ROUSSEAU For Stephanie An Introduction to his Psychological, Social and Political Theory N.J.H. Dent Basil Blackwell Copyright© N.J.H. Dent 1988 First published 1988 First published in USA 1989 Basil Blackwell Ltd 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 lJF, UK Objects of hate are but our own chimaerae. Basil Blackwell Inc. They arise from wounds within us. 432 Park Avenue South, Suite 1503 New York, NY 10016, USA Father Aloysius All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in (Henry Williamson: The Golden Virgin) a retrieval system,.o r transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to che condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re•sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without che publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Dent,N.J.H. (Nicholas John Henry) Rousseau: an introduction to his psychological, social and political theory. 1. Frenchphilosophy. Rousseau.Jean-Jacques-Critical studies I. Title 194 ISBN 0-631-15882-0 ISBN 0-631-15883-9 pbk Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Dent,N.J.H., 1945- Rousseau: an introduction to his psychological, social, and political theory. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778-Contributions in political science. 2. Rousseau,Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778-Contributionsin psychology. 3. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 17 12-1778-Contributions in sociology. I. Title. JC179.R9D36 1989 306'.2 88-19246 ISBN 0-631-15882-0 ISBN 0-631-15883-9 (pbk.) Typeset in 10 on 11112 pt Plantin by Colset Pte Ltd, Singapore Printed in Great Britain by Billing & Sons Ltd, Worcester ·-·· Contents Preface ix Rousseau's Works Cited in the Text x Chronological Table xii Breakdown of Contents xiv Introduction 1 Themes and Issues 9 1 Political Philosophy, or the Psychology of the Individual? 9 G Major themes 13 3 Analysis and Genesis 33 4 The First Topic 35 2 Self-Estrangement and Subservience to Others 37 1 Preliminaries 3 7 @ A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences 38 t Amour-propre - First Considerations 52 'Inflamed' Amour-propre 56 'Dependence' on Others 59 <Ji Social Relations and Inflamed Amour-propre 64 7 Inequality 67 8 The Genesis oflnflamed Amour-propre 70 9 An Agenda 85 3 A Rejected 'Solution': The Self in Isolation 87 1 Introductory Points 87 2 Amour-de-soi: Elementary Forms 91 3 Reflective Amour-de-soi 93 4 Self-estimating Amour-de-soi 98 5 Man-for-himself: Points from Emile 103 6 The 'Natural Goodness' of Amour-de-soi 109 viii Contents 4 The Self Completed: Standing with Others 113 1 The Terms of Rousseau's Argument 113 2 Pity and Human Relation: The First Step 126 3 Pity and Human Relation: The Second Step 136 4 'Extending' Amour-propre 143 5 Taking One's Place in Society 145 Preface 6 Intimacy 152 7 Rousseau's Account of Woman 157 8 Recapitulation and Prospect 161 # 5 The Self Indivisible from the Whole: Politics and Freedom 168 1 Introduction 168 /p The General Will 175 3 'Coming from All', and Decision Procedures 179 I have tried, throughout, to argue Rousseau's case through, not just to describe 4 The Obligation of Obedience 187 or narrate his ideas. I have wanted to try to show the power of his insights, to 5 Freedom and Obedience 193 show that these cannot be dismissed or ignored. Rousseau has not, in general, 6 The General Will, Again 200 been well served by his critics. It appears to have been thought more important 7 The General Will: Supplementary Notes 202 to show how wrong he was than to understand him. I do not share that sense of 8 The Grounds of Association: A Reconsideration 207 importance. 6 The Ideal State: Problems and Practicalities 212 Pressures of space have led me to exclude quite a lot that was included in the 1 The Purpose of This Chapter 212 original project for this book. I hope that what remains is sufficiently wide in 2 The Legislator 213 scope, and may have gained something in the concentration. 3 Government 218 The remote instigator of my interest in Rousseau was Dr J.R.S. Wilson, 4 The Bond of Union 220 who discussed with me the additional material included in the new Everyman 5 Poland and Corsica 223 edition of some of Rousseau's works when it appeared in 1973. I should like to 7 Public and Private Religion 229 thank him for starting my enthusiasm for these ideas. Another stimulus came 1 The Purpose of the Discussion 229 from John Charvet's: The Social Problem in the Philosophy of Rousseau. I found I disagreed with almost every assessment of Rousseau he made, which pro 2 Civil Religion 231 3 Conscience and the Voice of God 234 voked my combative instincts. I should like also to thank Jonathan Dancy for some very practical encouragement in getting on with this book, and my 4 Man's Place in God's Order 239 colleagues at the University of Birmingham for the great support they have