Jacques-Yves Cousteau

The 18th century Enlightenment period was undeniably a historical viewpoint that advocated for greater decency in society. During its beginnings, many intellectuals referred as the “philosophes” emerged in France, and used the ideas of the Scientific Revolution to reconsider all aspects of society. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant defined the Enlightenment as “a man’s leaving his self-caused immaturity” (What Is Enlightenment?). Kant even proclaimed as the maxim of the Enlightenment: “Dare…

The Enlightenment was a movement that claimed the minds of a majority of liberal thinkers and was a time of political awakening that became revolutionary. Spreading throughout Europe and describing a time in western philosophy, the Enlightenment was the time scholars and intellectuals were free to speak their mind without fear of authority. Individuals of this certain time period, which was known as the “Age of Reason” spoke on fundamental concepts that were faith in nature, belief in human…

“The Social Contract” was Rousseau’s most important contribution to his time, and to philosophy in general. It played a key role in establishing governments after the American Revolution and French Revolution. He brought to light these new ideas, and they would have a lasting effect for the years to come. Going hand in hand with Rousseau’s “The Social Contract”, his “Discourse on Inequality” provides many key points and factors left out. While “The Social Contract” gives a solution to failures…

Rousseau, on the other hand, theorized that there were two types of inequality: natural and moral (1:1). Natural inequality is one which can easily be defined by age, health, strength, and the like (1:1). Moral, or political inequality, however, originates from society through the consent of man, and creates privilege or oppression of man based on possessions, money, honor and power; this idea is consistent with Smith’s observation of inequality (8/31). Before man was civilized he was in a…

no particular relation to the body politic, leaves the laws with only the force the derive from themselves without adding any force to them, and, due to this, one of the great bonds of any particular society remains ineffectual” Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 268). Rousseau goes more in detail in his argument against Christianity and believes Christianity alone can lead to vice and destruction in any regime, “What is more, far from attaching the citizens’ hearts to the state, it detaches them from…

genders, nationalities, and economic and political statuses. One might begin to wonder: how did such imbalance arise in people who are, in essence, very much the same? In his Discourse on the Origin, and the Foundation of Inequality Among Men, Jean-Jacque Rousseau discusses his theories about the sources of inequality in humankind. He, along with other authors, has much evidence to argue that the injustices in society came about as a result of the formation of civilization. In his Discourse on…

Law and society, although different, are directly related to each other. Laws are meant to be rules that reflect values of the society, although this is often not the case. Laws are often created and applied in ways that help the majority and marginalized unwanted groups such as the poor and minority groups. While Rousseau views law and society as a tool used to maintain the divide between the wealthy and the poor from the onset of civilization, Barkman sees law and society as a pure idea that…

Locke and Rousseau were both concerned about the relationship between liberty and the civil state. The civil state is a potential threat to the liberty of its citizens. For both authors this liberty exists naturally in the state of nature. Both authors use the state of nature to establish that liberty preceded political society and how a properly designed government can maintain this natural liberty. Because their method of deriving the ideal state from the state of nature is the same, the stark…

Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu (1689-1775) Montesquieu disagreed with both Hobbes and Locke because Hobbes and Locke both describe a “presocial” nature and this to Montesquieu was futile (p.15), and in order to understand society we must understand it through observation. Montesquieu discussed three types of government; Republic, Monarchy and Despotism (p.15). “In a Republic, individuals are citizens and are therefore equal. In a Monarchy, the principle of honour produces hierarchies of…

Civilization’s Degrading Effect on Man In The First and Second Discourses, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents his argument that man’s progress has removed him from his natural state, and that this removal has been to his detriment. He asserts that vanity, avarice, and other sins are not part of this natural state, but rather products of the progression of the arts and sciences. Rousseau describes natural man as better than civilized man because, “His desires do not exceed his physical needs, the…