Rousseau's Socratism

Orwin, Clifford

doi:10.2307/2648006

“…He directs the apparent argument to the people, who are corrupted by the sciences and arts. The second lesson is directed to the "few men [who] must be allowed to devote themselves to the study of the sciences and arts," those who will not be corrupted by their pursuit, for reasons Masters does not elaborate (Sciences, 63; see Kavanagh 1987, 125-29;Orwin 1998;Strauss [1947Strauss [ ] 1972. Further analysis of the allegory points to the reason for the difference in these two audiences and also leads back to the ultimate argument of the Discourse.…”

Section: Pride As the Source Of The Sciences And Artsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rousseau's Politic Argument in the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts

Campbell¹,

Scott²

2005

American Journal of Political Science

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Rousseau's arguments often turn on a correct understanding of the relationship between cause and effect. We argue that the principal cause-effect argument of the Discourse is actually the opposite of the one Rousseau appears to posit in his work. Whereas he initially seems to argue that the sciences and arts corrupt morals, his ultimate argument is that the corruption of morals is the cause of the advancement of the sciences and arts and of their corrupting effects. Behind both moral corruption and the advancement of the sciences and arts lies a more remote cause: human pride and the unequal social and political conditions that result from pride and then foster it. Rousseau takes advantage of this complex causal relationship by simultaneously presenting an initial causal argument that gives his essay its paradoxical character and obscuring the ultimate causal argument of the work because of its implications as a critique of political authority and inequality.

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“…He directs the apparent argument to the people, who are corrupted by the sciences and arts. The second lesson is directed to the “few men [who] must be allowed to devote themselves to the study of the sciences and arts,” those who will not be corrupted by their pursuit, for reasons Masters does not elaborate ( Sciences , 63; see Kavanagh 1987, 125–29; Orwin 1998; Strauss [1947] 1972). Further analysis of the allegory points to the reason for the difference in these two audiences and also leads back to the ultimate argument of the Discourse .…”

Section: The Ultimate Causal Argument Of the Discoursementioning

confidence: 99%

“…We focus on the causal argument of the Discourse itself, and by doing so we make two important contributions to understanding a work that “signals an epoch in Western thought” (Orwin 1998, 182), and yet remains one of the least explored works in political thought. First, by tracing the intentionally complex argument of Rousseau's prize essay, we demonstrate the work's coherence at the same time as we suggest why it has been underappreciated by scholars.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rousseau's Politic Argument in the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts

Campbell

¹

,

Scott

²

2005

American J Political Sci

4

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rousseau's arguments often turn on a correct understanding of the relationship between cause and effect. We argue that the principal cause-effect argument of the Discourse is actually the opposite of the one Rousseau appears to posit in his work. Whereas he initially seems to argue that the sciences and arts corrupt morals, his ultimate argument is that the corruption of morals is the cause of the advancement of the sciences and arts and of their corrupting effects. Behind both moral corruption and the advancement of the sciences and arts lies a more remote cause: human pride and the unequal social and political conditions that result from pride and then foster it. Rousseau takes advantage of this complex causal relationship by simultaneously presenting an initial causal argument that gives his essay its paradoxical character and obscuring the ultimate causal argument of the work because of its implications as a critique of political authority and inequality.

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“…It is not in Book Five but in Book One that these principles are first pronounced (51-52). those who are unprepared-which in Rousseau's view means the vast majority of readers-from giving themselves over to it (Orwin 1998).…”

Section: Possibility and Practicabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Nature and the Love of Wisdom: Rousseau's Hidden (and Modified) Platonism

Cooper

¹

2002

The Journal of Politics

16

0

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Book Five of Rousseau's Emile treats the same three themes, in the same order, as Book Five of Plato's Republic, and so can rightly be seen as a response to it. The response appears at first to be largely negative, for Rousseau emphatically rejects the political proposals made by Socrates. Yet Socrates' proposals can also be interpreted nonpolitically, as pertaining to the development of a just or healthy soul. And at this level, there turns out to be surprisingly close agreement and correspondence between the respective Books Five-not just because Rousseau, too, speaks to the development of the healthy soul, but also because the education depicted in Book Five of Emile emerges, on close study, as an education in or toward philosophy. Even as Rousseau embraces a Platonic teaching, though, he modifies it in a way that suggests a certain compatibility between aristocratic and democratic principles. "Let us call your future beloved Sophie. The name Sophie augurs well (329)." 1 In Emile Rousseau depicts the moral and spiritual heights attainable by a man of ordinary gifts (52, 245, 393). Through a natural education, he brings the book's eponymous hero to a clarity of vision, a purity of sentiment, and a wholeness of heart that we cannot but greatly admire. Doubtless this revelation of the extraordinary potential of ordinary men is among Rousseau's reasons for calling Emile "his greatest and best book" (Rousseau 1990b, 23).Yet for all his attainments, Emile does not seem to ascend the very highest peaks, the peaks constituted by the most expansive and hence most enviable experience of existence. The most exalted life to be found in Rousseau's corpus is not Emile's but rather his own, that is, the life of a philosopher, as depicted in the late autobiographical writings. It is not Emile but the solitary walker of the Reveries whose experience of life is godlike (Rousseau 1992, 68-69) and

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Rousseau's Socratism

Cited by 19 publications

References 11 publications

Rousseau's Politic Argument in the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts

Rousseau's Politic Argument in the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts

Rousseau's Politic Argument in the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts

Human Nature and the Love of Wisdom: Rousseau's Hidden (and Modified) Platonism

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