments and the behavior of the

Two

it."

lack the white fury of the Dis-

course on Wealth, they continue for the political

for

their

4

can be related

texts

While they

accommodate

to

as

now

wishes to treat the issues of the

he has done up

to

now, from the point of

All quotations are from the Bovet edition of the Discourse on Wealth,

1-22. 5

Vaughan

(I,

341-9) publishes them

ment. Derathe, on the other hand (O.C.

as if

they were a single frag-

are two, written at

1528—9), feels that there different times, the second being probably another

version of Fragment

vi,

as part of

an answer

to

Ill,

8 QO.C. Ill, 512-4), which was written in 1762 an inquiry of the Economic Society of Berne. It is

true that, as Derathe points out, there are

some

striking similarities of

composition between this fragment and the answer to the Berne questionnaire.

On

parallels

the other hand, Derathe himself

between

this

poverty in the Political

seems legitimate

Qihid.,

1531) points

to

fragment and similar passages on wealth and Economy and the State of War. In substance, it

to treat the

fragments as a unit and as reflecting the

views of Rousseau in the mid-fifties. [229]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU view of morals, but from a new point of view, that of the

who

prosperity of the state. Rousseau,

he has been wrongly

feels

charged with untenable and flimsy paradoxes on the role of the arts

and

sciences,

wants

have cut themselves such questions

prove that

it is

from history in their philosophizing on

off

been viewed with

history luxury has

The

hostility

and

ancients were against luxury and enacted sump-

tuary laws to curtail

it.

true that later degeneration

It is

saw the

triumph of luxury and the consequent destruction of the

But even then writers continued

be against luxury.

to

paradox of Rousseau's century that for the

had come out

who

rather his critics

as luxury.

Throughout suspicion.

to

in favor of luxury,

first

It

state.

was the

time philosophers

defending what the wisdom of

the ages had always condemned. Therefore, "in refuting this soft

and effeminate philosophy, whose comfortable maxims have brought

to its

support so

voice to the cry of

common

many

partisans,

this state of affairs

am

only joining

my

the nations and pleading the cause of

all

sense as well as that of society."

men who,

I

Rousseau

is

The

responsibility for

willing to place at the feet of two

"in trying to acquire celebrity through singular opin-

ions capable of flattering the taste of their century, have thought

today of upsetting ers

all

the economic

and of substituting

them an

for

government, so attractive that seduced by

What

new

system of

difficult

not to be

entirely

was very

6

these economists

and philosophers

in a century in

which individual

pushed and in which "no one Of

it

of old political writ-

it."

come normal

6

maxims

the two

men, one

is

is

are doing has beinterests are to

be

concerned any longer about the

easy to identify as Melon, whose views on

luxury Rousseau had already denounced in his Last Reply of 1752 QO.C. Ill, 95). The second could well be David Hume, as Derathe suggests

(O.C.

Ill,

translator,

[23°]

1529). Hume's discussion of luxury, a bit distorted by his

had been published

in Paris in

1754 (supra,

p. 58).

THE ROOTS

HAVE CUT

I

public good." As the concern for the public good has declined, easy answers have been provided to the question

people happy, such as that the fostering of the

how

arts,

make

to

the increase

the accumulation of money, would produce happiness.

of trade,

But even in the system Rousseau

is

bring about the prosperity of the "essence of

its

prosperity, for

I

attacking, state,

if is

it

trade

is

not in

useful to itself

the

do not believe that anybody has

ever advanced as proof of the happiness of a nation that she

made up

and merchants. "

of workers

7

As

for gold

and

is

silver,

they are not an index of wealth since they have merely symbolic value with reference to the goods which they help to exchange.

This proposition

self-evident in Rousseau's

is

basis of the following hypothesis:

mind on

"Let us suppose that after

long and painful efforts a people has finally realized [that

has ruined

it

is]

all

its

its

uted

among

The

first,

the citizens.

anyone because no one that gold

were

to

world. public

There

prosperity for the private happiness of the citizens." alternatives.

goal,

neighbors and accumulated as

much gold and silver as is to be found in the rest of the And let us see what would be the consequences of this two

the

are

that this gold will be evenly distrib-

Then no advantage

will be able to

show

be destroyed overnight,

accrue to

will

off his wealth. If all

its loss

would not be

felt.

But Rousseau wishes

to

waste no more time in dealing with

"so chimerical a hypothesis as that of the even distribution of

wealth: this equality cannot be admitted even hypothetically

because

it is

not to be found in the nature of things."

second alternative

is

tion of gold. In

an established society any

be augmented.

Money

breeds

initial

money and

O.C.

Ill,

the

inequality will

unsocial behavior.

Conditions come about which "cost the honor and 7

Thus

the only real one, of the unequal distribu-

life

of the

518-9. [231]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU man

To

and make the glory and fortune of the wealthy.

poor,

covered with gold, the poor

steals a

crown

is

who

a rascal

man who will be

in order to

hung

—while

and the monopolies of the merchants and the specula-

tions of publicans are described as useful skills

those

honored

and of the

citizens tranquilly drink the blood of the artisan laborer,

a cruel

buy bread

who

practice

them the favor

and guarantee

to

and the admira-

of the prince

tion of the public.

To

these bloody images already to be found in the Political

Economy and

the State of

War, Rousseau now adds an

attack

against "monopolies" supported by government, while repeating

we found

the judgments about the exploitation of the masses

the Discourse on Wealth. This monstrous inequality

by public authority, and while the

is

in

enforced

rich appropriate to themselves

the substance of the people, the people are reduced to slavery.

Hence,

it

follows that "the wealthier a state

number

greater the ings."

8

The

of the poor

of securing without

everything that

The

in

real conditions of happiness are to

freedom and work, in the opportunity, that all,

is

and the greater

is

needed

chances that

undue

difficulty

be found in

made

is,

money, the their suffer-

available to

and through work

for sustenance.

this will

happen without

deliberate effort,

Rousseau viewed as very scant. Too many people are anxious abandon "mediocrity," that happy medium where well-being

to is

found, in order to reach for wealth, which then becomes an intolerable source of

9

un happiness. Too few

hard and make the choice between a

life

of freedom. Perhaps a great upheaval

is

but must be invited.

On

are ready to

of leisure

and

work a life

not only unavoidable,

revolution, Rousseau's position has

remained ambiguous, even though he had analyzed the

human

condition in truly revolutionary terms. But now, at the end of his

8

O.C.

[232]

Ill,

521-3.

9

O.C.

Ill,

502.

THE ROOTS Discourse on Wealth, a nervous

arm

we

HAVE CUT

I

find a one-line fragment:

this frightful giant."

perhaps not going

civilization are

10

"Shake with

The wrongs

modern

of

be redeemed in any other

to

way. Nothing, Rousseau appears to be saying, but a radical shock will

be enough

to destroy the

power of the

forces responsible for

the plight of man.

Waiting

for the

In 1756 the It

had begun

Tree

to

Die

cycle in Rousseau's thought

first

comes

to

an end.

in the orchard of Les Charmettes. It ends in the

The

temporary peace of the Ermitage.

ceaseless turmoil of the

intervening years has died down, for the moment.

can look back in an introspective

mood and

achievements and the fact that a period in his

The purpose

of this book has been to

decisive importance Rousseau

twenty years,

how

major works

is

had

And Rousseau

try to recall his

life is closing.

show how much

of

said in the course of these

indeed most of what he was to say later in his

to

be found in

this

early period of vigorous

polemics and creative thinking.

By 1756 Rousseau had institutions of the

stated his oppositon to the culture

contemporary world.

He

and

had found them

wanting, incapable of guaranteeing peace and certain to lead

wars and revolutions.

He

had attempted

to

to get to the heart of the

matter by pointing to the contrast between being and appearing, the disease of

modern man.

superiority of natural

man

He

over

had become convinced of the artificial

therefore, painstakingly attempted to

which

social

man.

He

push aside the many

in the course of time civilization

had,

layers

had superimposed upon

natural man.

10

Discourse, 24.

[233]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU Of

that original state of man,,

Rousseau had

a simple vision,

followed by a more complex one of a second state of nature in

which man had achieved, perhaps,

Whether the

a golden age of happiness.

or not these images had any historical reality was not

concern of Rousseau. Their appeal was that they pro-

first

vided a model and a foundation from which a useful analysis of

human

nature, past

the end to

He

and present, could be developed,

what mattered most, the

definition of a citizen.

had from those premises evolved

state in

its

difficulties

harsh to a

realities

certain views about the

and traced the

fundamental injustice

men committed by

to arrive in

origin of the present

the relations

in

the rich against the poor.

He

had

among

also further

outlined at length the requirements of the ideal state needed to build a free society of equals.

He had

nature and purpose of the general citizen

and of the

peace.

He

state,

at this point discussed the

will, the responsibilities of the

the causes of

war and the

had portrayed the moral and

undue wealth and given the would bind the community

social

possibility of

consequences of

outlines of a civic faith

which

together.

All this had been done in a deeply religious mood, with the

conviction that there was a latent greatness in

be brought out once more, in part at

provement of the the capacity of of a

common

institutions

man

to look at

purpose.

He

least,

man which

could

through a parallel im-

by which man was governed and

of

himself within the larger framework

was not an

that the recovery of greatness,

was

optimist, because he

difficult

once

knew

man was

cor-

rupted; but he was confident of the future and reproached Vol-

pessimism and told him

taire for his

good thing

to

could not see

above

all,

be

how

alive. it

He

that,

on balance,

could be avoided.

that he possessed a truer

He was

was

a

firmly convinced,

man and the men

image of

contemporaries, and that the philosophers

lived in a world of make-believe, their vision darkened [234]

it

feared revolution and yet at times

than his of letters

by

selfish

THE ROOTS

I

HAVE CUT

preoccupations and a readiness to accommodate themselves to the dictates of a deadly, even

The end

of this

first

if

benevolent, despotism.

phase of Rousseau's thought

is

accompa-

nied by a few autobiographical pages written in the winter of 1756:

The

polemist of the years following the publication of the Discourse

on Arts and Sciences (1751-1753), the fiery adversary of French turns around to consider the beginning of his career and music .

his

.

.

pugnacious and a

bit

mischievous

someone who knows

his value,

that having henceforth given a past

still

on the Origin

Geneva

His clear-sightedness,

even with a shade of modesty, but with the assurance of

his serenity

from

activity.

close; the

have two principal causes

up

second

is

and the

first is

that having written the Discourse

1754), having recovered in

of Inequality (spring

his citizenship

the

:

polemics, he can detach himself

religion of his infancv,

he has the

feeling of having reached a turning point.

