Essay on Rousseaus View of Humanity - 1118 Words

Jean Jacques Rousseau in On Education writes about how to properly raise and educate a child. Rousseaus opinion is based on his own upbringing and lack of formal education at a young age. Rousseau depicts humanity as naturally good and becomes evil because humans tamper with nature, their greatest deficiency, but also possess the ability to transform into self-reliant individuals. Because of the context of the time, it can be seen that Rousseau was influenced by the idea of self-preservation, individual freedom, and the Enlightenment, which concerned the operation of reason, and the idea of human progress. Rousseau was unaware of psychology and the study of human development. This paper will argue that Rousseau theorizes that humanity is†¦show more content†¦With this growing strength comes the sense to use it. Then the child will become less dependent on others and become self-reliant as an adult. Humanitys greatest deficiency to Rousseau was that they tampered too much with nature. When humans tamper with nature, they become evil as Rousseau writes, God makes all thing good; man meddles with them and they become evil.5 An example that Rousseau gives is that man forces one soil to yield the products of another. By doing this, humans are defacing nature. Nature is an important aspect to understanding God. Rousseau viewed that nature is nothing but Gods handwriting which can be read and understood by all.6 Nature is then a way for humans and God to communicate. Since man will have nothing as nature made it, he removing God from being part of the world, and is how humanity is evil. Rousseau holds that even humanity will even deform themselves. The changing humanity itself is where the concept of a society develops. Humans tamper with the order of nature in order to fulfill their own desire. The collective desires of a group of people then forms a society. Rousseau was a strong opponent of society. Rousseau wrote, society has enfeebled man.7 When humans participate in this society, they become civilized. Rousseau writes, civilized man is born and dies a slave.8 Rousseau contends, all his long life man is imprisoned by theseShow MoreRelated The Influence of Jean Jacques Rousseau Essay1247 Words   |  5 Pageswill be examining the influence of Rousseau’s views on the relationship between the state and the individual in David’s painting â€Å"The Oath of the Horatii†. Rousseau’s publication, The Social Contract, states that â€Å"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains†. His belief is that everyone is equal and nobody has authority over anyone else. This was the source of the revolutionaries’ ideas (p96 Blk 3). 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