Notes 243 given me during the past few years. Finally, I thank my mother and father for Bibliography 250 their continuous and unstinting help to me. Index 256 Sarah Blowen helped me with some translation, and Celia Charlesworth with the typing. Rousseau's Works cited in the Text xi A Discourse on Political in Cole/Brumfitt/Hall Economy (DPE) 'The General Society of the in Cole/Brumfitt/Hall Human Race' (from Geneva ms of the Social Contract; GSR) Rousseau's Works Cited 'Considerations on the in Rousseau: Political Writings Government of Poland' (GP) tr. and ed. F. Watkins (Nelson, in the Text Edinburgh, 1953) 'Constitutional Project for in Watkins Corsica' (CPC) Reveries of the Solitary Walker tr., with introduction, P. France (RSW) (Penguin, London, 1979) The Confessions (C) tr., with introduction, J.M. Cohen Abbreviations, translations used, etc. Where no translation is cited, I have (Penguin, London, 1954) made my own. References, in the text and notes, have been made as follows: 'Essay on the Origin of in Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The First where I have used a published translation I have given, first, the page reference Languages' (OL) and Second Discourses and Essay on in that translation, followed, wherever possible, by the volume number, and the Origin of Languages, tr. with page number, in J.-J. Rousseau: Oeuvres Completes, eds B. Gagnebin and M. introduction and notes Raymond (Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, 1959- ). This edition of Rousseau's V. Gourevitch (Harper & Row, works is not yet complete, so reference to it has not always been possible. Thus New York, 1986) DI 57; III, 169 signifies: A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (in the trans lation used, by G.D.H. Cole, revised and augmented by J.H. Brumfitt and Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques in Oeuvres Completes Vol. I J.C. Hall) p. 57; Volume 3 of the Oeuvres Completes, p. 169. Where I have (RJ) made my own translation, I give only the Oeuvres Completes reference. In the Lettres Ecrites de la Montagne in Oeuvres Completes Vol. III case of The Social Contract (SC) where there are two numbers they refer to (LM) Book and Chapter; a third number is a page reference. a Lettre Christophe de in Oeuvres Completes Vol. IV Beaumont (LB) A Discourse on the Arts and in Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Oeuvres Completes (OC) J.-J. Rousseau: Oeuvres Completes, Sciences (DAS) Contract and Discourses eds. B. Gagnebin and M. Raymond tr. G.D.H. Cole; revised and (Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, Editions augmentedJ.H. Brumfitt and Gallimard, 1959-) J.C. Hall (Dent, London, 1973) I have also used the following abbreviation in the text: A Discourse on the Origin of in Cole/Brumfitt/Hall Inequality (DI) Nicomachean Ethics (EN) Aristotle: Ethica Nicomachea, tr. W.D. Ross (The Works of Aristotle, Emile (or: On Education) (E) tr., with introduction and notes, Vol. IX, ed. W.D. Ross, Oxford Allan Bloom (Basic Books, University Press, 1963) New York, 1979) A more comprehensive list of Rousseau's works, and available translations, is The Social Contract (SC) in Cole/Brumfitt/Hall given in the Bibliography at the end of the book. Chronological table xiii 1754 Rousseau rejoins the Church of Geneva. 1755 A Discourse on the Origins of Inequality (the Second Discourse) (Rousseau began work on this in 1753). Discourse on Political Economy; in Volume V of Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyc/opedia. 1756 Rousseau takes up residence, with Therese and her mother, at The Chronological Table Hermitage. He makes extracts from, and assessments of, the works of the Abbe de Saint-Pierre (The Project for Perpetual Peace; Polysynodie). Letter to Voltaire on Providence. Begins to form the ideas for La Nouvelle Hiloise (ou Julie). 1757 Writes Lettres Morales, for Mme d'Houdetot. 1758 Letter to d'Alembert on the Theatre (a reply to d' Alembert's article on Geneva in Vol. VII of his Encyclopedia). Several good accounts of Rousseau's life have been written (including 1760 Rousseau is hard at work on Emile and The Social Contract. Rousseau's own account) - see the Bibliography at the end of the book. There 1761 La Nouvelle Hiloise published, with immense success. Essay on the se~ ed no point in giving a discursive precis of these, so I include only a table Origin of Languages completed (probably begun in the 1750s). setting down some of the events of his life that bear on the main content of this 1762 4 Letters to M. Malesherbes. Emile and The Social Contract published. book (see also OC, I, pp. Clfl). Rousseau persecuted. Letter to Christopher de Beaumont. 1763 Dictionary of Music prepared. 1712 Rousseau born, in Geneva, 28 June. His mother dies, 7 July. 1764 Letters from the Mountain. Rousseau begins work on the first part of 1728 Rousseau, disaffected, leaves Geneva. Meets Mme. de Warens; con the Confessions. verts to Roman Catholicism. 