Hence, the condition of

moral and intellectual equilibrium of which

this piece bears witness,

a condition

which would be broken

in the spring of 1756,

when

Jean-Jacques, suffering from an "emptiness of his heart," will launch

upon

a

new

What he go back

adventure.

has done so

to the sole

serve to resolve the to look to

11

man

far,

Rousseau

tells us,

and fundamental principle" which should

problem of

man and

of society.

in order to establish

remove from

He

has tried

himself and to find in his constitution "the true

system of nature." This has been called

though

has been to try "to

man what

I

it

"I did

"my

system," even

nothing more than

was demonstrating he had himself

added." This had been his effort throughout nearly his entire

and he was convinced

that

to

he had reached the

life

truth.

11

Gagnebin and Raymond, O.C. I, 1836. The text of the Fragment is in O.C. I, 11 13-9. Its attribution to the winter of I 755 _I 756 was first made by Th. Dufour and is now confirmed (jhid.,

Biographique 1836).

[235]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU The

position of his adversaries could not be any weaker,

12

for

they had proceeded with inconceivable thoughtlessness. Rousseau does not think he was ever refuted, because truth cannot be refuted.

But not even

a serious attempt at debate

was under-

went never beyond "three

taken. His adversaries' arguments

or

They showed clearly that they were who were driven by their interests to speak better judgment," writers who could "maintain that

four school commonplaces. " writers "in

bad

against their

letters are the

faith

foundation of the

At the beginning

believed.

friend Parisot that in

Rousseau had never

state." This,

he had

of his literary life

Geneva

arts

told his

were not the support of the

Republic.

What

Rousseau has proved

literary debates,

to

himself

is

which he has no intention

the futility of such

of continuing.

He

is

pleased that he has probably upset the bright intellectuals and

who may even have

artists

seau's attacks against arts

financial security.

tury of wealth talents

and

Rous-

and sciences could endanger

their

Rousseau wants

and

to reassure

laziness cannot possibly

in times so corrupt there

They can go about Paris

if

feared for their livelihood, as

is

their business, "these idlers

selves the arbiters of the beautiful they life

do without

no question

and who, because they have nothing

spend their

them. "The centheir

of morality."

who abound

to do,

in

appoint them-

have never

talking about music they do not love

felt

and

and about

paintings they do not understand."

Rousseau feels relaxed

is

going

to dismiss these

people from his mind.

He

He still has the friendship of a man he Diderot. He is sustained by the thought of the

and happy.

greatly admires,

13

There were only two exceptions. A great prince, the king of Poland, a friend, Bordes, who had criticized Rousseau in "two discourses filled with spirit and ideas and very agreeable to read," even though what he did was just to give "a pleasant coloring to vulgar errors." 13 O.C.I, 1837. 12

and

[236]

THE ROOTS

HAVE CUT

I

conversations "of this virtuous philosopher

whose

friendship,

already immortalized in his writings, makes the glory and the

happiness of

my

life,

of this astonishing universal

unique genius, whose worth

whom

ignored by his century, but in

is

the future will have difficulty to recognize only a man."

Perhaps a few, the

best,

possible to continue to

against likely,

and perhaps

among

the philosophers will find

work withirim,

them and about the culture

in spite of all

it

he has said

of their century. This

is

not

however, once they have really understood what he has

done.

For the quiet of Rousseau's mind comes from his certainty that

he has done something no one has yet

under

a radical

misapprehension

if

realized.

His enemies are

they think that he has been

merely playing with literary images and has amused himself by touching upon the foibles of culture and civilization. Rousseau

knows

what he has done

that

is

something more important: he

has struck at the foundations of contemporary tions.

He

is

pleasure of watching

14

roots

O.C.I,

and

institu-

has seen his adversaries rally to the defense of what

Rousseau knows

whose

life

I

1 1

had

dead:

them

"For two or three years

I

had the

ceaselessly water the leaves of the tree

secretly cut."

14

14-9.

[237]

IX 1756

After

Barbarus hie ego

sum

TWENTY-TWO

years were

.

.

.

They were

left.

by the

first filled

produced the Nouvelle Heloise, the Emile,

creative outburst that

and the Social Contract. They were then used

for the painstak-

ing measurement of the real and the possible against Rousseau's ideal standards of

men,

and government, carried out in

society,

the Letters from the Mountain, the Project of a Constitution for Corsica,

and the Considerations on the Government

They were

finally

and

of introspection

and why?)

devoted

to a

of Poland.

never-ended and obsessive effort

justification

(who am

I,

what have

I

done,

in the letters to Malesherbes, the Confessions, the

Dialogues, and the Dreamings of a Solitary Walker. At the end,

Rousseau

and

felt as

much

in the Dialogues

epigraph he had

"Here

I

first

used in the

am, a barbarian, for

Throughout

he was an alien in

as ever that

he went back

this infinitely

I

letter to

am

his world,

for the third time to the

Conzie years

earlier:

not understood."

complex

literary output, the

deeply

rooted themes of Rousseau's thought appear and reappear in their subtlety

tion

and splendor of language,

and striking novelty of forms.

changed in [238]

their social, political,

all

their variety of presenta-

They remain

and economic

essentially un-

aspects

and show

AFTER 1756 an unbroken continuity with what Rousseau had said in the years

up

to 1756.

The

effort to

make himself

Rousseau

clear never lets up.

is

aware of the distinction one must make between the intentions of an author

and the consequences and interpretations which

may be drawn from

his doctrines.

1

He knows

misunderstand what he has written.

he had been judged a

man

2

After the First Discourse

of paradoxes; after the Letter on

French Music, an enemy of the nation; Inequality,

an

enemy

of

that readers will

mankind;

after the Discourse

the

after

Letter

on to

D'Alembert, a defender of Christian morality; and the opposite after the Emile.

Hence

his

And

yet, "I

have always remained the same."

overwhelming urge

to

defend himself,

as a believer in austere republican institutions

and

as a

and

to

show

;

that,

legal liberty,

defender of the laws, he could not be described as a

seditious manipulator

and

a supporter of license.

He

could not

accept the accusation of wanting to destroy the order of society,

because he had refused to declare sacred laws that were

just

and miseries of

responsible for the most disastrous disorders

mankind.

He

4

felt that in spite

of

what men

of letters, "paid

from the

fat

1

Letter to Voltaire, 18 August 1756, C.G.

2

Rousseau had written in the Polysynodie that aristocracy was the

II,

305.

He must have doubted that this would be clear to few years later, having in the meantime written the Social Contract, he added a footnote to the yet unpublished manuscript of the Polysynodie: "I could wager that one thousand persons will find here

worst of sovereignties. his readers, for a

yet another contradiction with the Social Contract. This proves that there are

still

more readers who should learn

should learn to be coherent" (O.C.

to read

than there are authors

who

645). Prophetic words! 3 Lettre a Christophe de Beaumont (1762), in Oeuvres completes de ].-]. Rousseau, ed. L. S. Mercier (Paris, 1792), XIV, 10-1 1. 4

Ill,

Rousseau juge de Jean Jacques, Dialogues,

1

772-1 776, O.C.

I,

887. [239]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU of the people,"

5

said, the solitary

prophet could do a great deal.

In essence, what he had attempted to do from the very

our stupid admiration for the instruments of our un-

to criticize

happiness

6

and

on the contrary that nature had made

to suggest

man happy and show

"human

that

one can never return once one has

left

time, he

to the times of

down

would not be

great states to their

and revolution, but

.

that

only,

if

"Thus

of the process of corruption:

that of bringing large populations

and

simplicity, but only to stop, if

was

first

possible, the progress of those [peoples

and

.

.

innocence and equality

them," and that his key objective was not the

possible, the slowing

ness

had been anxious

nature does not go backward,

acceleration of the process of crisis

his goal

him and

good, but that society was depraving

making him miserable. At the same to

was

first

and

whose

states]

them from

situation has preserved

it

small-

advance

a rapid

toward both the perfection of society and the deterioration of the species."

7

Rousseau has been able

to gain his insights,

cause he has found in himself the of

what he was and because

of his

now

life,

his emotions

he

traits of original

of the life he lived.

tells us,

be-

man, because

To

the analysis

and dreams, Rousseau devotes,

as

we

well understand, some of the more important pages of his

work.

He

had always been preoccupied with himself. But

"the

new

and

a desk,

it

was

made real through his gradual retreat from the world, that provided him with a better chance to be himself and 8 find in this way the true meaning of human existence. It was when he left his books unpacked, and refused even to have a pen stuff, I

life,"

and "instead of these sad papers and

would

fill

my room

5

Fourth Letter

6

Dialogues, O.C.

8

Les Reveries du promeneur

9

Ibid.,

[240]

1042.

to

of

all this

with flowers and grass,"

Malesherbes, 28 January 1762, O.C. I,

934.

7

Ibid.,

solitaire,

I,

9

printed that

1143.

935.

1776-1778, O.C.

I,

1014— 5.

he

AFTER 1756 would

about the

really think

would then be

human

A

condition.

motion which would assemble and place

set in

before his imagination visions of peace in the

and good people.

10

Then perhaps

the

midst of simple

reconstruction

of

world could begin, and the distance which separated

ideal

from the

real

a state of

could in this

way

my

it

dreams

objects.

11

made up

of intense enjoyment, but

where time stood

still:

"If there

soul finds a basis sufficiently solid to

and gather there

all its

being, without

to recall the past or envisage the future;

where time be

rest there in its entirety

having

still

moments

consisting rather of a steady state

which

lost in

find happines, a happiness not

of a succession of fugitive

a condition in

could be

an

pure contemplation, or the result of the

observation of small things, or of

He

He

world be measured.

which could be

is

chain of ideas

nothing, and where the present

marking

its

forever without

lasts

duration and without leaving any trace of

its

however passage,

without any other sentiment of deprivation or enjoyment, of pleasure or pain, of desire or fear, than alone that of our existence,

and that

—

entirety it

can

call

as

this

sentiment alone could

long as this condition

lasts,

fill

whoever

the soul in

its

finds himself in

himself happy, not of an imperfect, poor and relative

happiness, such as one finds in the pleasures of sufficient, perfect

and

full

life,

but of a

happiness which does not leave any

emptiness in the soul which has to be

filled."

12

way Rousseau described himself and the way in which he had come to grips with the problem of man and society. But if contemplation and withdrawal had given him the sense of human existence, he knew that the solitary and contemplative In this

life

was not acceptable

Rousseau

10 12

Ibid.,

tells us,

lead an active

u

1073.

Reveries,

O.C.

for the majority of

I,

men, who must,

life to satisfy their

Dialogues, O.C.

