Jean - Jacques Rousseau

Jean- Jacques Rousseau's work, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality expressed his strong concerns with personal freedom and the limitations society imposes on one's ability to live in a true state of nature. Rousseau acknowledged the limited freedoms of a "civil society" as dependent on the personal freedoms of others. However, Rousseau envisioned humans in their natural state, the state of nature. It is in this state that one is controlled purely by natural impulses as opposed to the learned behavior conditioned by society. This is perhaps why Rousseau displayed such contempt for 18th century France. It was during this European age of reason that people were groomed into model citizens, high education, fashion, politics, etc. Rousseau did not fit, or even desired to fit, the mold.

Rousseau was an idealist. He imagined people free in the state of nature. He painted a hypothetical scene of natural man who was not bound by the rules of society. Unlike his contemporaries, Rousseau considered the transition from natural man to civilized man a regression. Rousseau did not hold civil society in high regard along with the noble class of France. Actually, the poor of France, to Rousseau, were possibly the closest to the state of nature because they were more concerned with surviving than maintaining an image imposed by society. They did not waste time concerning themselves with the artificial; however, they labored in order to stay alive.

Rousseau compared the natural state to childhood. It is during childhood that one does not associate himself with anyone or anything around him. He is totally absorbed in himself and is guilt- free because other people are of no consequence. Just like childhood, the state of nature is pure and simple. The only thing that matters to a child is fulfilling his needs. In the state of nature, man's only concern is to himself. On the other hand, civil society is compared to adulthood. In adulthood and civil society, life is about work, attempting to conform with others, and guilt runs ramped. This is why Rousseau dreamed of a return to the state of nature, a return to the Garden of Eden namely Genesis. He associated natural with the divine. Rousseau is considered the father of romanticism. He believed that humans feel more than think so therefore feelings should dominate. Romanticism placed a large emphasis on feelings and Rousseau was integral to its development.

"Of all the branches of human knowledge, the most useful and the least advanced seems to me to be that of man." (Rousseau, 10) Rousseau observed the ignorance of his fellow men by noting their lack of knowledge of their true state. Man is completely unaware of his origin and how he was derived from nature. Rousseau questioned how man could even attempt to comprehend the inequality among his peers if he did not even understand his succession from a primitive state. It seems logical. If man does not understand himself, his origins and how he has derived from nature then how can he perceive any other branch of knowledge.

Rousseau considered the inscription at the temple at Delphi "a precept more important and more difficult than all the huge tomes of the moralists."(Rousseau, 10) The inscription at the temple read "Know Thy Self." This statement, although short and simple, reached all depths of philosophy. Rousseau theorized that these three simple words fully explained the quest for self- knowledge better than the feeble attempts of hundreds of philosophers throughout history. This statement is the foundation of knowledge; beginning with the self. In ancient Greece, the temple at Delphi served as a haven for those searching for answers to life's most baffling questions. For centuries the temple was considered the center of the known world where heaven and earth met. Here, Zeus' son Apollo was worshipped along with countless Greek deities. The oracle, Pythia, resided at this temple. The ancients flocked to Pythia who was rumored to possess the ability to channel the spirit of the gods to answer and explain critical matters to mortals. It is fitting, considering Rousseau's high regard for the natural state and the divine, that he used this simple statement to introduce his work. The temple at Delphi symbolized the earthly embodiment of the divine. Even when people traversed thousands of miles on a quest for knowledge, they were all greeted with the simple statement, "Know Thy Self."

Rousseau attempted to explain his theories on the state of nature and the effects of civil society by using the metaphor of the state of Glaucus from book X of Plato's Republic. The state of Glaucus was once a beautiful sculptor portraying a blemish- free man. One day the state toppled into the sea and when it was recovered, it was corroded and covered with barnacles. The sea had taken a toll on this once pure statue. Rousseau explained, the pure, unblemished statue represented man in the state of nature; untainted. Originally the statue was not corrupted and displayed a man free from any pollutants of the environment. However once the statue fell into the sea, it immediately began to deteriorate and lose its purity. Barnacles began growing on the statue until it became unrecognizable. This once perfect depiction of a man had been destroyed by decay and animals.

Rousseau went on to describe the effects of civil society on the natural state of man. "[man] altered in the midst of society by a thousand constantly recurring causes, by the acquisition of a multitude of bits of knowledge and of errors, by changes that took place in the constitution of bodies, by the constant impact of the passions, has, as it were, changed its appearance to the point of being nearly unrecognizable."(Rousseau, 11) Civil society tarnishes all people born into this world. As a child, a person enters the world and is completely free. As time progresses and the child grows older, society begins corrupting the mind of this once pure individual. The person's mind becomes filled with falsified information and an overwhelming sense of conformity. The person becomes completely detached from the natural state he was once a part of. The negative effects of society are represented by the physical barnacles on the state of Glaucus. However, our barnacles are spiritual, not physical. Our brains become corrupted to the point of complete un-recognition of the natural state.

This is exactly why Rousseau stressed the importance of self- knowledge. Civil society corrupts all who are unwillingly born into it. Finding yourself is the key to understanding life and the actions of others. Humans do not understand the negative impacts of conforming to society. They are ignorant to the vanity imposed onto their already superficial lives. Rousseau considered the discovery and the natural origin of