1. Mr. Barnett & Mr. Karlowicz University High School AP US Government 2012-2013

2.  Eclectic Interests  Author  Artist  Musician  Composer  Botanist  Philosopher ▪ 1750 – Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts ▪ 1755 – A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality ▪ 1755 – A Discourse on Political Economy ▪ 1762 – Emile, or On Education

3.  Born in the independent city-state Geneva 1712  Calvinist city  Son of Issac Rouseau, watchmaker and citizen  Big Break in Paris  Essay contest  Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts  Comes to the conclusion that humankind is good by nature but corrupted by society

4.  Blamed art and science  Not authentic human needs  Result of pride and vanity – Need for recognition & superiority  Have paved way for excess materialism, and laziness

5.  But…if society composed of inherently good people how is it corrupting?  In “natural state” people are not dissimilar to animals - savages  Possess, amour de soi, positive self-love  Need to self-preserve  Compassion

6.  “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.”

7.  Turning point happens when small villages appear  Competition for mates leads to amour propre - pride  desire to compare self to others  and to take pleasure in the shortcomings of others  Situation gets worse with development of:  Private Property  Agriculture and metallurgy  Material interdependence  Unequal relations lead to:  Misrepresentation to further own means  Loss of freedom  Alienation of self

8.  Break with French Enlightenment  1758 – Letter to D’Alembert on the Theater

9.  However, amour prope (pride), possibly redeeming  Develops humans’ rational capabilities  Provides a sense of self among others in society  Expressed in the Social Contract  Rousseau sets out to answer how to reconcile individual freedom with state authority  People can no longer satisfy all of their needs without working with others  Thus, need system where people enjoy protection of state but retain their freedom

10.  How to reconcile freedom & authority?  “Man is born free, but everywhere in chains”  General Will  Collective will of the citizenry  Source of law - willed by all citizens and applies to all citizens  General in application & universal in scope  Exchange natural freedom for civil/moral freedom  Thus, by obeying the law each citizen is subject to their own will, and remains free!

11.  The Breakdown:  Individuals yield to the “General Will”  The “General Will” unifies citizens under the republic or “Body Politic”  The “Body Politic” is sovereign  The sovereign power exercises the “General Will” ▪ Republican representative government?

12. General Will Republic or Body Politic Sovereign

13.  Implement the “General Will”  Uphold the social contract to ensure that all persons enjoy the same rights  Ensure that power shall be exercised with moderation  Legislator creates, executive enforces  Maintain the commonwealth  Very Pessimistic

14.  Uphold four types of law  Fundamental Law (structure)  Civil Law (interpersonal)  Criminal Law  Morality, Custom, and Public Opinion  Avoid appeals to patriotism

15.  Framers of the Constitution  General Will and Republicanism  Separation of Church and State? ▪ Civil Religion ▪ Atheists?  Four Types of Law  Marxists  Submission to the “General Will”  Elimination of “Theological Religion”  Avoid Appeals to Patriotism

16.  Controversial  Critical view of philosophers ▪ Hobbes  Disliked by contemporaries ▪ Dierdot ▪ David Hume ▪ Voltaire  “Rousseau was a genius whose real influence cannot be traced with precision because it pervaded all the thought that followed him…Men will always be sharply divided about Rousseau: for he released imagination as well as sentimentalism; he increased men's desire for justice as well as confusing their minds, and he gave the poor hope even though the rich could make use of his arguments. In one direction at least Rousseau's influence was a steady one: he discredited force as a basis for the State, convinced men that authority was legitimate only when founded in rational consent and that no arguments from passing expediency could justify a government in disregarding individual freedom or in failing to promote social equality”