I,

ever-renewed

816-7.

1046. [241]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU 13

needs.

Rousseau could find happiness

If

sitting

by a murmur-

ing stream, the kind of happiness that can be created within a social

group was

angered him.

What

still

his

concern and injustice in public

Rousseau keeps forever reminding us

in solitude

men

am, alone on earth."

I

alienation of

man

15

above everybody

He

has become the symbol of the

is

advantage

and of

here both a sequel and a parallel

still

thought was flourishing.

Dreamings

of the Solitary

"everything must in the end find turn will come."

The Road

We

"All

is

16

At the end

of

Walker, he can say that

proper order, and sooner or

its

17

Have Traveled and

The opening all

a considerable

statement that he had by his work cut the roots of

his life, in the

:

him

else in looking at the evils of institutions

the tree everybody

world

"Thus,

This sense of loneliness and of rejection by society does

to his earlier

my

analyze the

cursed by society. In the end he must consider

not lead to pessimism. There

later

in effect, this: to

living together in society.

this as a privileged position giving

progress.

is,

he has found the clues he needed

problems of multitudes of here

life still

14

the Choices hefore

sentence of Emile

is

Us

the key to Rousseau's

well on leaving the hands of the creator of things,

degenerates in the hands of man." Nature gives us not only

beauty,

18

but goodness. Nature, in

its

magnificence, untouched

by man, does not herald "slavery and domination." 13

Ibid.,

1047. Raymond's

comment

is

Reveries, O.C.

15

The opening words

16

See supra,

p.

I,

of the Reveries, 17

18

Cf. the Nouvelle Helo'ise, passim.

Third

[242I

I,

1801).

O.C. I, 995. O.C. I, 1010.

Reveries,

19

letter to

QO.C.

1066, 1057.

237.

Nature

that Rousseau the citizen always

establishes the "priority of action over feeling" 14

19

Malesherbes, 26 January 1762, O.C.

I,

1

139.

AFTER 1756 offers us

laws which,

if

such

the

domination:

is

speaks to the heart of

and

followed, could prevent slavery

"sacred

man and

law which

imprescriptible

from the

his reason" starting

among men and which only

principle of political equality

a

"feudal barbarism" could abolish by cutting off from the body politic "its

most numerous and sometimes most healthy part."

We already know that Rousseau sees man

as the

ment

end of

20

the present condition of

which began with the abandon-

a long process

of his original condition as nature had created

it.

Now

Rousseau peers once more into the past and he sees three stages in the evolution of

"He

nature:

man. The

first is

or conforming to that of anyone.

mere physical

love; limited to

ond of

state

is

man

that of

well-being as opposed

Nothing

attracts his hate or his

instinct,

he

nothing."

is

one which perhaps witnessed the only

man. Some

in the state of

own

does not conceive of his

ideas of relationships, of justice

real

The

sec-

happiness

and of moral duty

begin to appear. Personal interests cross each other: "But as long as the clash of interests

gence, at

men

hand

is

less

than the aid offered by

are essentially good."

But the third and

as progress multiplies social relationships

world necessary each other." Since this

to

when

opinion,

each man, makes them

and sharpens

all

born enemies of

21

is

the stage reached today by

human

development,

then, in Rousseau's eyes, social relations, progress of ideas,

culture are to be held accountable for having is

— 20

that

is,

is

"when a turbulent making the whole

the opposition of strong particular interests, love of self becomes vanity,

intelli-

final stage

bad.

Bad men

Considerations sur

le

are not

and

made man what he

found in the

desert,

but in the

gouvernement de Pologne, 1770— 177 1, O.C.

973. Cf. Fabre's comment (ihid. } 1760) on Rousseau's natural law and his approach to the problem of the poor: no ostentatious philan-

Ill,

thropy, but political power. 21

Letter to Beaumont, Oeuvres completes, ed. Mercier,

XIV, 28-9. [243]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU

How

world.

wrong had Diderot been

being a bad

man

of badness

comes

born. of

it

and

to life

And beyond

is

Rousseau of

in accusing

because he was a solitary man.

22

The beginning where

exalted in society,

evil

bear specific responsibility for the corruption of men.

How

has Rousseau convinced himself that this

man

claims to have observed

what he

calls a "secret opposition"

man and

that of our society.

dition

ment from alone.

and an

which

his fellow

There was the

the Dialogues.

affairs.

He

beings have given

Vincennes

vision of

What

irreconcilable con-

and detach-

to

him and him

which he returns

in

he saw was "another universe, a true

golden age, societies of simple, wise and happy men" verse in

human

also claims a

his progressive alienation

human

He

so?

is

have perceived

to

calamities in proportion to

and the complexity of human

certain vision of life

23

between the constitution of

A tension

which increased public

progress

and

all his life

is

have grown out

society, the institutions that

which he could

"in

fulfill

hope

all

his visions,

—

a uni-

through

the destruction of the prejudices by which he had been con-

quered himself, but from which he believed in that moment the vices and miseries of

mankind

to derive."

all

24

In writing to Malesherbes he gives animation and substance to the dream.

He

after his heart,

fills

this

human

imaginary world with

by moving "under the

beings

shelters of nature

men

worthy of inhabiting them." Rousseau then crowds this golden century of his fantasy with

all

the happy events of his

life,

and with sadness looks upon

"the true pleasures of humanity,

pleasures so delicious, so pure,

and by now

These were but

I,

22

Dialogues, O.C.

23

Ibid.,

''

so far

from man."

fleeting visions in the midst of a hateful world,

I,

788-9.

790, and second letter

to

Malesherbes, 12 January 1762, O.C.

1136. 24

Dialogues, O.C.

25

Third

[244]

letter to

I,

828-9.

Malesherbes, 26 January 1762, O.C.

I,

1

140.

AFTER 1756 where everything was

in effect the opposite of

what Rousseau

had imagined. But they served one fundamental purpose in Rousseau's political philosophy:

strengthen his conviction

to

by which

of the necessity of a standard

to

measure accurately

man's present condition, of a goal which could provide norms for the

changes that had

be introduced in that condition.

to

This, then, was the justification of the search for the ideal state of nature: not to find in

and

a justification of institutions

it

relationships as they existed in the historical present, but the inspiration necessary to

change them. The vision was only a

may never have

vision; the state of nature

man was

perhaps a fanciful one.

does not

exist,

So be

will say.

existed.

This ideal

man

did not matter: 'This

but he can exist as an

it,

26

hypothesis."

Without

you

It

Rousseau clearly believed, no one

this hypothesis,

could cope with either the general or the specific evils of our society.

That those

evils

were

all

around us

it

was

difficult to

deny. But Rousseau further believed that they could, in part at least,

be done away with by operating within the framework of

existing society.

What was

essential

had become what he was and to find

to

understand

how man

go back in history in an attempt

ferent course.

There was nothing

inevitability of certain

given premises.

As the

And

there

vision blurs, the

things.

That

family,

and

reality all

is

it

is

There

consequences flowing from

inevitability of change.

mind has

social relations.

This dissembling

when he

inevitable about history.

was the

such that

disease: the inability to

2(3

to

out what he might have been, had history taken a dif-

was only the

is.

was

to focus

on the

reality of

has affected the individual, the

Man

suffers

from a universal

be himself and appear for what he really

caused by our social order. Everybody

maintains that he

is

lies

ready to sacrifice his interests to the

Letter to Beaumont, Oeuvres completes, ed. Merrier,

XIV, 61.

U45]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU "No one wants

public good:

27

agreement with his own."

themselves satisfied with a

'

it is

not in

mediocre'' or average condition, but

and

the only real passion will be for luxury

The

when

the public good

All will preach modesty and declare

gold.

28

family has equally been affected by progress. Since nat-

been silenced by extreme inequality, the

ural sentiments have

iniquitous despotism of fathers ness of children

and

public morality

is

responsible for the unhappi-

is

for the habit of forced marriages. Again,

to

be improved, one has

assumptions under which parents operate.

go back

to

if

to the

29

All social relations are poisoned by the fact that 'Tor a long

now

time

without for

the society of

reality,

one person

relationship 31

it."

is

man

has offered only a false appearance

without truth." is

bound

to

30

society in

It is a

which

cause a loss for somebody

in the essence of things,

Thus Rousseau once more

a gain

"This

else.

and nothing can change the doctrine of the

rejects

automaticity of social adjustments and relationships. Rather than creating happiness for

all,

they create more and more unhappi-

ness as their complexity increases. For this

egoism inherent in the constitution of

change

it

until that constitution

Rousseau to

—

persuaded that

is

the result of the

and nothing can

changed.

we can change

it

if

we want

that while progress has inevitably brought about our sad

state,

change

are changed.

up

is

is

societies,

to

them

purpose

is

to

is

possible

Men

if

the accepted premises of that progress

have the freedom of making a choice and

to decide

whether they wish

show men how

to choose,

the fictitious and fantastic tions

and prejudices. 28

27

Ibid., 29.

Nouvelle Heloise, O.C.

31

Emile,

[246]

is

man

to dis-

of nature

Considerations, O.C.

ed.,

Bk.

II,

24.

II,

99.

from

the fruit of our institu-

32

29

Gamier

man" who

to choose. Rousseau's

"by teaching them

tinguish reality from appearance, and the

it is

Ill,

960.

30

Dialogues, O.C.

I,

729.

32

Dialogues, O.C.

I,

728.

AFTER 1756 For,

beyond the broad generalizations, Rousseau had singled

And

out specific causes for the decline of society. reciprocal influences of three of

particular that

he

them and

it

to the

is

each of them in

to

They

attributes special responsibility.

are the

population upheavals which have led to the abandonment of the countryside in favor of

way

the

cities,

affected the behavior of opinion-forming

and

finally the

To

economic system

which culture has

in

elites in

urban centers,

itself.

the tragedies of urbanization and the beauties of

many famous

the land, Rousseau devotes Heloise,

which remains

on

life

pages in the Nonvelle

his classic treatment of that problem.

The movement away from

33

the land he sees as a complex process

deriving from the pressures of public opinion, of a literature

which has been holding up political

system favoring

numbers congregate territory a desert.

conformism

in

and

few

a

Thus Europe

Worse even than

contempt country

to

cities

life

and

leaving the rest of the

cities,

rushes toward

its

ruin.

34

the resulting population imbalance

in thought created

of a

Thus huge

centralization.

by urban

life,

where

a

is

the

few men

think while the majority ape them, where coteries fight one another, each protecting

one

is

own privileges and common good. 35

interests,

its

concerned with the

and no

This analysis flows from Rousseau's extraordinary bias in favor

The

of a life close to nature. cultivate land to those

and

live

on

natural condition of

its fruits.

