Revisiting Rousseau
For my essay rewrite, I plan to revisit Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality. In my original essay, I argued that Rousseau successfully convinces his readers that the nascent man was happy than both the natural or modern man. However, as I reread and investigate his argument with new outside scholarly sources, I’m beginning to find faults in […]
Why Rousseau has to rethink his argument.
In my essay, I disagreed with Rousseau. I found that his opinions were not valid nor well justified, and overall too thin to persuade me that the savage man was, in fact, happier than us, civil men. I felt that it was irrelevant for him to compare the savage man to the civil man especially […]
Rousseau and Hypocrisy
Jean-Jaques Rousseau remains an influential figure not only for his writing, but as an interesting individual. Interestingly, Rousseau seems to be just as interested in himself as anyone else. This seemingly contradicts with his idea of “amour propre”, or self … Continue reading →
My Opinion on Others’ Opinions
You know how people are constantly telling you not to listen to what other people say, and it’s only what you think about yourself that matters? I know I’ve been told it a million times, but, and I think Rousseau would agree, … Continue reading →
Social Media’s Relation to the Idea of “Amour Propre”
Something Jean-Jacques Rousseau mentions in A Discourse on Inequality is the term Amour propre. Amour propre is a translated in French as “self-love” and is the concept that one’s esteem is dependent on the opinion of others. As Rousseau explains … Continue reading →
Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality: Is Progress Worth It?
In his Discourse in Inequality, Jean-Jacques Rousseau describes the stage in society known as nascent man to be the “golden mean” (115) between primitive and civilized humans, portraying it as the “happiest epoch” of human history. But what about nascent man makes him happier than all others, if we look at the seemingly endless luxuries that … Continue reading Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality: Is Progress Worth It?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Father of Romanticism
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote his most notable works during the Enlightenment period, but it would be his influence on the next era of artful thinkers which would earn him the title ‘the Father of Romanticism’. Romanticism was born after a time … Continue reading →
Nature is not kind, Jason did not make bread.
The problem with the discourse on inequality amongst men: There is a glaring fault of logic in Rousseau’s Second Discourse. I will illustrate it using an analogy, then explain why they are comparative. A Discourse on the reasons Jason … Continue reading →
Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
I really enjoy reading Rousseau’s works—he is such a gifted writer with beautiful images in his words and cutting digs that are barely below the surface. Here are some I just happened to open up to recently, among many passages I think are great. From towards the end of Part One of A […]
“Tea Without Sugar, Along with Our Twitter” and the Trouble with Rousseau
Out of the many books that we’ve read for Artsone so far, I’ve thought greatly about each text and have found the connection it has with Western ideas; specifically and especially with the different types of governance each of these … Continue reading →