Introduction to Rousseau: The Social Contract

00:08:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvjrE5nc4xs

摘要

TLDRJean-Jacques Rousseau's 'The Social Contract' argues that society should be formed via a social contract where individuals give up certain freedoms for civil liberty and community protection. This work challenges 18th-century ideas of natural authority and suggests that laws and governance come from a community-based agreement. Rousseau emphasizes communal equality and direct democracy, advocating for small homogeneous states. His theory includes the 'general will,' which should guide societal governance, distinguishing between self-love ('amour de soi') and a competitive self-worth ('amour propre'). Rousseau's views opposed contemporary liberal thinkers and were viewed as precursors to totalitarian ideas. His influence persists in political philosophy, having impacted the French Revolution and later thinkers.

心得

  • 📜 Rousseau's 'The Social Contract' was a major philosophical work written in 1762.
  • 🔗 It posits that society should be formed by a social contract, with civil liberty prioritized.
  • ⚖️ Rousseau's ideas challenged traditional notions of authority, proposing equality in citizenship rather than property.
  • 📚 He distinguished between 'amour propre' (self-worth through comparison) and 'amour de soi' (natural self-love).
  • 🏛️ Rousseau advocated for direct democracy and small states, supporting active individual participation in politics.
  • 🗳️ The 'general will' is central, where the community's interest outweighs individual desires.
  • 🛡️ Rousseau argued that freedom is achieved through collective decision-making and adherence to the general will.
  • 📢 Critics see Rousseau as a forerunner of totalitarian ideals due to his homogeneous society concepts.
  • 🌍 His work influenced the Enlightenment and significantly impacted the French Revolution.
  • 🔍 Rousseau's critique of individualism reflects ongoing debates on balancing individual and communal interests.

时间轴

  • 00:00:00 - 00:08:33

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract" argues against traditional modes of governance like natural authority, the right of the strongest, and slavery, stating they are post-hoc justifications of current systems. He introduces the idea of a social contract as the only legitimate basis for forming societies, wherein all individuals totally alienate their rights to the community, leading to equal conditions for all. Rousseau's concept of the 'general will' directs the community and serves as the sovereign, emphasizing equality of citizenship and direct democracy. He contends that giving up natural liberty enhances civil liberty, promoting a homogenous society where individual interests align with the general will. Critics accused him of laying groundwork for totalitarianism, but his influence on philosophy, particularly during the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, is immense.

思维导图

视频问答

  • What is the central thesis of Rousseau's 'The Social Contract'?

    The central thesis of Rousseau's 'The Social Contract' is that society should be formed through a covenant or social contract where individuals give up some personal freedom in exchange for civil liberty and protection by the community.

  • What is 'amour propre' according to Rousseau, and how does it differ from 'amour de soi'?

    According to Rousseau, 'amour propre' is a sense of self-worth derived from comparing oneself to others, whereas 'amour de soi' is a natural self-love focused on self-preservation and pity towards others.

  • How does Rousseau's concept of the 'general will' relate to political organization?

    Rousseau's concept of the 'general will' proposes that the community's collective interest should guide political organization, with individual desires subordinated to the democratic expression of the community's will through direct participation.

  • Why does Rousseau advocate for small states and direct democracy?

    Rousseau advocates for small states and direct democracy because he believes that only in such an environment can individuals directly participate in decision-making processes, aligning them with the general will and reducing factionalism and interest group dominance.

  • How is Rousseau's idea of freedom different from anarchists?

    While anarchists argue that submitting to laws in a political community is never justified, Rousseau believes in the total alienation of oneself to the community, where everyone gives up a part of their freedom for the general will, achieving greater civil liberty.