Every

effort

arrangements that will keep the

man

is

must be devoted

maximum number

people happily and properly exploiting the

to

soil.

Land

is

of

an

economic resource that provides a never-exhausted source of 33

Cf. especially, on mountains,

particular problems of Paris, sufficient

community

II,

I,

on urban life, culture, and the on the structure of a selfon authority and equality in a

xxiii;

xiv-xxvii;

at Clarens, IV, x;

peasant democracy after Rousseau's heart, V, 34

Noavelle Heloise, O.C.

II,

20.

35

vii.

Ibid.,

234. [247]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU human

sustenance, of security and of peace, of continuity and

enjoyment

This happy picture cal

man.

in the life of

36

clouded by the corruption of the

is

politi-

system in an advanced civilization, where the rich exploit the

"One nearly regrets to be a man, thinking of those 3T whose blood we drink. It is a system that leads the rich to peasants:

abandon the country because in luxury in the cities,

poor

and

of the greater

the same time drives the harassed

at

send their children to the

to

escape the curse of their father.

is

be relieved of the

may

that the children

3S

absurd a system which makes

form of

to

cities

The hope

expense of maintaining them.

How

chance of indulging

impossible for the best

it

But where things go

social activity to survive.

sight of a well-cultivated land with free workers

exciting that "one forgets one's century

well, the

on

it

is

so

and one's contemporar-

39

ies."

The corrupting

forces of the times

the culture they provided. For

tempt; he

knew

that

The

He

of the

was paid back with

summed up

lost

The

in the

that

come from an appreciation

men

of letters

fulfill

who

go far

to seek in their

around them. There

is

books duties they

a philosopher

who

loves

Ibid., 551. Ibid.,

603. See also at 515-6 for the consequences of a free or

tyrannical government on agriculture. 38

of

touch with the real people around them: "Stay clear of

those cosmopolites

36

40

to accept the rule of reason to the exclusion

wisdom and happiness

refuse to

37

be sur-

quarrel had, of course, been a long and tiresome one.

by Rousseau

and

a total rejection of his ideas.

the emotions of the heart. In their cold rationalism

had

of letters

really could not

accusations were sweeping and could be refusal

men

what he was doing was "trampling under

foot the opinions of his century."

prised that he

were the

them Rousseau had only con-

Ibid.,

[248]

534-5.

39

Ibid.,

603.

40

Reveries, O.C.

I,

1020.

AFTER 1756 the Tartars so that he does not have to love his neighbors."

What toms

the culture of our time has forgotten

differ

and the imposition

source of corruption, for

is

life is a

impossible that habits be the same

it is

under different conditions.

for people living

that national cus-

uniform standards of

of

41

42

The literary men themselves are corrupt and venal to the They are responsible for doctrines which, "while flattering

bone.

the happy and the wealthy, crush the unfortunate and the poor,

removing from the former the latter

all

seau, apart

powerful,

The

hope and consolation. "

from

44

is

literary

checks, fear and restraints, from

all

men, Rousseau

says,

The

"human

reason

since each century adds

its

preceding centuries." Rousseau believes, how-

"human understanding

gains at the other,

replace."

pretend that

itself,

has always the same measure, a

very narrow one at that, and that

it

loses at

one end

all

that

it

and that prejudices forever reborn take away

acquired

us

charge of Rous-

his dislike of a literary class at the service of the

lights to those of

from

The main

expressed in a letter to Mirabeau written in 1767.

goes on forever perfecting

ever, that

43

lights

which

cultivated

reason

cannot

45

ultimate contradiction

lies

in the fact that these philoso-

phers, seeming to believe in the perfectibility of tireless in

showing contempt

for

human

man, were

nature, which, accord-

ing to them, was bad in the beginning and had become better

only under their tutelage.

The

philosophy of the Paris salons

thus a humiliating and sad one, which downgrades the 41

is

common

Emile, 9.

42

Letter to the Marechal de Luxembourg, 20 January 1763, C.G. IX, Here Rousseau uses corruption to mean a change brought about by an alien culture. By definition such a change must be bad. 43 Dialogues, O.C. I, 842. 44 "I sell the work of my hands, but the productions of my soul are not

7.

for sale at all" (ibid., 840). 45

Letter to Mirabeau, 26 July 1767, C.G. XVII, 156.

[249]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU man, who apparently needs nothing more than

to

wisdom, and in

a benevolent

political matters

must be guided by

absorb

its

despot.

These philosophers furthermore have become nipulating public opinion in such a

They apply

interests.

way

a "consequential

as

to

benefit their

and methodic

the task. Ever since the philosophical set organized

body

its

spirit" to itself in

46

state/'

In conclusion, as Rousseau points out in one of his

last writ-

why he

has been

ings, the third

walk of the Reveries, the reason

forced to reject the philosophy and the culture of his time its

a

leaders have been the arbiters of "the destiny of individ-

and hence of that of the

uals,

ma-

skillful in

representatives are providers of a certain morality

that

is

which Rous-

seau cannot accept: "This rootless and fruitless morality which they pompously display in books or in showy theater pieces

without ever reaching either the heart or reason; or else other morality, secret and cruel, the internal doctrine of

members,

which the other

to

serves only as a

alone they follow in their conduct." utility

and

of private pleasure

had

would lead

the

first

fall

of the society of

felt

guide.

The

but

unable

is

first

at

and

47

These

gain,

their

mask and which

are the moralities of

which Rousseau from

an accelerated pace

men who had

all

this

to the

accepted them as

its

down-

main

parades under the appearance of social concern,

to provide for the

46

Dialogues, O.C.

47

Reveries, O.C.

I,

common good

through the

965.

comment on this passage is: "Rousseau distinguishes here the morality which the philosophers of his time admit, which is roughly that of social utility if he judges it to be I,

1022. Jean Fabre's

—

'rootless' it is

to

be

because

'fruitless' it is

partner,

it

is

it

because addressing

profitable in all

[250]

QO.C.

itself

if

he judges

I,

it

only to the interest of the

—

and the which they do not admit, according to which it is things to seek one's pleasure and to follow one's inclina-

incapable of creating a real moral sentiment

'internal doctrine'

tions"

can only be the result of reflexion,

1786).

AFTER I756 reconciliation of individual goods; the second authorizes in effect

the most extreme license in the pursuit and attainment of private profit, regardless of

consequences.

This was a culture not only linked but also enslaved

economic system in which it

was therefore supporting

as the necessary

community. Rousseau was convinced that

foundation of the

all this

was wrong and end of the

that a catastrophe such as that described at the

Discourse on Inequality was

"more favorable ity

had nothing

to to

an

to

found large advantages and which

it

inevitable

wealth than

if

men

to prosperity."

continued

48

be

to

Clearly prosper-

do with the accumulation of wealth. Through

culture Rousseau comes back to the economic system.

In the second part of the Nouvelle Heloise, Julie little

we know

tells

us

how

about the economic system and speaks of the

hidden forces that make

go. It

it

is

baffling to all in Paris that,

together with such great wealth, there exists a poverty deeper

than in the countryside where there are no millionaires. She considers this question well worthy of research by Saint-Preux. will probably

be better

to unravel the history of

economic

It

life "in

the garrets of the poor." There, rather than in the mansions of the Faubourg St. iniquities the

Germain "one

bread fiom the oppressed,

But

if

evil

are good.

whom

what

its

consequences are

wealth creates, even

Going back

to

last

when

clear.

The

still

first

the intentions of the

what he had

to

black 49

hidden is

the

owner

said in the Discourse

Wealth, Rousseau reminds us that not only can the rich

buy

secret

they feign to pity in public."

the workings of the economic system are

from public view, moral

finds out through

powerful and the rich take away the

man

on not

pleasure through money, but that whatever good he will try

do could better be done

if

his

wealth had earlier been divided

rather than allowed to accumulate in his hands 48

Considerations, O.C.

49

Nouvelle Heloise, O.C.

Ill,

and that "the

1004.

II,

303.

U51]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU good which he believes matches the »

•.

acquire

to

be able

to

rarely

50

evil,

will create.

The

there

the present continuing evil of

is

which an unbalanced

repressed civil war,

who had

with Helvetius,

and peace.

unjust actions.

52

interest,

hence no

there are "people Is it

buy, the other to

sell itself,

that one

Through them always its

can a proper

in opulence

political

and people

must seek love of

justice

the state disintegrates:

to

and

the rich

pocket, the poor prefers bread to liberty/'

Indeed, political power can be distinguished in reference to the uses of wealth: "Civil power

two ways: one legitimate through wealth."

the state

between these two extremes, one made

the most abject.

holds the law in

How

swimming

just or

of deepening

classes, so that the idea of

and of the community degenerates. if

Rousseau disagrees

The present economic system is one

antagonisms between two

order exist

51

suggested that without personal inter-

would have been no general

est there

distribution of wealth

and create tensions which

rich attract enemies

are the opposite of social order

And

it

guilty in order to

it.

Apart from past

laws?

accomplish through

which one must be

real evil of

authority,

is

its

exercise

53

by

carried out in

one abusive through

54

formal equality

is

nothing in

states

where wealth can

exert such abusive authority. For equality becomes a

mere sem-

blance and illusion: "It serves only to keep the poor in his poverty and the rich in his usurpation. In reality laws are always useful to those

nothing.

Hence

who own and damaging it

50

Dialogues, O.C.

52

P.

raire 53

54

to

follows that the social state

I,

671.

M. Masson, "Rousseau

51

Ibid.,

those is

who have

convenient to

921.

contre Helvetius,"

Revue

d'histoire litte-

France (1911), 112. Lettres ecrites de la montagne (1764), O.C. Ill, 890. Projet de constitution four la Corse (1765), O.C. Ill, 939.

[252]

de

la

AFTER 1756 men

only to the extent that they

has too much/'

the economic problem becomes a major political prob-

Thus lem.

have something and no one

all

55

impossible to separate political power from economic

It is

power, and those having excessive economic power will always try to acquire excessive political

There

is

power.

also the issue of the

deprived of liberty and decency:

abuse of

men

"Man

a being too noble to be

is

used

at all

em-

convenient to others without consulting

him

simply used as an instrument of others, and one cannot ploy

him

also for jobs,

for

what

what

is

convenient to himself; for

is

but jobs are made for men, and

one must not so

much

seek the

adapted, but rather that which to

and

as tools

make him good and happy

men

which man

to

most adapted

is

made

for

to distribute things suitably,

employment

as

are not

much

to

is

most

each man, so

as possible."

as

56

In a variant of this passage of capital importance, Rousseau expresses even

more vigorously

words which once more "It

would be

better to

and

all citizens

bruited about,

when we

to

ill-regulated,

and

miserable and bad. This order which is

all citizens

have a well-regulated society

often only apparent and in effect

sacrifice the reality of things as

countries."

is

we

so

much

destroy

it

one does in most

57

present system then goes against fundamental aspira-

If the

tions of

man-centered ideal he writes:

have society

happy and honest, rather than

In

this antiefficiency position.

stress his

man, and

ties

him

rather to a set of rules

which

in the

end deny him both freedom and happiness, what can be done about

it?

