Jean-Jacques Rousseau: the division of labour, the politics of the imagination and the concept of federal government

Skjönsberg, Max

doi:10.1080/17496977.2020.1794187

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Maguire in particular discusses the role of imagination in the Social Contract , specifically in relation to the lawgiver. In a more recent text, Sonenscher makes a similar point as the one presented above as he states that according to Rousseau, the viability of the social contract depends “on the continuing convergence of these multiple imaginative and imagined selves on a single, equally imagined, common self or moi commun .” (Sonenscher, 2020, pp. 112–113).…”

Section: Ideology and Ideology Critique In The Social Contractmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…112–113). This view leads him to the conclusion that for Rousseau, “modern life was actually ruled by the imagination.” (Sonenscher, 2020, p. 129). Sonenscher, in other words, comes very close to attributing to Rousseau the view which, as we have seen, characterizes Althusser's theory of ideology; social roles are not merely imagined, they are imaginary.…”

Section: Ideology and Ideology Critique In The Social Contractmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ideology as a function in Rousseau's Social Contract

Holm

2023

The Philosophical Forum

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This paper demonstrates how ideology plays a major, but previously neglected role in Rousseau's treatment of politics in the Social Contract. Specifically, it shows how a number of key elements in his line of argument come close to ideology criticism as it is conceived in Louis Althusser's theory of ideological state apparatuses. This is the case not just in relation to the distinction between general will and particular will, but also in relation to such concepts as property and social contract. However, the paper also demonstrates how this pre‐Marxist understanding of ideology co‐exists in the text with a different and more primitive understanding of ideology which is incompatible with Marxism and which points back to Rousseau's previous discourse on the origins of inequality. The paper concludes that while there are definitely elements in Rousseau's text which point toward a future development of the theme of ideology in Marxist theory, the Social Contract on the whole is characterized by heterogeneity on this topic.

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Section: Ideology and Ideology Critique In The Social Contractmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ideology and Ideology Critique In The Social Contractmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideology as a function in Rousseau's Social Contract

Holm

2023

The Philosophical Forum

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“…These questions are too complex-and Rousseau's views with respect to them too contested-for me to pursue here. However, seeSonenscher (2021, pp. 118-126), Niedleman (2017, andMarks (2006) for rich, if divergent, analyses of Rousseau's treatment of conscience.6 This is, of course, not to deny that Rousseau's detour served purposes beyond the preservation of self-esteem so much as to emphasize the important role that this deeper-lying motivation served in changing his route.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These questions are too complex—and Rousseau's views with respect to them too contested—for me to pursue here. However, see Sonenscher (2021, pp. 118–126), Niedleman (2017, pp.…”

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confidence: 99%

Theater of lies: The letter to D'Alembert and the tragedy of self‐deception

Warner

2022

European J of Philosophy

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Though Rousseau is recognized to have treated the problem of self‐knowledge with great sensitivity, very little is known about a centrally important aspect of that treatment—his understanding of self‐deception. I reconstruct this conception, emphasizing the importance of purposive but sub‐intentional processes that work to enhance agents' self‐esteem. I go on to argue that Rousseau's fundamental concern about the theater is its capacity to manipulate these processes in ways that make spectators both complicit in their own falsification and vulnerable to elite domination. This argument, with its focus on the pervasive and often subconscious character of self‐deception, not only problematizes an influential reading of Rousseau which emphasizes the epistemic availability of the “true” or “sincere” self, but also highlights the ongoing civic and moral threat posed by self‐deceptive mental states.

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau: the division of labour, the politics of the imagination and the concept of federal government

Cited by 2 publications

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Ideology as a function in Rousseau's Social Contract

Ideology as a function in Rousseau's Social Contract

Theater of lies: The letter to D'Alembert and the tragedy of self‐deception

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