Jean-Jacques Rousseau: basic ideas. Jean-Jacques Rousseau: biography, quotes
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of those philosophers who will provoke discussions for a long time. Does he belong to the galaxy of thinkers or, conversely, to its most implacable critics? Did he prepare the ground for the French Revolution or did he do everything to prevent it from happening? Many biographers have broken their spears arguing about who Jean-Jacques Rousseau was. We will consider the main ideas of this philosopher, who simultaneously belonged to the schools of naturalism and sensationalism, in this article. After all, it was this man who understood that progress brings misfortune, and despotism gives rise to the lack of rights of the majority. In a situation where the majority of people lived practically below the poverty line, he cherished ideas about universal equality.
The views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: what underlies them
The main motive of the philosopher’s ideas is the requirement to bring society out of the state in which it now finds itself. That is, from a situation of general depravity. His fellow educators argued that this was possible, if only the princes and rulers were educated correctly. And also establish a republic where everyone will receive equal material benefits and political rights. Rousseau believed that the main principle of a proper society lies in correct moral thinking. The philosopher said that “every person is virtuous” when his “private will corresponds in everything to the general will.” Morality for him was the main measure of everything. Therefore, he believed that without virtue no real freedom exists. But his life was like a refutation of his entire philosophy.
Biography. Youth and early career
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose main ideas we are analyzing, was born in the city of Geneva and, according to his religious beliefs, was a Calvinist in his childhood. His mother died during childbirth, and his father fled the city because he became a victim of criminal prosecution. From an early age he was apprenticed, but neither the notary nor the engraver, under whose subordination the future philosopher was, loved him. The fact is that he preferred to voraciously read books rather than work. He was often punished, and he decided to run away. He came to the neighboring region - Savoy, which was Catholic. There, not without the participation of Madame de Varan, his first patroness, he became a Catholic. Thus began the ordeal of the young thinker. He works as a footman in an aristocratic family, but does not settle down there and goes back to Madame de Varan. With her help, he goes to study at the seminary, leaves it, wanders around France for two years, often spending the night in the open air, and again returns to his former love. Even the presence of another admirer of the “mother” does not bother him. For several years, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose biography in his youth was so different from his subsequent views, either leaves or returns to Madame de Varan and lives with her in Paris, Chambery and other places.
Maturity
Rousseau ultimately found it impossible to remain for a long time as a protégé of an aging lady. He tried to earn money, but was unsuccessful. He was unable to teach children or work as the ambassador's secretary. He had problems with all employers. Misanthropy gradually penetrates into the character of this person. He doesn't get along with people. Nature is what begins to fascinate such a lover of solitude as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The philosopher's biography suddenly takes a sharp turn - he marries a maid serving in one of the hotels. She was a rude one, which he did not like at all, but she fed him. He sent all his children to the orphanage, later claiming that he did not have money to support his family. He continued to work part-time in various temporary positions, and then, as a secretary, he entered the society of Encyclopedists, who met at home. One of his first friends was The latter was often persecuted for One day, when Jean-Jacques went to visit Diderot in prison, he read in the newspaper a competitive advertisement for a prize for the best paper on the topic of whether science and art are useful for society. The young man wrote an essay denouncing culture and civilization. Oddly enough, it was he, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who received first place. The main ideas of his philosophy were expressed in this text. This is how his biography as a thinker began.
Glory
Since then, Rousseau lived a brilliant ten years. He wrote music and operettas that were performed on the royal stage. He was fashionable in high society. And since his main idea was the rejection of his contemporary culture, he abandoned the principles of a rich and prosperous life, began to dress simply (and even rudely) and began to communicate vulgarly and offensively with his aristocratic friends. He made his living by copying music. Although society ladies showered him with gifts, all the gifts went to his greedy wife. Soon the philosopher wrote another work, which became popular. The political ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau appeared for the first time in this work. Arguing about how inequality occurred, the thinker believed that everything that underlies the life of modern society - the state, laws, division of labor - all this led to moral decline. One of Rousseau’s connoisseurs, Madame d’Epinay, built a special “Hermitage” for him on her property in the middle of the forest, where the philosopher could indulge in thoughts alone. However, after an unsuccessful affair with a young married aristocrat, which led to a scandal among the Eniclopedists, Rousseau breaks with his comrades.
Problems
The philosopher finds shelter with the Duke of Luxembourg, where he lives for another four years and writes many works. One of them brings the wrath of the Church upon him, and he flees from the court sentence of the Parisian parliament. Taking refuge in his native Switzerland, he sees that he is also not welcome here - the government of the canton of Berne is expelling the philosopher. The Prussian king provides him with a new refuge - Rousseau spends another three years in the village of Motiers. However, then his quarrelsome nature causes him to quarrel with all the surrounding residents. Trying to start a new life, he comes to Geneva and again accepts Calvinism, but he cannot get along peacefully with representatives of this denomination, and begins to quarrel with them. The apogee of these problems was the conflict with another “ruler of thoughts” of that era - Voltaire, who also lived near Geneva, on the Fernet estate. A mocking rival uses pamphlets to survive Jean-Jacques of Motiers, and Rousseau is forced to flee to England. He accepts the invitation of another philosopher, Hume. But it’s impossible to get along with him either, and after a while the new friend declares Russo crazy.