In Rousseau's

mind

there

is

no tendency

to wait for

doomsday, even though that will inevitably come, given a signed acceptance of the present. For Rousseau 55

Contrat social (1762), O.C.

56

Nouvelle

Helo'ise,

O.C.

II,

Ill,

536.

it is

re-

possible to

367. 57

Ibid.,

1657. [253]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU look for ways of improving the present.

They seem

achievement of a better balance between what

what

is

and between

public,

man; and

is

and country;

city

to

be the

and

private

a better use of

and

a decision to fix limits to the power, the wealth,

the economic development of the community.

He

has not forgotten Bodin.

The

large as possible to give a sense of

which

possesses

community

to the

country

In drafting his project of a constitution for

it.

Corsica, he recognizes the gap

between the

from wishing the

ble. Abstractly, "far

like

public domain should be as

on the contrary that

it

should

ideal

state to

own

and the

possi-

be poor, he would

everything," and while

not wanting to destroy entirely private property, because this

would want

impossible, he limits, to give it,

a

it

to subjugate

and

it,

as strong

possible."

58

and

keep

to

word

I

it

want

Rousseau knows there

all this is

it,

to direct

always subordinated to the

that state property be as great

and

that of the citizen as small

In practice,

is

within the most narrow

it

measure, a rule, a check, to contain

public good. In one

and

"to confine

is

as

weak

as

not easy to bring about, but

in Corsica a great deal of excellent

uncultivated land and that a plan of both private and public

development of these lands could be undertaken. In Poland the

same view

is

true. It

tempting from a purely economic point of

is

to suggest that all royal

lands be sold: "But the moral and

political object of such a project starosties

were

establish a

to

fund

would

be

sold, I

for

wages and benefits

their country or will

The example

so little to

is

like to see

for those

with the population more or

[254]

O.C.

the

who

to

will serve

;

of Switzerland in distributing industrial activity is

one that Rousseau finds most

beneficial in political terms. Switzerland

Projet,

taste, that if

them bought back

have well deserved of her."

evenly through the country

58

my

Ill,

931.

59

less

is

almost one large city

evenly distributed, and

Considerations, O.C.

Ill,

1009.

it

is

AFTER 1756 possible to find "manufacturing establishments in precipices factories over

and

mountain streams." This curious mixture of nature

art possesses for

of living,

By

and

Rousseau

which breathes

if

do not know what of animation, G0

and well-being."

on man than on money Rousseau means

greater reliance

the abolition,

"I

liberty

possible, of

wage

labor

and the

transfer of the

responsibility for doing

what

the community. This

the equivalent of a system of corvees in a

free society,

mon

The

work.

is

an attempt

has' to

be done on the shoulders of

common

develop the

to

practice should extend

But most important of

from military service

away with mercenaries

public works, and thus do

idea that, to achieve

wealth by com-

all is

what he

of

to

kinds.

all

61

Rousseau's effort to express the

calls "prosperity," limits

must be

placed on the accumulation of wealth, on economic development

and

progress,

and on the national power of

states.

his project of a constitution for Corsica, the idea

expressed, because Rousseau stration of his views. It

had the

was not

most clearly

easiest case for the

demon-

difficult to say that a small, iso-

lated,

undeveloped island should limit

goals,

and

try to

Throughout

is

ambitions,

its

maintain the peace by keeping

fix

to itself.

modest

And

in

the ideal republic of Clarens of the Nouvelle Helo'ise, the idea

had already been put forth of the superiority of

which did not seek

its

a system of life

fulfillment in a constant increase in the

production of goods. Peace comes from the knowledge that in the future

man

realized

will

have what he has today. This ideal can be best

by the application of man's labor

fruit of past labor supports the present

of present labor announces the

the same time

to the land.

"Here the

abundance, and the

abundance

to

fruit

come; one enjoys

at

what one spends and what one reaps and the

different times are united to strengthen the security of the pres60

Letter to the Marechal de

Luxembourg, 20 January 1763, C.G. IX,

7-8. 61

Projet,

O.C.

Ill,

932; Considerations, O.C.

Ill,

1006.

U 55

]

THE EARLY ROUSSEAU ent."

218; obstacles

219-21; and Saint Pierre, 216, 219-20; as a source of wars, 216-7, 221-2; and a united Europe, 220—1 to its elimination,

Academy

of Dijon, 29, 49, 74, 84,

1

14

and freedom, 263-4; praised, 7, 15, 40-1; and Rousseau, 157-8, 241-2 Adam, Antoine: "Rousseau et Diderot" (Revue des Sciences humaines, 1949), 49, 50; "De quelques Sources de Rousseau dans la litterature philosophique (1700— 1750)," in Jean-Jacques Rousseau et

Active

life:

son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 35

and Europeans, 99-100 i ts development 128—9; nature, 126-7, 128—30; and human

Africa, 118, 214; gallows for both natives

Agriculture:

its

and end of

consequences, 128-30, 133-5; original state of

happiness, 247-8; and industry, 147-8, 247-8, 255, 256

Alembert,

d':

on Geneva, 32; and

guerrilla warfare,

music, 41-2; on moral decadence,

44;

and

Italian

87-8; and progress, 44; and

Rousseau, 42-3, 11 6-7; on transformations of mankind, 43-4 Elements de philosophic, in Melanges de litterature, d'histoire et de philosophic (Amsterdam, 1759), 42-4 "Discours preliminaire des editeurs," in Encyclopedic (Paris, 1751), 42, 87-8 Encyclopedic, ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des

metiers (Paris, 1751-), 32, 39, 41-2, 87-8, 167

[279]

INDEX Alembert,

d' (cont.^)

Jugement sur Emile, in Oeuvres posthumes (Paris, 1799), 44 Jugement sur la Nouvelle Heloise, in Oeuvres posthumes

(Paris,

1799), 44 Amiel, Henri Frederic:

"Caracteristique generale de Rousseau," Jean-

Jacques Rousseau juge par

les

genevois d'aujourd'hui

(Geneve,

1878), 2-3, 55-6 Antiquity: institutions, 10 1-2; morals, 90-1 Arts and sciences, 70, 78, 82-4, 107, 108, 178-9

Athens, 81, 116 Baczko, Bronislaw: "Rousseau et Falienation sociale" (Annates,

1962), 12-13, J 4> 21-2 "Barbarus hie ego sum"; in 1742, 69; in 1750, 74 Berkeley, George, 75-6 Besse,

Guy: "Marx, Engels

Voltaire, 1963),

et le

XVIIP

ff.;

in 1772,

siecle francais"

1959-

238

(Studies on

273

Besterman, Theodore, 10 Bodin, 28, 192-3, 254 Bonnet, Charles, 153 Bordes, Charles, 63, 71, 236; replies to Rousseau in:

"Discours sur les avantages des sciences et des arts" (Js/lercure de France, 1751), 85 Second Discours sur les avantages des sciences diverses (Lyon, 1783), 110-1 Bouchardy, Francois, 1-2, 104, 224-5 Buffon, 46, 1 16-7

47-8 La Philosophic de V existence de 1952), 6, 11, 14, 17-18, 22, 272 Burke, Edmund, 3, 20

et des arts, in

Oeuvres

Histoire naturelle (Paris, 1749—),

Burgelin, Pierre:

J. -J.

Rousseau

(Paris,

Candaux, Jean-Daniel, 1-2, 27, 259-60, 266 Cassirer, Ernst: The Philosophy of the Enlightenment (Princeton, 1951),

43-4 Chablais, 31

"Chain of being" and Rousseau in 1742, 68 Les Charmettes, 26-7, 61 Citizen: duties, 82-3; education, 97,

108; ideal, 97-9; rights, 98—100,

189-90 Clarens, 255 Claville: Le Traite

[280]

du

vrai merite de

Vhomme

(Paris, 1734),

58

INDEX Collectivism, 17-18, 254-5, 2 57~8

Condillac, Etienne Bonnot de, 55, 72; on origins of languages, 47; praised

by Rousseau,

1 1

6-7

Essai sur I'origine des connaissances

humaines (Amsterdam, 1746),

46-7 Condorcet, 149-50 Corsica, public

and private property

in,

254-5

"Deux

Collaborateurs economiques de FEncyclopedie: Rousseau" (La Pensee, 1951), 59 Derathe, Robert, 1-2, 3, 167-8, 170, 17 1-2, 174-5, l 7%> l 9 2 22 9> 2 ^6 "L'Homme selon Rousseau," in Etudes sur le Contrat Social (Dijon,

Denis,

Henri:

Quesnay

et

>

1964), 13-14

Grimm and Voltaire, 39, 54-5; defense of his acceptance of society, 51; his determinism, 52; on general will, 172-

Diderot: criticism of

and Linguet contrasted with Rousseau, 53-5; praised 16-7, 236-7; and Rousseau, 48-5 Apologie de V Abbe de Prades (Amsterdam, 1752), 50 Correspondance, Roth ed. (Paris, 1955- ), 52 "Droit naturel," in Encyclopedic (Paris, 1755), 50, 172—4 Lettre apologetique, Dieckmann ed., (Geneva, 1951), 39, 54-5 Lettre sur les aveugles (London, 1749), 55 80; Helvetius

by Rousseau,

un

Pages contre Refutation

1

tyran, (Paris, 1937), 54

suivie

de

Vouvrage

d'Helvetius

intitule

Oeuvres philosophiques (Paris, 1956), 53-4 Supplement au Voyage de Bougainville, Dieckmann 1955), 5i Dieckmann, Herbert: Inventaire du fonds Vandeid

I'Homme, ed.

et inedits

in

(Geneva, de Diderot

(Geneva, 195O, 39. 54 Duclos, Charles Pinot,

Dufour, Theophile (Paris,

1

1 1

6-7

L., 235; ed., J. -J.

