Jean-Jacques Rousseau belongs to those philosophers who will continue to cause debate for a long time. Does he belong to the galaxy of thinkers of the Enlightenment or, conversely, to its most implacable critics? Did he pave the way for the French Revolution or did everything to prevent it from happening? Many biographers broke their spears, arguing about who Jean-Jacques Rousseau was. The main ideas of this philosopher, who belonged simultaneously to the schools of naturalism and sensualism, we will consider in this article. After all, it was this man who understood that progress brings unhappiness, and despotism generates the lack of rights of the majority. In a situation where the bulk of the people lived almost below the poverty line, he cherished the idea of universal equality.
The views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: what lies at their core
The main motive for the ideas of the philosopher is the requirement to bring society out of the state in which it is now. That is, from a situation of general corruption. His fellow enlighteners argued that this was possible, if only princes and rulers were properly educated. And also to establish a republic where everyone will receive equal material benefits and political rights. Rousseau believed that the main principle of a correct society lies in the correct moral thinking. The philosopher said that "every man is virtuous," when his "private will in everything corresponds 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 whole philosophy.
Biography. Youth and career start
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 childhood. His mother died during childbirth, and his father fled the city because he was the victim of criminal prosecution. From an early age he was apprenticed, but neither the notary public nor the engraver, in whose subordination the future philosopher was, loved him. The fact is that he preferred to read books hard and not work. He was often punished, and he decided to flee. He came to the neighboring region - Savoy, which was Catholic. There, not without the participation of Madame de Varan, her first patroness, he became a Catholic. Thus began the ordeal of a young thinker. He works as a lackey in an aristocratic family, but does not take root there and goes back to Madame de Varanas. With her help, he goes to study at the seminary, leaves her, 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 “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, then returns to Madame de Varanes and lives with her in Paris, in Chambery and in other places.
Maturity
Rousseau ultimately considered it impossible to remain a long time as a protégé of an aging lady. He tried to earn, but unsuccessfully. He could neither educate the children nor work as secretary of the ambassador. He had problems with all employers. Misanthropy gradually penetrates the character of this person. He does not converge with people. Nature is what begins to captivate such a lover of solitude as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The biography of the philosopher suddenly makes a sharp turn - he marries a maid serving in one of the hotels. This was a rude, vulgar woman, whom he did not like at all, but she fed him. He gave all his children to an orphanage, later claiming that he did not have money to support his family. He continued to work in various temporary positions, and now, being a secretary, he entered the society of the Encyclopedists who gathered at home. One of his first friends was Denis Didro. The latter was often persecuted for his political views. Once, when Jean-Jacques went to visit Diderot in custody, he read in a newspaper a competitive announcement of an award for the best work on the topic of whether science and art were useful to society. The young man wrote an essay denouncing culture and civilization. Oddly enough, it was he, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who won the first place. The main ideas of his philosophy were expressed in this text. Thus began his biography as a thinker.
Glory
Since then, Rousseau has lived a brilliant ten years. He wrote music and operettas, which were staged on the royal stage. He was fashionable in high society. And since his main idea was to reject the culture of his day, he abandoned the principles of a rich and prosperous life, began to dress simply (and even rudely), and began to communicate vulgarly and abusively with his aristocratic friends. He earned a living by rewriting notes. Although secular ladies showered him with gifts, all the presents went to his greedy wife. Soon, the philosopher wrote another work that became popular. The political ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau appeared for the first time in this work. Discussing how inequality occurred, the thinker considered that everything that underlies the life of modern society - the state, laws, division of labor - all this led to a moral decline. One of the connoisseurs of Rousseau, Madame d'Epine, built for him in their possessions a special "Hermitage" among the forest, where the philosopher could indulge in thought alone. However, after an unsuccessful affair with a young married aristocrat, which led to a scandal among the Encyclopedists, Russo 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 draws the wrath of the Church upon him, and he flees from the judgment of the Paris Parliament. Hiding in his native Switzerland, he sees that he is not welcome here either - the government of the Berne canton expels the philosopher. The Prussian king gives him a new refuge - Rousseau spends another three years in the village of Motier. However, then the squabble nature makes him quarrel with all the surrounding residents. Trying to start a new life, he arrives in Geneva and again accepts Calvinism, but he cannot get along peacefully with representatives of this denomination, and begins to quarrel with them. The climax of these problems was the conflict with another “ruler of thoughts” of that era - Voltaire, who also lived near Geneva, in the Ferney estate. The mocking rival with the help of pamphlets survives Jean-Jacques of Motier, and Russo is forced to flee to England. He accepts the invitation of another philosopher, Hume. But he still cannot get along, and after a while a new friend declares Russo crazy.
