Rousseau and The Ideal Society
Although men with minds like
that of Socrates may be able to acquire virtue by reason, the human race
would long since have ceased to exist if its preservation had depended only
on the reasoning of its members.
Rousseau believed that the ideal society was based on his idea of the
natural man. According to this idea, humans were corrupted
by society and had come a long ways from being what they were intended to be.
However, Rousseau also believed that humans cannot reclaim their natural
state through education alone since education and educational conventions have
also been corrupted.
Rousseau thought that natural man was humanity that acted out of feelings
and from the heart. Over time, Rousseau believed that humans had lost their capacity to respond
in accordance to what nature intended. The reclaimed nature, together with his vision of the ideal society
would allow humans to once again live up to their moral potential. In Rousseau's reclaimed society,
equality, not freedom, was to be the goal Likewise, common well-being rather than individual
preference would be the pre-eminent.
The emphasis on a re-natured society also meant that Rousseau did not believe that humans needed to be taught
about morals. Compassion, the most important of all human virtues,
would allow humans to act acordingly. There is also no place for reason
in Rousseau's ideal society. In his Discourse on Inequality Among Men
Rousseau notes that "although men with minds like
that of Socrates may be able to acquire virtue by reason, the human race
would long since have ceased to exist if its preservation had depended only
on the reasoning of its members." Reason too, in the frame work of Rousseau's
theories, is corruptible and can be used in the service of self-interest.
Self-interest has also led to the desire to acquire property and the acquisition
of property has ultimately led to inequality: "or where there is no property
there is no injustice." Thus, it is hardly surprising that in Rousseau's ideal society
there would be no justification for ownership of
goods.
Ultimately, creating, or rather re-making, the ideal society requires a
a very specific kind of education. In Rousseau's view, the primary factor in the curriculum
for such a society will rest on the natural instincts to seek good in common well-being, and to
refocus the individualism in terms of collective interests.
Rousseau Home Page
On Inequality
The Social Contract
Rousseau and The Ideal Society
Natural Education