924-1 934), 28; "Pages

Rousseau, Correspondance generate inedites de

J. -J.

Rosseau" QAnnales,

1905), 64

Dupin, Mme., 28-9 Dutot: Reflexions politiques sur

les

finances et le

commerce (The Hague,

1738), 57-8

Economic system: growing complexity of, 21, 93-5, 129-30, 133-6, 143-4, 2 435 influence on human affairs, 13, 17, 19—24, 81-2, 93-5, 130-2, 134-5, 137-9, 143-50, 175-6, 195-7, 2H, 213-5, 221-2, 247-8, 250-4, 272-3; and possibility for change, 21-3, 83, 11 1—3, 190-7 232-3, 253-5; an d welfare, 229-32, 246, 255-7 [28.]

INDEX Education: criticisms 66;

liere,

of,

82-3, 108; history as

66-7; and Mo-

core,

its

recommendations

principles, 64-6;

its

for,

66-7

Engels, Friedrich, on Rousseau and Hegel in Anti-Diihring,

Enlightenment, Rousseau's criticism

275-6

41, 55—60, 75—8, 84—8, 91—2,

of,

97-8, 101, 102-3, 105-11, 229-31, 236-7, 239-40, 248-51

Mme.

Epinay,

Memoires

d',

et

Histoire de

3

Madame

correspondance de

Madame

d'Epinay (Paris, 181 8), 50-1

de Montbrillant (Paris, 195 1), 50-1

Ermitage, 29

European union: and absolutism, 215-7, 220-1;

basis,

222-3; functions, 220-1; past history, 216-7, 219 Evolution of mankind, 7-8, 14, 93-5, 102, 11 5-8,

214; conditions,

130-7,

139-44,

175-7,243 Fabre, Jean, 1-2, 243, 250,

"Deux

267—8

Freres ennemis, Diderot et Jean-Jacques," in Diderot Studies,

III

(Geneva, 1961) 50-1, 53-5

"Realite et Utopie dans la pensee politique de nales,

1

959-1 962),

J. -J.

Rousseau" (An-

19—21, 35

6, 18,

Fenelon, 58, 64, 81 Plan de gouvernement (171 1), in Oeuvres (Paris, 1824), 58 Fetscher, Iring:

"Rousseau's Concept of Freedom in the Light of his

Philosophy of History,"

Nomos

IV,

Friedrich,

ed.

(New

York,

1962), 22; Rousseaus Politische Philosophie (Neuwied, i960), 20, 22, 59,

8,

224

Filmer, Robert: Patriarcha (London, 1680), 169

Freedom:

its

abuse, 261;

18; loss of,

Freedom

its

conditions, 10, 260-4, 268-9; denned,

17-

140-2; reservations about, 70

of choice, 52, 153-5, 246, 256-7,

French Revolution,

3,

277-8

155

Freron, Elie-Catherine, 85

Gagnebin, Bernard, 1-2, 19, 28-9, 32, 45-6, 103, 104, 224, 235 "Verite et veracite dans les Confessions," in Jean-Jacques Rousseau

et

son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 4 Gautier, Joseph, 85

Gay, Peter:

The

Party of

Humanity (New York, 1964),

3

and Diderot, 172-9; and government, 183-5; now t0 £ nd it, 160, 182—4; as an ideal, 6; and law, 160-1, 182-3, 264-5; its source, 178-9; and subordinate societies, 179-82

General

will:

defined, 6,

Geneva: advice [282]

to,

266-7;

179;

arts

m

>

7°5

i fs

influence, 26, 30-3, 155,

157-

INDEX Geneva 8;

(cont.~)

and luxury, 148;

its

magistrates, 70; political quietism in, 260-1;

as a standard, 62, 89, 266;

and

Voltaire, 33

—Triumph

Giraud, Raymond: "Rousseau's Happiness

French Studies, 1961-1962), 10, 12 Golden age: and childhood, 11; existence

of,

or

Tragedy" (Yale

93, 94, 176-7; festivals in,

129; and happiness, 130, 243

Gospel, 89-90, 205 Gossman, Lionel: "Time and History in Rousseau" (Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 1964), 10, 11, 14-15, 127 Gouhier, Henri: "Nature et histoire dans la pensee de Rousseau" (Annales, 1953-1955), 24 Government: in a democracy, 163-5; and Hobbes, 120-1; and Locke, 139-40, 142; its origins, 139-44; and Voltaire, 165-6

Grimm, Frederic-Melchior: criticism of Rousseau, 45-6; Diderot and, 54-5; parliament and music, 41-2; and preface to Narcisse, 45, 105; and the state of nature, 44-5 Correspondance litteraire, yhilosoyhique et critique, Tourneux ed. (Paris, 1877), 41-2, 45-6, 58-9 Groethuysen, Bernard: /.-/. Rousseau (Paris, 1949), 17 Grosclaude, Pierre: /.-/. Rousseau a Lyon (Paris, 1933), 67-8

Grotius, Hugo, 28, 170 Guehenno, Jean: ]ean-]acques: En Marge des Confessions 1712—1750 (Paris, 1948), 49 Guillemin, Henri: address in 55;

J. -J.

Rousseau

"Les Affaires de TErmitage"

et

son oeuvre (Paris, 1964),

(Annates,

1

941-1942),

50-1;

Un Homme,

deux ombres (Geneva, 1943), 50-1 Guyon, Bernard, 1-2, 52-3 Guyot, Charly, 1-2 Happiness: and Pope, 68-9, 71; its requirements, 10 1-2, 232; for Rousseau, 240-2; and wealth, 230-3

Havens, George Remington: Voltaire's Marginalia on the Pages of Rousseau (Columbus, 1933), 37-8 Helvetius, 46, 55; criticized by Rousseau, 52-3, 252; and Diderot, 53-4;

and Mandeville, 56-7; and Montesquieu, 34

De VEsprit (Paris, 1758), 52-3, 57 De V Homme (London, 1773), 53 Hendel, Charles William: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Moralist (London, 1934), 167-8

Henry

IV, 216

History:

and

its

control,

23-4,

153-5, 2 45> 2 &4, 267-8; as a cycle, [283]

INDEX History (cont.^)

274-5; dialectical interpretation

of,

271-4; Father

Lamy and

Fene-

lon on, 63—4; learning from, 64; and nature, 24—5

Hobbes,

7,

206; on despotism, 56, 208-9; and Diderot, 49-50; general 109; on government, 120-1; utilitarianism, 56;

criticism of, 75-6,

views on original

man and

war, 119—20, 176, 208—10, 212

Floffman, Stanley: "Rousseau on

War

and Peace" (American

Political

Science Review, 1963), 18-19

Holbach, 46, 52-3, 55, 75-6; Holbachian conspiracy, 46, 50 Systeme de la nature (London, 1770), 46 Hubert, Rene: Rousseau

et

VEncyclopedie (Paris, 1928), 50, 167-8,

172

Hume:

Discours politiques (Paris, 1754), 50, 230

Ignorance, 91—2 Industrialization,

148-50; see also Agriculture and Progress

Inequality: evolution of, 133-6, 142; natural, 93-5, 121, 126, 134-5,

144—5; utilitarianism and, 144—5; an d wealth, 95, 274 and change, 135, 153; denounced, 27, 102, 273

Institutions:

Rousseau Suisse (Fribourg, 1961), 30 "Essai sur la politique de Rousseau," Contrat Social (Geneva, 1947), 13, 23; "Rousseau the Pessimistic Evolu-

Jost, Francois: J. -J.

Jouvenel, Bertrand de:

tionist"

(Yale French Studies,

1

961-1962), 7-8,

17, 18, 20, 22, 55

Kant, 3 Kateb, George:

"Aspects of Rousseau's Political Thought"

Science Quarterly, 1961), 19—20; Utopia and

its

(Political

Enemies

(New

York, 1963), 9 Krafft, O.: "Les Classes sociales a Geneve et la notion de citoyen," in

]ean-]acques Rousseau et son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 32

La Bruyere, 36 LaMettrie, 55, 75-6 Labriole-Rutherford,

M.R.

de: "L'Evolution de la notion

du luxe depuis

Revolution" (Studies on Voltaire, 1963), 59 Lamv, Bernard: Entretiens sur les sciences (Bruxelles, 1684), 63—4

Mandeville jusqu'a

la

Language, 127, 131

Launay, Michel: "Les Problemes politiques dans la correspondance de Rousseau," in ]ean-]acques Rousseau et son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 272; "La Societe francaise d'apres la correspondance de Rousseau," Annales historiques de la Revolution frangaise (1962), 39 [284]

INDEX Laws: and happiness, 101-2; and see also General will

legislative procedure,

16 1-3, 266-7;

Lecat, Claude-Nicolas, 85

Leigh, R. A.: ed., Correspondance complete de Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(Geneva, 1965-

),

"Rousseau's Letter to Voltaire on Optimism"

(Studies on Voltaire, 1964), 201-2, 204-7 Levi- Strauss, Claude: Tristes Tropiques (Paris, 1955), 4-5, 8, 22

Linguet, 54-5

Lisbon earthquake, 40-1, 201-4 Locke, 48; on money, 146; his natural law discounted, 174—5; on property,

139-40, 142, 197-200 "The Supposed Primitivism of Rousseau's Discourse

Lovejoy, Arthur:

on Inequality" (1923), in Essays in the History of Ideas more, 1948), 5 Luxury: and downfall of

states,

eenth-century debates, 57

81-2;

ff.,

its

effects, 95,

in history, 96,

(Balti-

147-8; in eight-

230; suppression

of,

95-6 Lyon, 27, 69, 71, 72

Mably, Gabriel Bonnot Parallele des

de, 18,

Romains

MacDonald, Frederika:

et des J. J.

