Ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, by Theme

[Swiss, 1712 - 1778, Born in Geneva. Died in Paris.]

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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
19767 Reason leads to prudent selfishness, which overrules natural compassion
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 2. Sufficient Reason
19807 Both nature and reason require that everything has a cause
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge
19757 No one would bother to reason, and try to know things, without a desire for enjoyment
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 5. Generalisation by mind
19760 General ideas are purely intellectual; imagining them is immediately particular
19759 Only words can introduce general ideas into the mind
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 5. Concepts and Language / a. Concepts and language
19758 Language may aid thinking, but powerful thought was needed to produce language
21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty
19773 Without love, what use is beauty?
22. Metaethics / B. The Good / 1. Goodness / h. Good as benefit
19752 If we should not mistreat humans, it is mainly because of sentience, not rationality
22. Metaethics / C. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / g. Moral responsibility
7235 Without freedom of will actions lack moral significance
22. Metaethics / C. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / b. Rational ethics
19769 Rational morality is OK for brainy people, but ordinary life can't rely on that
23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 2. Golden Rule
19768 The better Golden Rule is 'do good for yourself without harming others'
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / f. Compassion
19766 The fact that we weep (e.g. in theatres) shows that we are naturally compassionate
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 6. Authentic Self
20759 Feelings are prior to intelligence; we should be content to live with our simplest feelings
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness
19756 Humans are less distinguished from other animals by understanding, than by being free agents
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / b. The natural life
19755 Most human ills are self-inflicted; the simple, solitary, regular natural life is good
19779 Primitive man was very gentle
19762 Is language a pre-requisite for society, or might it emerge afterwards?
19763 I doubt whether a savage person ever complains of life, or considers suicide
19765 Savages avoid evil because they are calm, and never think of it (not because they know goodness)
19771 Savage men quietly pursue desires, without the havoc of modern frenzied imagination
19778 Leisure led to envy, inequality, vice and revenge, which we now see in savages
19751 Our two starting principles are concern for self-interest, and compassion for others
19791 Natural mankind is too fragmented for states of peace, or of war and enmity
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / c. A unified people
20501 Rousseau assumes that laws need a people united by custom and tradition [Wolff,J]
7237 The act of becoming 'a people' is the real foundation of society
19792 To overcome obstacles, people must unite their forces into a single unified power
19812 Human nature changes among a people, into a moral and partial existence
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 2. Population / b. State population
19814 A state must be big enough to preserve itself, but small enough to be governable
19815 Too much land is a struggle, producing defensive war; too little makes dependence, and offensive war
19822 If the state enlarges, the creators of the general will become less individually powerful
19823 If the population is larger, the government needs to be more powerful
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 3. Natural Values / a. Natural freedom
19774 A savage can steal fruit or a home, but there is no means of achieving obedience
7234 No man has any natural authority over his fellows
7232 Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains
24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 3. Natural Values / b. Natural equality