1765 Project for a Constitution for Corsica; unfinished. 1741 Project for the Education of M. de Sainte-Marie. 1766 Rousseau comes to England, in the company of 'le bon David' Hume. 1742 Rousseau reads, to the Academy of Sciences, his Project for a New Quarrels with Hume. Musical Notation. 1767 Rousseau returns to France. Dictionary of Music on sale. Rousseau 1743 Rousseau becomes secretary to the French Ambassador in Venice. suffers acute mental distress. Writes: A Dissertation on Modern Music. 1768 Rousseau marries Therese. 17 44 Leaves Venice after a quarrel with the Ambassador. 1771 The second part of the Confessions completed. 1745 Meets Therese Levasseur, with whom he lives as man and wife. Completes his opera: Les Muses Galantes. 1772 Rousseau begins working on Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques. He works also copying music and botanizing. Considerations on the Government 1747 Writes: L'Engagement Temeraire. of Poland. 1749 ~~uss~u supplies articles on music ford' Alembert's E11cyc/opedia. He 1774 Dictionary of Botanical Terms. is _msp1red on seeing the Dijon Academy's prize essay subject on the soeoces and arts. 1776 Rousseau begins the Reveries of a Solitary Walker. 1750 A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (the First Discourse). Rousseau 1778 Rousseau dies, 2 July. wins the prize. 1751 Rousseau engages in polemical exchanges arising from the First Dis course (see V. Gourevitch (ed.}, in Works Cited, above). 1752 Rouss.eau's opera: Le Devin de Village, presented with great success at Fonta.mebleau. The Theatre-Fran~ is presents Rousseau's Narcissus. 1753 Letter on French Music. Breakdown of Contents Introduction Since a study of Rousseau is, necessarily, a study of his works, it may be useful This book principally comprises a close study of the ideas and arguments to have a guide as to which chapters here consider which of Rousseau's works. which are central, in my estimation, to four of Rousseau's works: A Discourse Since my argument is primarily thematic, however, not book-by-book, the on the Arts and Sciences; A Discourse 011 the Origin of Inequality; Emile; and Tlte guide is only approximate. Social Contract. 1 Among these, I give most attention to the three last; and I lay particular stress on the ideas articulated and defended in Emile, since this is, in Discourse on the Arts and Sciences chapter 2 section 2 my view, Rousseau's most completely achieved work, and a still much under Discourse on the Origin of Inequality appreciated masterpiece. Rousseau himself assigned panicular authority to (a) 'Civilized' man chapter 2 this one among his books. He writes (RJ, I, 9332): . •• 'the Author [Rousseau] (b) 'Natural' man chapter 3 working his way back from principle to principle did not reach the first Discourse on Political Economy chapter 5 principles until his last writings. Ir was therefore necessary, to proceed syn (only discussed in passing) thetically, to begin with these, and this 1 did in engaging myself first of all with Emile Emile, in which he ended . .. ' These words are put into the mouth of another Books 1-3 ('a Frenchman') with whom Rousseau is in imagined dialogue; but they meet with his immediate approval. (a) the perverse development chapter 2 (b) the benign development chapter 3 Even this rather small selection from Rousseau's works yields more than Books 4-5 chapter 4 can be discussed in wholly adequate detail here; I shall have to pass rapidly over The Creed of the Savoyard Vicar chapter 7 many significant points in them. There is much. else in Rousseau's large The Social Contract output that I shall ignore altogether, or draw on only in so far as it speaks to the topics I am already exploring. It would be almost impossible under any cir Books 1-2 chapter 5 cumstances to do complete justice to everything Rousseau wrote about and Books 3-4 chapter 6 'Considerations on the Government of illuminated. Here, taking a reduced target - though one which contains the Poland' chapter 6 works which I believe express his most enduring concerns - will, I hope, 'Constitutional Project for Corsica' chapter 6 compensate for the reduction in scope by the closeness of the treatment pos sible. There is also the factor that these of his writings are readily accessible in These are the works of Rousseau most extensively examined in the book. English translation. Although this should not dictate the approach, it will allow the questioning reader easily to assess the material for himself. The overall purpose can only ever be to try to possess Rousseau's ideas more completely; direct contact with his own words is, of course, essential to that. Thus I have not attempted any 'comprehensive' guide to and assessment of all the elements in Rousseau's wide-ranging and varied