“The neglected education of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore. “-Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Rousseau and Wollstonecraft believed that children should be allowed to grow freely and learn to use their education practically. Children would then grow up to be free thinking adults that would keep soceity from becoming materialistic and oppressing. Nonetheless, they vehemently […]

Thomas Hobbes’ imagined “state of nature” is full of “masterless men” (p. 140). Jean Jacque Rousseau’s imagined “state of nature” is full of radically independent, solitary individuals who are innocent of good and evil. How does Hobbes come to that conclusion about man in the state of nature? On what kinds of evidence does he rely? How does Rousseau come to his conclusion about individuals […]

Daniel Davis Philosophy D 12/01/11 What is amour-propre? What role does it play, according to Rousseau, in the Discourse on Inequality? Tutor: Robert Cowan In May 1755, Jean Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality was published. The Discourse challenged contemporary philosophers in regards to the nature of man, and the fundamental principles of inequality. He highlighted that the inequality in current society developed […]

The establishment of modern society is tied closely to the common line of thought expressed by modern thinkers like Marx, Weber, and Rousseau. These men all had complicated ideas in regards to the formation of modern society, but they all addressed certain aspects of that development. They all focused their studies on human nature and specifically, how human beings came to live out some of […]

Thomas Jefferson considers himself a contributor to the Age of Enlightenment. Through many of his writings he expands on the philosophies of the great European writers of that era – Rousseau, Locke, Hume, and Leibniz. In “The Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson directly adopts several themes found in the work of French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau’s “The Origin of Civil Society,” provides a foundation for most […]

John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean Jacques Rousseau were all enlightenment philosophers. Each of these men had a particular view of government, society, and its citizens and they were all passionate about their works. Locke (1632- 1704) was an English philosopher, his ideas had a great impact on the development of political philosophy and he is widely regarded as one of the most […]