46 Francais (Paris, 1740),

Rousseau, a

New

67-8

Criticism (London, 1906),

50-1

Man:

40-1, 108-9; as master of his

duties,

256-7; his worth, 17, 253 Savage man: and civilized man,

5,

fate, 3, 14,

24—5, 52, 153-5,

47-8, 112, 124, 135-6; erroneous

views about, 99, 213-4, 227-8; and natural man, 123, 124, 130

5,

93,

99,

Natural man: his characteristics, 12 1-4, 243; his conflicts, 125; his freedom, 124-5; an d Hobbes, 119-20; misunderstanding of, 92-3, 120-2; and progress, 125 Civilized

man: being and appearing and, 11-14,

27,

59-60, 72,

78-9, 82, 90-2, no— 1, 138-9, 245-6, 273; his daily life, 137, 204; judged according to wealth, 80-1, 145; his morality, 250-1;

and natural man, 137-8; his social ties, 109-11, 136-8, 146—7 and 18th century writers, 249-50; his happiness, 205; and political action, 165; and the rich man, 143-4

Common man:

Mandeville, Bernard de: acknowledges pity, 122; criticized, 58, 75-6, 109; on mercantilism and private interest, 56—7 Fable of the Bees (London,

1

7 1 4), 56

A Letter to

Dion (London, 1732), 57 Marx, 197, 275-7 [285]

INDEX Marxism and Rousseau, 273-8 Masson, Pierre Maurice: "Questions de chronologie rousseauiste" (Annates, 191 3), 127; La Religion de J. -J. Rousseau (Paris, 191 6), 71; "Rousseau contre Helvetius"

(Revue

d'histoire litteraire de la

France, 191 1), 252

Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis Moreau de, 55-6

Melon, Jean Francois, 37, 57-8, 81, 87, 96, 230 Essai 'politique sur le commerce (Paris, 1734), 57 Middle class: and complacency, 260-2; enlargement, 194—5, 260; in Geneva, 259-61; and law, 190-1; as a standard, 22; and Voltaire, 38 Mill, John Stuart: Autobiography (London, 1873), 257—9 Moliere, 66, 92

Montaigne,

1-12, 36, 54, 68

1

Montesquieu,

49,

7,

natural man,

1 1

105; praised by Rousseau,

81,

116-7,

192; on

8-9; and Rousseau, 34-6

Esprit des Lois (1748), 34, 36, 119

Montmorency,

vii,

33

Morality: of the ancients, 90; of civilized man, 250-1; and customs, 109; and political

life,

96-7

Moraze, Charles: La France bourgeoise (Paris, 1952), 39, 60 Morel, Jean: "Recherches sur les Sources du Discours de Vinegalite" (Annates, 1909), 47 Morelly, 55-6, 58-9

Munteano, Basil: "Les 'Contradictions' de etsonoeuvre (Paris, 1964), 16 Nation: and tors, 19,

its

J. -J.

Rousseau," in Rousseau

customs, 99, 109; described, 18, 117; and external fac-

107

Natural law: content, 122-3: kinds

Nature: and Naville,

art,

of, 174-5; violation of, I 3^) 27-8; benefits of 242-3; and progress, 132-3

Pierre:

siecle (Paris,

Nicolas, Jean:

ques de

la

,

D'Holbach

et

la

philosophic scientifique au XVIII

6

1943), 46

"Une

Lettre inedite de

J. -J.

Rousseau," Annates

histori-

Revolution frangaise (1962), 68-9

Osmont, Robert, 1-2 Paris, 4,

26-7, 28, 29, 220, 236, 249-50

69-70, 236 and agriculture 255-6; appearance of, 21 1-2; and economic policies, 18-19; obstacles to, 221-2, 252; sentiments maintaining

Parisot, Gabriel,

Peace:

a token, 213; see also

[286]

War

INDEX 101-2

Pericles,

Petty, William, 81

Physiocrats, 59 Poland: and land distribution, 254; political choices open serfdom and education, 269; its survival, 18

to,

256-7;

Politics: primacy of, 8-9, 21-3, 88-9, 153-5, 200-1, 277-8 Pope, Alexander: on "chain of being," 68, 201; on happiness, 68-9, 71;

and

Voltaire,

Essay on

Man

201-2

(London,

1

732-1734), 68-9, 201-2

Poverty: exalted by rich, 63; and

Prevost,

human

and Rous-

character, 227-8;

85-6

seau, 28-30, 63,

Abbe Antoine-Francois:

Histoire de

M.

Cleveland (Paris, 1731),

62 Progress: basis,

13 1-2,

133; and behavioral changes,

136; beginnings,

133-4; as cause of dependence and inequality, 133-7, 145, 274; and daily life, 135-6, 137; as a dialectical process, 10, 93-5, 273—4; effect

upon

family, 246;

government and, 163—4;

inevitability

new

chance, 132-3; as a linear progression, 10, 44; 255-6; its presence, 74-5, 132

and

premises

for,

Property: and agriculture, 128-30; as basis of government, 139-41, 170;

man, 19-20, 274; conditions end of original state of nature,

as central factor in the evolution of

for

its

recognition,

126-7, I2 9~3°>

I

43

169; and the

_ 45 Locke's views

on, 139-40, 142; as a source

of inequality, 136, 140-1, 142; in a well organized state,

197—201,

254; and Voltaire, 37—40 Proust, Jacques: Diderot et VEncyclovedie (Paris,

"Le Premier des pauvres, taire"

(Europe,

essai sur les Reveries

1962), 41, 49, 53;

du promeneur

soli-

961), 7 Providence: and Rousseau, 201-6; and Voltaire, 201-3 1

Public domain: and Bodin, 192-3; importance

of,

193, 254

Pufendorf, 45

Quesnay, Francois, 59

Raymond, Marcel, 1-2, 28-9, 45-6, 103, 104, 235, 241-2 /.-/. Rousseau et son oeuvre (Paris, 1964), 9-10, 16 "La Reverie selon Rousseau et son conditionnement historique," Rous-

Address in

seau et son oeuvre,

1

Raynal, 85 Religion: decadence of, 91; civic profession of faith, 201

ff.;

freedom

of,

205-6 [287]

INDEX Revolution:

to

270-1;

112— 3, 222; and Engels, 276; and its inevitability, 23, 105, 232-3,

be avoided, 23—4,

freedom, 262-3;

goals,

i ts

272;

274-5

justification for,

Romilly, Jean, 39 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques:

62-3

Letter to Isaac Rousseau (1735),

Bonac (1736), 63

Letter to

Le Verger de Madame de Warens (1737): criticism of Voltaire, 36; favorable to La Bruyere and Montaigne, 36; significance of Geneva, 30; state of mind when written, 61; willing to face poverty, 63 Chronologie universelle, ou histoire generate des temps (1737): on

wealth, 64

M.

Projet pour Veducation de

de Sainte-Marie (1740), 64, 82-3;

and Mably, 67 740) on common

66

Letter to d'Eybens (spring,

1

Epitre a Bordes ( 1 74 1

30, 71; degradation of poverty, 63

), vi,

:

Letter to de Conzie (1742),

vi;

sense,

agreement with Pope on happiness,

68-9; challenges Montaigne and Pope on "chain of being," 68; disassociates himself from the Enlightenment, 69 Epitre a Parisot (1742), in,

70-71;

vi,

32;

on happiness, 71; pessimistic thoughts

Geneva, 30, 32, 69-70 presente a M. de Ste Marie pour Veducation de

talks of

Fragment du memoir e

son pis (1743): and

first Discourse, 64-65 musique moderne (1743), 74 Depeches de Venise (1 743-1 744), 27 Les Muses galantes (1743-1745), 71 Les Petes de Ramire (1745), 71 Letter to Roguin (1745), 28 Letter to Voltaire (1745), 36 L'Allee de Sylvie (1746): being and appearing, 72 Le Persiffleur (1747), 72-73

Dissertation sur la

Letter to l'Etang (1749): criticism of Paris, 28

Discours sur

les sciences et les arts

138, 155, 235; aftermath of

(1 749-1 750), v, 30, 35, 69, 73, 74, its publication, 84-8, 104, 239; its

aims, 75, 155-7; being and appearing, 78—9; and Diderot, 49; and eighteenth-century writers, 75-8; and Montesquieu, 35; the

teaching of morals and sciences, 67; virtue, 79 ff. Mme. de Francueil (175 1): fate of his children, 86

Letter to

Letter to Raynal (1751),

vi; first

reply to critics of

first

Discourse, 85;

passion for wealth, 94-5

Observations de Jean-Jacques Rousseau de Geneve (1751), [288]

vi;

answer

INDEX Rousseau, Jean- Jacques Qcont.*) to king of Poland, 85; "genealogy" of

evil,

95;

and Geneva, 88-9;

rebukes a great philosopher, 86-7; religion and the sciences, 91; reverence for the Gospel, 90 Letter to

and

Grimm (1751), citizenship,

vi,

85; being

and appearing, 90-1; education

97

Derniere Refonse de Jean-Jacques Rousseau de Geneve (1752), vi; as answer to Bordes, 85; being and appearing, 91-2, 97; critical of mercenaries, 98; goodness of natural piness,

1

01-2; luxury: consequences

historical basis, 96,

230, supporters

man, 92-3; laws and hapof,

of,

95-6, refutation of its 230-1; Spartan way of

commended, 101; taking of life, 98-100 vi, 85; Geneva as the ideal standard, 89 Narcisse, preface (1752), vi; and adversaries, 84, 105-10; being and appearing, 14; and Grimm, 45; man: his duties, 108-109, and institutions, 111-12, 153, and moral corruption, 107-8; personal interest and mutual solidarity, 109-12, 215 Lettre sur la musique frangaise (1752), 239 life

Letter to Lecat (1752),

Preface d'une seconde lettre a Bordes (1753),

vi;

final

reply,

85;

general discussion of his "system/' 103—5

Discours sur I'origine et

(1753— 1754),

v,

les

fondemens de Vinegalite farmi

13, 14, 89,

les

hommes

127, 167, 196-7, 251; admiration

for d'Alembert, 42; aftermath of publication, 235, 239; agriculture vs. industry,

critized

by

149-50;

its

aims, 155-8; analyzed

by Grimm, 45-6; Geneva, 155;

Voltaire, 37-8; dedicated to Republic of

evolution of mankind, 7-8, 175; final state of nature, 131, 150-3,

274-6; golden age of Utopia, 130; government: establishment of, 139-41, 143-4, evolution of, 142-3; ideal political community, 158-64; luxury, 147-8; original man: characteristics savage

man

and, 124, study

of,

47-8,

1

of,

12 1-4,

14-8, 121; original state of

nature, 126, 129-30; present state of society, 130-1; presentation

and daily life, 137—8, and ineand nature, 132-3, and potential for perfectibility, 13 1-2, and social change, 133—5; on property, I97~8, 2 745 relationship with Condillac, 47; respect for Montesquieu, 35; role of Diderot, 49; wealth: and deception, 144, 146, and inequality, 145, 274, as source of war, 145-6 Essai sur I'origine des langues (1754): and the Discourse on Inequality, 127; the golden age, 128, 129; language: origin and development, 127, and politics, 131; origins of agriculture, 128-9 Discours sur les richesses (ca. 1 753-1 756), vi, 19, 224, 229; accumuof his "system, " 104; progress: quality, 134-7, 145, 263, 274,

lation of wealth attacked,

225-7, 251—2; character of the poor, [289]

INDEX Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Qcont^) 228; criticism of philosophers and

men

of letters, 229; recourse to

232—3

revolution,

Discours sur I'FLconomie politique (1754-1755), v, 167-8, 215, 232; family and the political community contrasted, 168-9; the general will,