thought. Other 2 Introduction Introduction 3 approaches could emphasize different themes and afford centrality to different all, have had a clear, sharp, consistent mind, which he knew well and could works to valuable effect. The path I have followed is only one of those that are control and use with great precision. The 'webs of absurdity', the 'farragoes of possible. I hope, however, that it traverses interesting ground and reveals contradictions' may be the product of our own incomplete comprehension, for some arresting views. all that we have 'done our best for him'. Rousseau thought he worked A great many commentaries on Rousseau have appeared before this one. throughout with a steady purpose: 'I have written on diverse subjects, but Although they differ very much in the interpretations they offer,3 there are always from the same principles; always the same morality, the same faith, the some fairly widely prevailing presumptions brought to the reading of same maxims, and, if you like, the same opinions' (LB IV, 928). But this is Rousseau's work which stand obdurately in the way of his being seen clear and easily put aside as self-deceptive good conceit of himself. plain even on first acquaintance, before· the work of the interpretative effort I endorse Rousseau's assessment of himself. This means that, throughout, I has begun to tie him down. I want to try to dislodge some of these presump have done my best to give Rousseau full credit for knowing what he was about, tions now, so that an initially unprejudiced hearing may be allowed to him. and for having something serious and challenging that he was engaged upon. Rousseau had the misfortune to make some very memorable, epigrammatic, Nor do I accept that 'consistency' is a dispensable commodity which the remarks. For instance 'Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains' (SC I, 'higher truth' can do without. So I am not committed to celebrating incoher I; III, 351); 'Nature made man happy and good, but society depraves him and ence as profound paradox; or nonsense as gnomic insight. I have tried to makes him miserable' (RJ, I, 9344). The meaning and implications of these uncover a steady, deep, consistent and rich body of ideas pervading those of sayings strike people as immediately and luminously clear. They begin at once Rousseau's works under discussion here. I believe this attempt has been to form their estimate of Rousseau, favourable and supportive or unfavourable regularly and reliably answered by them. Where difficulties arise, I have tested and hostile. A little further inquiry reveals that Rousseau also says other things the idea that it is I, not Rousseau, who is the dupe of an unconsidered assump which, given the presumptive construction placed on the above, sit very ill tion. If, finally, some problems still remain, I have tried to show that these with them. For instance: 'A new enemy is arising which you have not learned to arise from intransigent intellectually challenging difficulties, not because conquer ... This enemy is yourself. Nature and fortune left you free . . . In Rousseau was blindly carried along on an emotional 'swell', and did not know learning to desire, you have made yourself the slave of your desires' (E 5, 443; what he was at. I cannot see that one serves an author well by proceeding in any IV, 815-6). Here Emile seems to be held to be himself the author of his own other way. ills. Comparable further instances could be added easily. From this it is This approach does entail, however, that some of the traditionally identified concluded that Rousseau did not know his own mind; or that he had no 'cruxes' in Rousseau's thought - for example, his supposed ideas regarding consistent mind to know; or that he had a few brilliant insights which he could some sort of pristine natural innocence, or of the individual's 'submergence' not control properly; or that he was a rhapsodic writer following his moods but into the general life of the community, and so on - will not appear in a cut and (for good or ill) indifferent to the constraints of'mere' logic. dried form in my discussion. This is because closer study discloses that the Here are a few comments which bear out what I say. Rousseau's arguments - throwing up of these as problems depends on prior mistaken constructions. in general, or on particular themes - have been said to be: 'a farrago of contra When these latter are rectified, the emergence of these puzzles in standard dictions'. 