Wanderings and death
The philosopher returns to Paris, wanders again, taking refuge either from one friend or from another. Voltaire begins to publish pamphlets about what a terrible life a man named Russo Jean-Jacques lived. The philosophy and actions of this “hypocrite” do not coincide at all, the opponent notes. In response, Russo 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 arranged in his honor, the philosopher suddenly dies. His grave on the island of Yves became a place of pilgrimage for fans of the thinker who believed that Rousseau fell victim to public ostracism.
Russo Jean-Jacques. The philosophy of escapism
As already mentioned, the first works of the thinker were competitive “Reasoning” about art, sciences and the origin of inequality. Subsequently, he wrote such works as “The Social Contract”, “Emil, or Education of Feelings” and “New Eloise”. Some of his works are written in the form of an essay, and some as novels. It was the last most famous Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The basic ideas about the denunciation of civilization and culture, from which one should flee, expressed by him in his youth, find their natural continuation. The main thing in man, as the philosopher believed, is not reason at all, but feelings. The basic instincts of a moral being should be recognized as Conscience and Genius. Unlike the mind, they are not mistaken, although often not realized. The Renaissance era, which everyone admires, has led to a real decline in society, because science, art and industrial development, which began at that time, led to the alienation of people from each other and the emergence of artificial needs. And the task of the real philosopher is to make man united again and, accordingly, happy.
Historical views
But not only the Renaissance and its achievements were denounced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The theory of social contract is one of its main philosophical conclusions. Criticizing contemporary political ideas, he contradicts the popular Hobbes at that time. In the primitive era, says Rousseau, there was no “war of all against all”, but a real “golden age”. The modern fallen society begins with the advent of private property - as soon as someone staked out the plot and declared: “This is mine,” the innocence of mankind has disappeared. Of course, it is impossible to reverse science, but progress as such can be slowed down. To do this, you must conclude a social contract and create a republic of equal small owners. All issues there will be resolved not by separation of powers, but by referenda.
What should a person be like
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a lot about education. A man, first of all, must be a natural being, because all his basic inclinations and abilities are caused by nature. Since feelings, as we have already found out, are the main thing in people, it is precisely these that should be developed. Excessive reasoning only tires, but does not exalt at all. The real dignity of man comes from the heart, and 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 deaf. Therefore, he should return to his ideal, represented by the image of a “noble savage”, surrendering to the immediacy of feelings, and not broken by unnecessary requirements of artificial etiquette.
Education and upbringing
The views of the philosopher are full of contradictions. Pounding on culture and science, Rousseau, however, always used their fruits and acknowledged their necessity and undeniable merits in the upbringing of man. He believed, like many of his contemporaries, that if rulers listen to philosophers, then society will become more perfect. But this is not the only contradiction that was characteristic of such a thinker as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The pedagogical ideas of the philosopher lay their hopes on the enlightenment, which he so criticized. It is it that can make it possible to educate worthy citizens, and without it, rulers and subordinates will be only slaves and liars. But you 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 foundation of everything
Although the life of the philosopher did not match his views, morality plays an important role in his works. Emotions and empathy, 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. So Rousseau Jean-Jacques considered. The philosopher 's statements about morality, nature and religion are very similar. Both virtue and faith must be subject 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, his moral, emotional and rational components. Therefore, individuals must overcome their moral estrangement from each other and not be likened to politicians who "are more like rabid wolves ... than Christians ... who want to return their opponents to the path of truth."
Russo's influence on his own and subsequent centuries was undeniable. His ideas about contrasting selfishness and virtue, justice and the insidiousness of false laws, greed of the owners and the innocence of the poor, as well as dreams of returning to nature, were picked up by romantics, fighters for a better social system and social rights, seekers of solidarity and fraternity.