1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Josh, Shannon, Carli, Joel, and Amanda

2. Biography  Born in Geneva on June 28, 1712  Suzanne Bernard, his mother, died a week after he was born  Brother ran away from home  Isaac Rousseau, his father, left Geneva to avoid imprisonment  Was raised by his uncle after his father left  Was sent to study in the village of Bosey.

3. Biography (cont.)  Apprenticed to an engraver  1725; left and went to Annecy due to his master being violent  1742; went to Paris to become a composer and musician  Wrote the books – o Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality(1754) o Lettre sur les spectacles(1758) o La Nouvelle Héloise(1761) o The Social Contract(1762) o Émile(1762) o Réveries(1782)

4. Philosophical Ideas Did this political thinker think people could govern themselves?  Believed people could govern themselves  Sees freedom and liberty not to do whatever you want but the opportunity to do the right thing. o This includes obedience to authority, an authority agreed on by the citizens not a forced authority.

5. Philosophical Ideas (cont.) Is humankind basically good or bad?  Children naturally good, innocent.  He writes “Make the citizen good by training”, “and everything else will follow”.  Training = education o Education should be personalized depending on the stage, nature of the individual.  Develop ideas for your own based on experience, not be taught other peoples ideas  Humans are by nature good - and it is society's institutions that corrupt them

6. Philosophical Ideas (cont.) What are the underlining ideas behind Rousseau’s thinking?  Was isolated from other children  No formal education  Draws influence from his relationships  Thérèse Lavasseur: o Companion to Rousseau (believed she had a ‘pure heart’) o Had five children but gave them up to an orphanage because they felt they would be better off  Found living amongst people difficult o Preferring solitary life o Felt like he maliciously attacked, particularly by Voltaire

7. Beliefs in Government  Believed that authority lies with the people.  In The Social Contract written in 1762 Rousseau states: o Man is born free. o Controls by a freely formed government are good. o Consent to a form of governments means that the individual gives up self-interest in favor of the common good. o When government is by the consent of the governed the people retain their rights.

8. Beliefs in Government (cont.)  Hated political and economic oppression  Supported revolt  Influenced thinkers for more than 200 years o may have influenced the writers of our Constitution.  Was influenced by the modern natural law tradition o Which Attempted to answer the challenge of skepticism through a systematic approach to human nature that, like Hobbes, emphasized self-interest

9. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Symbol