19772 In a state of nature people are much more equal; it is society which increases inequalities
19789 It is against nature for children to rule old men, fools to rule the wise, and the rich to hog resources
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 1. Purpose of a State
19816 A state's purpose is liberty and equality - liberty for strength, and equality for liberty
7247 The greatest social good comes down to freedom and equality
19838 The measure of a successful state is increase in its population
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / a. Sovereignty
19787 People accept the right to be commanded, because they themselves wish to command
20567 Rousseau insists that popular sovereignty needs a means of expressing consent [Oksala]
19848 The sovereignty does not appoint the leaders
19801 Sovereignty is the exercise of the general will, which can never be delegated
19805 Just as people control their limbs, the general-will state has total control of its members
19818 Political laws are fundamental, as they firmly organise the state - but they could still be changed
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / b. Natural authority
19790 Force can only dominate if it is seen as a right, and obedience as a duty
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / c. Social contract
7233 The social order is a sacred right, but based on covenants, not nature
19842 The government is instituted by a law, not by a contract
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / d. General will
7239 The social pact is the total subjection of individuals to the general will
19793 We need a protective association which unites forces, but retains individual freedom
7240 To foreign powers a state is seen as a simple individual
19795 The act of association commits citizens to the state, and the state to its citizens
19796 Individual citizens still retain a private will, which may be contrary to the general will
19797 Citizens must ultimately for forced to accept the general will (so freedom is compulsory!)
7244 The general will is common interest; the will of all is the sum of individual desires
19802 The general will is always right, but the will of all can err, because it includes private interests
19803 If the state contains associations there are fewer opinions, undermining the general will
19804 If a large knowledgeable population votes in isolation, their many choices will have good results
19808 The general will changes its nature when it focuses on particulars
7246 The general will is always good, but sometimes misunderstood
7250 Laws are authentic acts of the general will
19844 Assemblies must always confirm the form of government, and the current administration
19846 The more unanimous the assembly, the stronger the general will becomes
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 4. Citizenship
19854 We all owe labour in return for our keep, and every idle citizen is a thief
19817 Citizens should be independent of each other, and very dependent on the state
19840 A citizen is a subject who is also sovereign
24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 5. Culture
19780 We seem to have made individual progress since savagery, but actually the species has decayed
19839 The flourishing of arts and letters is too much admired
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 2. Leaders / b. Monarchy
19798 Ancient monarchs were kings of peoples; modern monarchs more cleverly rule a land
19831 The highest officers under a monarchy are normally useless; the public could choose much better
19833 Hereditary monarchy is easier, but can lead to dreadful monarchs
19834 Attempts to train future kings don't usually work, and the best have been unprepared
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 2. Leaders / d. Elites
19829 Natural aristocracy is primitive, and hereditary is dreadful, but elective aristocracy is best
7249 Natural aristocracy is primitive, hereditary is bad, and elective aristocracy is the best
19830 Large states need a nobility to fill the gap between a single prince and the people
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 3. Government / a. Government
19820 The state has a legislature and an executive, just like the will and physical power in a person
19827 Law makers and law implementers should be separate
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 3. Government / c. Executive
19821 I call the executive power the 'government', which is the 'prince' - a single person, or a group
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 3. Government / d. Size of government
19824 Large populations needs stronger control, which means power should be concentrated
19826 Democracy for small states, aristocracy for intermediate, monarchy for large
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 4. Changing the State / c. Revolution
19747 Revolutionaries usually confuse liberty with total freedom, and end up with heavier chains
19837 If inhabitants are widely dispersed, organising a revolt is much more difficult
19843 The state is not bound to leave civil authority to its leaders
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy
19825 If the sovereign entrusts government to at least half the citizens, that is 'democracy'
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / b. Consultation
19748 Plebiscites are bad, because they exclude the leaders from crucial decisions
7243 Silence of the people implies their consent
19832 Democratic elections are dangerous intervals in government
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / c. Direct democracy
19749 In a direct democracy, only the leaders should be able to propose new laws
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / d. Representative democracy
7251 The English are actually slaves in between elections
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / e. Democratic minorities
7238 Minorities only accept majority-voting because of a prior unanimous agreement
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / f. Against democracy
19828 Democracy leads to internal strife, as people struggle to maintain or change ways of ruling
19835 When ministers change the state changes, because they always reverse policies
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism
19745 The nature of people is decided by the government and politics of their society
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 10. Theocracy
19849 In early theocracies the god was the king, and there were as many gods as nations
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 1. Slavery
19784 Enslaved peoples often boast of their condition, calling it a state of 'peace'
19785 If the child of a slave woman is born a slave, then a man is not born a man
19775 People must be made dependent before they can be enslaved
19841 Sometimes full liberty is only possible at the expense of some complete enslavement
19847 We can never assume that the son of a slave is a slave
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 5. Freedom of lifestyle
19746 Like rich food, liberty can ruin people who are too weak to cope with it
7242 Appetite alone is slavery, and self-prescribed laws are freedom
25. Social Practice / B. Equalities / 1. Grounds of equality
19786 Three stages of the state produce inequalities of wealth, power, and enslavement
19800 The social compact imposes conventional equality of rights on people who may start unequally
25. Social Practice / B. Equalities / 4. Economic equality
19788 The pleasure of wealth and power is largely seeing others deprived of them
7248 No citizen should be rich enough to buy another, and none so poor as forced to sell himself
25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 3. Alienating rights
19794 If we all give up all of our rights together to the community, we will always support one another
7241 In society man loses natural liberty, but gains a right to civil liberty and property
19806 We alienate to society only what society needs - but society judges that, not us
25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 4. Property rights
19777 Persuading other people that some land was 'owned' was the beginning of society
19782 What else could property arise from, but the labour people add to it?
19781 Land cultivation led to a general right of ownership, administered justly
19754 If we have a natural right to property, what exactly does 'belonging to' mean?
19799 Private property must always be subordinate to ownership by the whole community
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 2. The Law / a. Legal system
19819 The state ensures liberty, so civil law separates citizens, and binds them to the state
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 2. The Law / c. Natural law
19750 Writers just propose natural law as the likely useful agreements among people
7245 Natural justice, without sanctions, benefits the wicked, who exploit it
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / a. Right to punish
19809 We accept the death penalty to prevent assassinations, so we must submit to it if necessary
19810 A trial proves that a criminal has broken the social treaty, and is no longer a member of the state
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / b. Retribution for crime
19770 Primitive people simply redressed the evil caused by violence, without thought of punishing
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / c. Deterrence of crime
19811 Only people who are actually dangerous should be executed, even as an example
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / b. Justice in war
7236 War gives no right to inflict more destruction than is necessary for victory
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / c. Combatants
23607 Wars are between States, not people, and the individuals are enemies by accident
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / e. Peace
19783 A state of war remains after a conquest, if the losers don't accept the winners
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 2. Religion in Society
19850 By separating theological and political systems, Jesus caused divisions in the state
19851 Every society has a religion as its base
19852 Civil religion needs one supreme god, an afterlife, justice, and the sanctity of the social contract
19853 All religions should be tolerated, if they tolerate each other, and support citizenship
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 4. Taxation
19836 The amount of taxation doesn't matter, if it quickly circulates back to the citizens
25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 6. Animal Rights
19753 Both men and animals are sentient, which should give the latter the right not to be mistreated
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 2. Defining Kinds
19761 Men started with too few particular names, but later had too few natural kind names
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 3. Evolution
19776 Small uninterrupted causes can have big effects
29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 4. Christianity / a. Christianity
7252 A tyrant exploits Christians because they don't value this life, and are made to be slaves