5 Again: 'The difficulty of interpreting him [Rousseau] arises .. . normal form is precluded. Of course, the issues to which these 'problems' give from the fact that most students insist on crediting him with a degree oflogical distorted expression do not disappear altogether. It is rather that, when these consistency which is not in fact characteristic of his writings ... Rousseau had issues are understood more carefully, these particular hurdles do not have to few gifts as a systematic thinker . . . he had . . . extraordinary courage in be surmounted in order to see them to a finish. refusing to sacrifice any part of that [political] insight in the interest of super Two specific instances may be mentioned, in a preliminary way. Commen ficial consistency.'6 Again: 'Rousseau was obscure for a simpler reason: because tators unfailingly note that Rousseau passes many critical strictures upon he failed to make his meaning plain ... If we take some of Rousseau's more human dependency, upon one person relying on, needing, another to support often quoted statements literally, and try to elicit their meanings, we soon find or assist them in their well-being and self-preservation. From this it is at once ourselves caught up in a web of absurdity. '7 Finally, I cite: 'The absurdity and concluded that Rousseau envisaged as being the best, indeed really the only incoherence of Rousseau's theory . . .'. 8 suitable, circumstance in which a human could avoid becoming deformed and It is notable that these comments do not come from Rousseau's more cava ruined, that in which any dependence of any kind of one person on another lier and hostile critics, but from those who are working closely with his was absent, or as limited as possible. Isolated, separate, self-sufficiency for material. It would seem that the idea is still too rare that Rousseau may, after each of us was, it is said, his vision of the manner and condition of that life in Introduction Introduction 5 4 which alone we could hope for wholeness and happiness. However, many other appreciated at what level the issues he raises, the arguments he canvasses, cut passages explicitly or implicitly contradict this idea of his meaning (with the into !he substru~ture o~the sustai~in~ framework of ordinary thinking, appre consequences for the assessment of the value of his work of the kinds noted hension and act10n. It 1s charactensttc of'Rousseau to discern and to speak to above). It will be one of the prime contentions of this discussion that Rousseau the most fundamental, and t~us most ~asily overlooked or presumed upon, never had such a vision in view. It was always only certain quite specific sorts of elements and .s tructures which comprise the manner of our holding any dependency that Rousseau was critical of; and this for quite specific, determinate per~~nal standmg~o four engagement in social life, of the viability of society or and cogent reasons. Other forms ofhuman dependence he accepted not as unfor pohttcal commumty. He usually addresses issues which involve a great deal of tunate, but unavoidable, necessities, but as essential to, necessary and good effort and attention to bring into view as objects for consideration in the first contributing constitutive elements in, the full human development and actuali place. Because ~his is so, we ca.n sometimes mistake the target he is aiming at, zation ofe ach ofu s, components of the plenitude of our proper and good stature and suppose him to be shootmg at another, but wildly. Rousseau had no and activity. Ift his is not seen from very early on, then very much ofRousseau's ~oubt_ hi~ o?sessions, particularly ~ith proplems of exclusion and pers~nal work must seem to be only barely coherent. He will be seen as struggling to mvalidauon (I shall say more on this below). But his genius in part derives reconcile two conditions held to be radically opposed in character and con from the fact that these are not the boring, repetitious, obsessions of a mind sequences, separateness from others and community with others. All that defeated, but those of someone whose own peculiar susceptibilities made him Rousseau is doing is making clear, firmly and properly grounded, distinctions aware of the deepest conditioning structures which sustain personal and social between kinds of dependence. This is no confusion or evasion; it is only precise existence as such for everyone, which more comfortable souls simply rest in thought - eschewal of sweeping, undiscriminating, condemnation. and. rely upon. 1:f e was. ~omeone who could harness this awareness to pene Connected with this matter is the almost universal misconception of the tratmg and sustamed cnttque and constructive endeavour. nature and role ofa mour-propre, as that phenomenon is appealed to by Rousseau I give one outline example of the depth of Rousseau's address, and his when accounting for man's condition in society.9 Amour-propre, we are preoccupation with achieving categorical 'standing' for persons in social trans informed, is taken by Rousseau to comprise vanity, overweening self-conceit, a actions. The role of the 'general will' in Rousseau's discussion of civil society, self-vaunting estimate of oneself in terms of one's superiority over others and !hat accoun~s for