167,

virtue,

and

1

7 1-2, 178-84; Montesquieu and Plato, 35; political

185-6, and defense of personal rights and 186-7; property: purposes,

patriotism,

life,

189-90,

190-1, and education, 187-9, an d

distribution of wealth,

197-8, in the well organized

state,

198-201, and taxation,

198; public domain, 192—3;

on land, 194, on luxury, 194-7 (first version, 1754— 1755), 168 ff. Letter to Philopolis (1755), vi; and Paris, 29; primacy of politics, 153-4, 201 Fragment biographique (175 5- 1756), 235; critique of adversaries, taxation:

Du

Contrat Social

236-7; praise for Diderot, 236-7 Fragments politiqu.es (mid-fifties):

De

VEtat de nature: control of

human

Histoire de Lacedemone,

De VHonneur Le Luxe,

le

arts,

178-9; institutions as cause of

depravity, 102

et

de

107—8

la vertu:

commerce

passion for wealth, 232

et les arts: luxury, 230;

wealth and public

prosperity, 231-2; work, 192

Du

Facte

82—5 deux republiques de Sparte on patriotism, 186-7

social,

1

Parallele entre les

De

la Patrie:

Letter

on Providence

et

de Rome, 102,

1

12

(1756): belief in God, 205; "chain

to Voltaire

of being," 69; civic profession of faith, 205—7; freedom of religion,

205-6; miseries brought by

civilization,

204; optimism of the

Enlightenment, 202-3; optimism of Rousseau, 203; pessimism of Voltaire, 202; search for clarity, Ecrits sur V Abbe de Saint-Pierre

Que

239 (1756):

VEtat de guerre nait de Vetat

social, v,

208, 232; Hobbes's views

on war challenged, 208—13; membership in body politic, 171 Extrait du projet de paix perpetuelle, 208; European union, 214-6, 222-3 Jugement sur la poly synodic, 208; absolute monarchy: instability of, 219, and intermediate political bodies, 219-20; criticism of Saint-Pierre's writings, 180, 219, 220; European federalism and the general will, 179-81; fear of revolution, 222 Jugement sur le pwjet de paix perpetuelle, 208; European union: absolute monarchy as obstacle to, 220-2, and Saint-Pierre, 216 [290]

INDEX Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (cont.~) Polysxnodie de I'Abbe de Saint-Pierre, 208; criticism of absolute monarchies, 2 1 7—8 Lettre a d'Alembert

stir les

spectacles

(1758):

civic festivals,

129

on La Nouvelle Heloise (1760), vii, 9, 238; and d'Alembert, 42-3; beauties of nature, 28, 242; freedom of choice, 52; inequal-

]u\ie,

itv

and family, 246; people

of

Geneva, 31; popular

festivals,

259;

poverty, 259; praise for middle class, 26c; production and pros-

and farming, 247-8, 255-6; worth of

perity, 255; urbanization

man, 253 Letter to Voltaire (1760),

36-7

Letters to Malesherbes (1762), 74; attack

upon men

of letters,

239-40;

corrupting influence of institutions, 244; nature and equality, 242; visions of

an ideal

state,

244

Emile, ou de VEdncation (1762),

vii,

15, 238; attack

upon men

of let-

248-9; contrast between Montesquieu and Rousseau, 36; importance, 10-11; inevitability of revolution, 150, 270-1;

ters, its

man

Du

is

to

blame, 3

vii, 15, 238, 239, 259; and Diderot, 172-4; and the Discourses, 155-9; and Geneva, 265-6; natural law, 174—5; origin of the political communitv, 168—70; political effects of economic ills, 252-3; source of general will, 174-8; as a standard, 267-8

Contrat Social (1762),

Beaumont (1762): existence of an ideal 244-5; stages in the evolution of man, 243

Lettre a Christophe de of nature,

state

Luxembourg (1763): maintenance of na254—5 montagne (1764), 162, 238; antagonism between

Letter to the Marechal de

tional cultures, 249; Switzerland,

Lettres ecrites de la classes,

252; enactment and application of laws, 266-7; freedom

or tyranny, tract:

261-4; Genevan middle

and the general

will,

class, 259-60; Social Con264—5, and government, 265, used as a

guide, 265-6; state of nature as a standard, 265 Projet de constitution pour la Corse (1765), 238; political

power and

wealth, 252; public and private propertv,

253-4 238; being and appearing,

Confessions (1 764-1 770), 6-7, 9, 26, 11; criticism of Montaigne, 11-12; disparagement of institutions, 27; vs. Italian music, 41-2; golden age and childhood, 11; Holbach and Diderot, 46, 48-9; impressed by Father Lamy, 63;

French

influence of Geneva, 30, 155; inspiration for the second Discourse, 1

14-5; primacy of

of

life,

politics,

153; protest: nature

85-6; satisfaction with the preface

of,

56,

and

style

to ISarcisse, 105; search

[291]

INDEX Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Qcont.')

29-30, 62, 115; tenacity of early

for truths,

political concerns,

6-7; Voltaire, 33, 36-7 Letter to Mirabeau (1767): abstraction urged, 268; cultivated reason

downgraded, 249; force underlying civilized life, 272; hobbism democracy, 272; revolution and property, 270 Considerations sur le gouvernement de Pologne (1 771— 1772): beauty and goodness from nature, 242-3; definition and conditions for freedom, 262—3; disintegration of the European states, 270; vs.

inspiration of the Social Contract, 268; passion for luxury gold, 246; peasant's serfdom, 269; prosperity:

through

and

common

work, 255, and property, 254, and self-sufficiency, 256—7, and wealth, 251 Dialogues, Rousseau juge de ]ean-]acques (1 772-1 776), 6-7, 46;

upon

at-

and appearing, 246; definition of badness, 243-4; force as the social tie, 272; freedom of choice, 246; his goals, 6-7, 13, 239-40; golden age: and childhood, 1 1, visions of, 241, 244; moral evil of wealth, 251-2; opposition to the litertack

culture, 270-1; being

ary world, 249—50, 271; in search of himself, 16, 238

du precedent

(1776): praise for Condillac, 46—7 776-1 778): being and appearing, 59-60; freedom and revolution, 262-3; introspective mood, 6-7, 238, 240-2; rejects morality of the Enlightenment, 250—1;

Histoire

ecrit

Les Reveries du promeneur

solitaire (1

variety of popular festivals,

Saint-Pierre, 180, 216,

259

219-20

Savoie, 61

Scherer, Jacques, 1-2, 105

Senechal, A., 28-9 Shklar, Judith N.: "Rousseau's Images of Authority" {American Political Science

Review, 1964), 13, 17-18, 272

Adam: Lectures on Rhetoric and

Smith,

Belles Lettres

(London, 1963),

1,77

Social contract: characteristics of, 264-5; as a standard, 265-6, Solitary life: as

an escape from tyranny, 151;

politically

268

wrong, 15, 154,

241-2 Sparta, 79, 101

Spink, John Stephenson: Jean-Jacques Rousseau et Geneve (Paris, 1934),

30 Starobinski, Jean, 1-2, 3, 48, 121, 129

Jean-Jacques Rousseau,

10-1 [292]

1,

12, 20,

la

56

transparence et I 'obstacle (Paris, 1958), 6-7,

INDEX Starobinski, Jean Qcont.~)

Montesquieu par lui-meme (Paris, 1953), 35; "Tout le mal vient de Finegalite," Europe (1961), 71 State: the "Dedication" and the framework of an ideal state, 150 ff.; his139

torical reality of,

ff.;

the purposes of the ideal state, 185

State of nature: description, 126; existence of, 4-5, tion of, 92-3,

1 1

6-7, 125; search

Final state of nature: corruption as 1

for,

its

15, 126;

ff.

misconcep-

114-9, 121; as a standard,

116, 126, 234, 245, 2.64, 265;

6, 8, 99,

1

its

ends,

4,

123-30

cause, 131, 243; despotism in,

50-1

Stelling-Michaud, Sven, 1-2 Sully,

216

Switzerland, 79, 254-5 Tahiti, 51

Taxation: on land, 194; on luxury items, 194-5; on personal income, 195;

on property, 197-201; purposes, 197 Vallette, Gaspard: ].-]. Rousseau,

Genevois (Paris, 191 1), 30

Vaughan, Charles Edwyn: The Political Writings of jean Jacques Rousseau (Cambridge, 191 5), 155, 171-2, 174-5, 2 °9> 22 9 Vauvenargues

:

Discours sur Vinegalite des richesses (171 1), in Oeuvres

completes (Paris, 1806), 58 Venice, 4, 27 Venturi, Franco:

La Jeunesse de Diderot

(Paris, 1939), 47;

on language,

54 Verniere, Paul,

53-4,

ed.

:

Diderot,

Oeuvres philosophiques (Paris,

54—5; Diderot, Oeuvres politiques (Paris,

1956),

1963), 49-50,

173-4 Vico,

67

Vincennes, 49, 72, 244 Virtue, 79-80, 94-5, 98-100, 185-91,

274

and Diderot, 49-50, 54; in Geneva, 33, 39; on government intervention, 165-6; his optimism and pessimism, 55, 201-5, 2 345 praises Dutot and Melon, 37, 57-8; on property, 37-9, 40; rejects general will, 40; role of peasants, 40

Voltaire, 3, 8, 71; defense of luxury, 38-9;

Defense du Mondain (1737), 57 Dictionnaire philosophique, 38, 38-9, 40 Idees Republicaines (1765), 38, 40 Lettre a M. le Comte de Saxe (1737), 57 Le Mondain (1736), 57

[293]

INDEX Voltaire Qcont.')

Observations sur luxe, les

Poeme

sur

le

MM Jean Lass, Melon

mommies

et

Dutot, sur

impots (1738), 57 Desastre de Lisbonne (1756), 201

le

commerce,

ff.

Vossler, Otto: Rousseaus Freiheitslehre (Gottingen, 1963), 8, 17,

War: and Hobbes,

1

19—20, 176, 208—10, 212; and origin of the its source, 145-6, 210-1, 213-4; i n tne

community, 170;

nature, 120-1, 124-5,

Warens, Wealth:

Mme.

upon

incentive for war, its

19-20

political state °f

208-10

de, 27, 61

effect of

274;

le

et les

and poor, 21-2, 94, 195-7, 22 4> 226-8; as 145-7; and inequality, 143-5, 2 3 I_2 2 5 2- 3>

rich

>

justification challenged,

225-7, 251-2; passion

for, 71, 89,

138, 232, 246; viewed as usurpation, 112; and virtue, 80; and welfare,

230—2

Weil, Eric:

[

2 94l

"J.-J.

Rousseau

et sa politique" (Critique,

1952), 20