Jean Jacque Rousseau's Political And Political Philosophy

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INTRODUCTION Jean Jacque Rousseau was born in the city state of Geneva, Switzerland in 1772. Rousseau is primarily known for major works like- The Social Contract, Emile, Discourse on the origin of Inequality, the Constitutional Project for Corsica, and Consideration on the Government of Poland. What makes Rousseau such an important figure in the history of philosophy is because of his contribution to both political and moral philosophies and his concept of ‘general will’, which also gained him a lot of criticism. Apart from his philosophical and political contribution, he was also a novelist, an autobiographer, botanist, composer and also a music theorist. Rousseau’s his political philosophies flows through his moral philosophies. In order to understand this better, let me begin by explaining in details both his moral and political philosophies ROUSSEAU’S MORAL PHILOSOPHY- Rousseau was of the one of the very few thinkers who felt that human beings are good by nature but it is the society that corrupts them. He necessarily talks about three components that form the basis of Rousseau’s moral psychology- amour de soi, amour propre and pitie. All these three elements have developed well in Emile and in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. He begins by talking about amour de soi, which is a kind of self love and according to it human should cater to their own needs first and then help others. According to him, such kind of love for self was an outcome of what he claims to be

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