its particular significance, structure and terms of operation, their contemptible inferiority. As such, it is taken to account for the great bulk of 1s to es.tab~1~h the absol~t:ly basic principles upon which any, and every, human desolation in society. It is said that Rousseau was always and everywhere several md1v1duli1 may legmmately be considered to comprise a member of one deeply antipathetic towards it. But yet he appears to allow that it is an single social or civil 'body'. It establishes the terms and conditions under ineradicable passion, and one which necessarily attends man's incorporation which any one person may fitly be comprehended under the scope of a civil into social life. So, when he is in the mood to allow that man must live with his body, and acquire obligations and responsibilities consequent thereon. It kind in society, Rousseau is committed to saying that man is automatically con affords to each several constitutive member of the civil body a level civil demned to inward desolation and outward depredation. '.iden~ity', whi~h comprises their primary (though by no means their only) But here, too, what Rousseau has always in view is certain determinate and I~~nuty ..I t designates a specification of their self-constitutive character qua particular forms that amour-propre (admittedly very readily) assumes. He is not ~1t1zen,. !n terms of their inviolable holding of certain powers, titles, concerned with a blanket condemnation of the whole. As we shall see, Rousseau 1mmumues and opportunities. These cannot be gainsaid without, in that assigns to amour-propre an essential and wholly beneficial role in the full self moment, severing their membership of the one body, and hence relieving completion ofe ach several person, as he comes into possession of his standing as t~~m of any responsibilities, liabilities and obligations towards others qua a 'moral being' in transaction with other such beings. He does so for precise and c1t1~ens that could legitimately be claimed from them. We can figure ourselves cogent reasons. It is only when amour-propre becomes disordered ('inflamed') as nght-holders, and hold status as such, only so far as we afford this same that Rousseau is critical ofit as a harmful personal characteristic and a source of c. haracter to. others and they in turn afford it to us. In this a social bond' which social damage. Indeed, inflamed amour-propre includes precisely those perverse is present m the constitution of each of us in our own character as moral forms of human dependency, referred to above, which Rousseau was at such bein~s, is necessarily established between us; and this is the general will in us. pains to uncover. In relation to amour-propre, just as in relation to dependency, It is when, and only when, such terms and conditions are unequivocally Ris onuosts teoa bue w aa ss lsipeepienrgy aonr da mmbarigkuinogu sc rwucriitaelr d; iofnfelrye tnoc bese wani tihnitne lolvigeeranltl oknine.d s. This amuett h, o ann.t dy sotafn md aajso rtihtey idrreecvisoicoanbsl,e tbhoeu njuds ttnoe sasll ocifv iiln eaqcutiaolnit ' ieths aitn i spsuoewse or fa tnhde Another obstacle to the understanding of Rousseau is that it is quite often not wealth, and such-like matters can properly be considered. Yet it is not at all Introduction 6 Introduction 7 :u:nctrot mr mtaokenn r oas frienadd t. hlet iisn tchoernp osuraptpioons eodf t ihnadti Rvioduusaslesa iun t1· os sap esoa cki"ma lg b tood pyr oco b ib eem as 'tsoewdaurcdtsio hni'm; h, icso sneclfe-rpnreeds etnot ahtuiomni laisa tae v ainolda tdeidsc irnendoitc ehnimt; ;a hnids mfeuacrsh omfo erme.o tHioonwa l , -~ :ise with the possibility and legitimacy of that already taken for grante~. ever, for most of his life he was in control of his paranoid predisposition and. Not surp_risiogly, in that case, so~e o~ his views are f~und wayward and his rurned it (not, of course, consciously and deliberately) to effective use in his concern s opaque. But this is not his failure, b. ut thed f a· ilure to·d s ee· thatth he has diagnosis and assessment of the condition of'social man'. The paranoid temper brought a deep, but urgent, issue to the sur!ace an . 