Wanderings and death
The philosopher returns to Paris, wanders again, finding refuge first with one friend, then with another. Voltaire begins to publish pamphlets about what a terrible life a man named Rousseau Jean-Jacques lived. The philosophy and actions of this “hypocrite” do not coincide at all, the opponent notes. In response, Rousseau writes the famous “Confession”, trying to justify his past and present. But his mental illness is progressing. His health is rapidly deteriorating, and soon, according to one version, during a concert organized in his honor, the philosopher suddenly dies. His grave on the Isle of Willows became a place of pilgrimage for fans of the thinker, who believed that Rousseau had fallen victim to public ostracism.
Rousseau Jean-Jacques. Philosophy of escapism
As already mentioned, the thinker’s first works were competitive “Discourses” on the arts, sciences and the origin of inequality. Subsequently, he wrote such works as “The Social Contract”, “Emile, or Education of the Sentiments” and “The New Heloise”. Some of his works are written in the form of essays and some as novels. It was the latter that Jean-Jacques Rousseau became most famous for. The basic ideas about denouncing civilization and culture from which one should flee, expressed by him in his youth, find their natural continuation. The main thing in a person, as the philosopher believed, is not the mind at all, but the feelings. The basic instincts of a moral being should be recognized as Conscience and Genius. Unlike reason, they do not make mistakes, although they are often unconscious. The Renaissance, which everyone admires, led to a real decline in society, because the sciences, arts and industrial development that began at that time led to the alienation of people from each other and the emergence of artificial needs. And the task of a real philosopher is to make a person united again and, accordingly, happy.
Historical views
But it was not only the Renaissance and its achievements that Jean-Jacques Rousseau denounced. The theory of the social contract is one of his main philosophical conclusions. Criticizing contemporary political ideas, he contradicts Hobbes, who was popular at that time. In the primitive era, Rousseau believes, there was no “war of all against all,” but there was a real “golden age.” The modern fallen society begins with the advent of private property - as soon as someone staked out a plot and declared: “This is mine,” the childish innocence of humanity disappeared. Of course, it is impossible to reverse science, but it is possible to slow down progress as such. To do this, it is necessary to conclude a social contract and create a republic of equal small owners. All issues there will be resolved not through separation of powers, but through referendums.
What should a person be like?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a lot about education. A person, first of all, must be a natural being, because all his basic principles are determined by nature. Since feelings, as we have already found out, are the main thing in people, then they should be developed. Superfluous reasoning only tires, and does not exalt at all. The real dignity of a person comes from the heart, not from the mind. People try not to hear the voice of conscience, but this is the call of Nature itself. In his pursuit of civilization, man forgot about this and became deaf. Therefore, he should return to his ideal, represented by the image of the “noble savage”, surrendering to the spontaneity of feelings, and not broken by the unnecessary demands of artificial etiquette.
Enlightenment and education
The philosopher's views are full of contradictions. While attacking culture and science, Rousseau, nevertheless, always used their fruits and recognized their necessity and undoubted merits in the education of man. He believed, like many of his contemporaries, that if rulers listened to philosophers, then society would become more perfect. But this is not the only contradiction that was characteristic of such a thinker as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The philosopher's pedagogical ideas place hopes on enlightenment, which he so criticized. It is this that can make it possible to raise worthy citizens, and without this, both rulers and subordinates will be just slaves and liars. But at the same time, one must remember that a person’s childhood is his memory of the lost paradise of the golden age, and try to take as much as possible from nature.
Virtue is the basis of everything
Although the philosopher's life did not correspond to his views, morality plays an important role in his works. Emotions and sympathy, from the point of view of the thinker, are the main basis of virtue, and the latter lies at the basis of man and society. This is what Rousseau Jean-Jacques thought. about morality, nature and religion are very similar. Both virtue and faith must be subordinate to nature, he said. Only then will society be ideal when harmony with the interests of all members of society is achieved between the inner world of a person, its moral, emotional and rational components. Therefore, individuals must overcome their moral alienation from each other and not become like politicians who are “more like rabid wolves... than Christians... wanting to bring their opponents back to the path of truth.”
Rousseau's influence on his own and subsequent centuries was undeniable. His ideas about the contrast between selfishness and virtue, justice and the treachery of false laws, the greed of owners and the innocence of the poor, as well as dreams of a return to nature were taken up by romantics, fighters for a better social order and social rights, seekers of solidarity and brotherhood.
