By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
The thought of the French Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was one of the most commented and, therefore, most controversial in modern philosophy. There are several authors who highlight numerous contradictions between the proposals that Rousseau elaborated for the transformation of morality, society and politics and his own personal conduct.
However, in addition to the polemics, Rousseau's thought was one of the most influential for the generation of philosophers and social scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries who set out to reflect on the foundations of society, as well as its contradictions, such as exploitation, violence and inequality.
The main aspects that defined thinking social Rousseau's were:the conception that human nature is good (which put him squarely in opposition to the sixteenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes ) and that, derived from this conception, society is the one who corrupts it. The natural goodness of man would then be, for this French philosopher, gradually destroyed and corrupted by civilization. It would therefore be necessary to reduce the power of the sovereign State over free citizens, who would organize themselves in the form of the social contract, free from the impositions of the State and articulated in the principles of civil society. His thought inspired both liberals and socialists of the 19th century, as well as being one of the foundations for the French revolutionary process of the late 18th century.
One of the main opponents of Rousseau's ideas was the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797), who defended the position that Rousseau and the French revolutionaries had not understood “human nature”, whose moral order would be transcendent and not subject to alteration by the human will.
Rousseau's main work that expressed his social thought was the Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality among men, published in 1755, of which we highlight, below, a decisive passage:
“The true founder of civil society was the first who, having fenced off a piece of land, remembered to say this is mine and found people simple enough to believe it. How many crimes, wars, murders, miseries and horrors would the human race not be spared who, pulling out the stakes or filling the ditch, had shouted to his fellow men:'Beware of listening to this imposter; you are lost if you forget that the fruits belong to all and that the land belongs to no one.' [...]”. (ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques. Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality among men. In:Rousseau. São Paulo:Abril Cultural, 1978.)
Image Credits:Commons