1s cons1 .e nng at as a of mind makes one peculiarly receptive to the currents of anger, cruelty and plirsehl e1'm d ienivairly w thoo alen.y U fnulretshse rw eq)u oeustrisoenlvs erse, gtIa7rd tion gge tth ·m e itonute~r hn awl ·i ltih f et hoe f ' atan k eesnt afobr- hjeacttrieodn ; twheh icsthr aatereg iepsr eosef nttr iautm lparhg ea nidn hhuummialina trieolna,t ioonfs d. oOmnien aotifo nR oaunsds esauub's granted' and recognize it as problematic we sh~ll simply not see w~at special gifts (or burdens) was to be adept in detecting and tracing the serpen Rousseau is arguing over, and will misunderstand him or not understand him tine windings of human hatred and vengefulness in all their masks and con at all. · 11 cealments. Perhaps, in doing so, he sometimes thought he saw envy and spite Allied to the presumption that Rousseau is not a consistent, not a~ mte ec- in activities and practices which_w ere (are) in truth well-meant and benign. tually controlled and rigorous, writer is_ the fact. that Rousseau 1s seldom Sometimes, too, be may have secretly wanted to spoil that which he grudged afforded that minute, questioning scrutmy that 1s, as a matter of cours~, others the enjoyment of, by convincing himself and them that it was really afforded to Plato, Descartes, Kant, Hume - and many others. In Rousseau s self.deceptive, corrupt and poisonous. But generally it seems to me he did not. case, distanced, impressionistic extrapolations and suggestions. as to w_hat he He neither scorned the good to assuage his anger at not possessing it (he warns 'must' have meant serve as the standard coin of debate. This sustams, of explicitly against this, at E 4, 237; IV, 525-6); nor did he either exaggerate, or course, the presumption that instigated it: ~othing is looked at closely enough deny, the evil. He had, in his finest achievement, an even clarity of for it to challenge the pre-judgment as to Its character. I have found, to the undistorting vision which could recognize and name monsters and false ideal contrary, that Rousseau's writing almost unfailingly repays the close t_h~~~t izations, but also contain and cherish finite real goods that afford intrinsic given to it in its detail. Ifo ne presses at every step, and conjectures poss1hilmes nurture and sustenance. His constructive impulse was not a longing for an or problems that might ensue, etc., Rousseau not only m:ets almos_t every Eden to complement a self-engendered vision of hell, but to delineate a human expectation and demand but also shows one t~ings that one did ~ot envisage or world fit for human life, where paler grey may, with good fortune, pre anticipate. In this book, it will only be possible to proceed "'.uh a ~11 close ponderate over darker. reading once .or twice. (Book 4 of Emile particularly re-:vards mtens1ve atten I shall speak quite often of the workings and implications of paranoia in tion.) But I hope enough will be seen to arise fro~ these mstances to sh~w that parts of the discussion.10 It is not, however, Rousseau's own paranoia that is in we do him, and ourselves, disservice by supposmg he needs only be skimmed view, but paranoid structures, relations, processes in the life and institutions to get the 'gist' of the thing. . . that make up the character, dispositions and activities of what Rousseau So rich and fertile are the ideas Rousseau puts forward that, m tracmg them disparagingly calls 'civilized' man (DI, I 04; Ill, 192). These involve strategies out one is constantly drawn into the consideration of matters one had no and positions that involve triumph over others, glory in their degradation, inkling of at the start. Even in the material ~~e~ consideration here, Rousseau self-estimation grounded in vengeful humiliation and devaluation of other propounds ideas of great significance for individual psycbo~ogy an~ psycho people, and the like. The legitimacy of this interpretative procedure must pathology; social and political theory; law; commerce; educauon; r~lig1on; an_d stand or fall by the use I make of it (o r which could, in better hands, be made of sociology. But, governed by the perspectives be has opened to view, one is it). I am not, and I repudiate the idea of, suggesting that anything Rousseau soon led into issues of 'interaction theory', social and group psychology, says is to be explained away simply as being the delusion of his own tormented anthropology, historical and comparative social studies, and much more. I mind. Reasons, quite independent of the conjectured or known state of mind have tried, as far as possible, to curb the temptation to foll~w ~ll t~ese p_aths of the author at the time of writing, must be used to establish or confute any that branch from the main road; but I could see great value m y1eldmg to it. claim made. My only proposal is: we shall fmd some telling reasons for taking Finally, a little more on Rousseau's 'obsessions'. Rousseau, as everyo~e some of Rousseau's achieved ideas seriously if we see that they are knit knows, suffered a terrifying paranoid breakdown in 176~-8. Many of_ ~1s together by the theme of a consistent disposition towards paranoia being subsequent writings are distressing in their disclosure of his un~appy ~p.mt. embodied in the fabric of social life. For there arc good reasons for supposing Marked signs of paranoia also preceded his breakdown: his morbid susp1c1ons that disposition goes very deep in human life and experience. of plots against him; his accusations of others as full of concealed hatred In this, and in other connections (for instance, Rousseau's account of the