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    [Music]
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    jean-jacques Rousseau wrote the social
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    contract in 1762 in France at a time of
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    great change the moral authority of
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    Kings and the church was being
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    continually questioned as was political
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    power in general and the world was
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    becoming less feudal and increasingly
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    global and commercial commenting on
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    man's condition in this changing world
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    Rousseau starts the social contract with
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    his famous lines man is born free and is
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    everywhere in chains in a discourse on
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    inequality Rousseau had argued that in a
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    state of nature man has two innate
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    impulses self-preservation what he calls
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    amour de soie which means love of self
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    and pity or a repugnance towards seeing
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    suffering in others he argues that in
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    the course of evolution man starts to
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    become civilized by comparing himself to
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    others through what equals
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    perfectibility essentially man's
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    capacity for mimicry and development by
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    copying others as man enters society
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    though this amour de soir the love of
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    self transforms into a more prop which
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    is a sense of his own self-worth this
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    stems from man learning from others but
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    simultaneously comparing himself to them
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    which diminishes is pity for others
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    modern society is defined by amour prop
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    to the detriment of man and so
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    everywhere he is in Chains comparing
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    himself to others at the beginning of
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    the social contract Rousseau considers
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    three ways of organizing society that
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    were part of eighteenth-century
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    orthodoxy natural Authority right of the
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    strongest and slavery many at the time
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    argued that rulers are like parents and
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    the ruled like children or that rulers
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    are naturally better suited to ruling
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    all that if these aren't the case maybe
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    the strong should rule just for the sake
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    of stability Rousseau makes a number of
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    arguments against these
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    that seemed obvious to the modern mind
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    that children become independent from
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    parents or that even the strong can't
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    rule with physical strength alone he
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    argues that all of these arguments have
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    been made after the fact that is they
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    have been made to justify the very state
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    of affairs that they argue for not the
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    other way around none of them fit the
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    idea of man in a state of nature with
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    just a love of self and pity for others
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    so he says that the only way a society
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    can be formed is by a covenant a pact a
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    social contract he argues that even if
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    people choose a leader a social pact
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    based on a prior agreement must have
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    already been in place to begin the
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    decision-making process this is the
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    basis of the social contract so the
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    question for Rousseau becomes how to
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    find a form of Association which will
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    defend the person and goods of each
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    member with the collective force of all
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    and under which each individual while
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    uniting himself with others a baised no
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    one but himself and remains as free as
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    before this is the perennial question of
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    political philosophy in entering a
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    political community of state you give up
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    part of your freedom and submit to laws
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    of the community
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    anarchists argued that this is never
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    justified
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    is it possible to prove that it is
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    Russo's answer he writes is in the total
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    alienation of each associate of himself
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    and all his rights to the whole
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    community he goes on to say that as
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    every individual gives himself
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    absolutely the conditions are the same
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    for all and precisely because they are
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    the same for all it's in no one's
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    interest to make the conditions onerous
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    for others for Rousseau no one gives up
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    their freedom for other individuals but
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    for the idea of an equal community the
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    community then is an abstract idea that
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    is part of the individual it is a
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    concept that the individual creates
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    rationally for himself Rousseau
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    conceptualizes a historical con
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    tribution to philosophy and psychology
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    this metaphysical community or society
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    is what Hegel describes as Geist and
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    what Freud takes inspiration from for
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    the super-ego it is arguably an inherent
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    part of our own psychology for Rousseau
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    this social contract should be organized
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    by his most famous concept the general
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    will it is this concept of a
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    metaphysical community directed by the
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    general will that his sovereign not a
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    king or a parliament in a small
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    community each individual will be
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    motivated by his amour de soir and his
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    pity for others in a community of equals
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    none will be motivated by the corrosive
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    effects of amour prop as comparing
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    himself to others Rousseau is not
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    talking about equality of property but
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    equality of citizenship and direct
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    democracy that you have property on the
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    basis that is afforded to you by the
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    community the community protects your
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    individual rights not the other way
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    around to act morally than is to act in
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    accordance with the general will of the
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    community rather than one's own
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    particular individual will for Rousseau
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    giving up the freedom of natural Liberty
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    leads to a greater civil liberty politic
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    should be judged on this basis and leads
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    Rousseau to one of his most infamous
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    phrases if an individual does not act in
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    accordance with the general will which
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    remember according to Rousseau would be
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    rational for them to do so then they
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    should be forced to be free this general
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    will is worked out by the simple
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    debating and voting of an issue but
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    importantly each person should be
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    directly involved in the process and so
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    Rousseau advocates small states and
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    direct democracy where interest groups
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    and factionalism would be banned
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    Rousseau's fundamental belief was that
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    society should be homogeneous which has
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    led many to accuse him of being one of
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    the intellectual sources for
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    totalitarianism and
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    hurt him at odds with liberals at the
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    time like Voltaire and Montesquieu
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    Rousseau then is most aptly described as
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    a communitarian thinker rather than a
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    liberal obsessed with high individuals
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    societies and himself could lead
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    cohesive authentic lives he argued that
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    in an increasingly individualistic
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    society everyone pretends to be working
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    for the others profits or reputation
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    while only seeking to raise his own
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    above them and at their expense it's a
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    world where sincere friendship real
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    esteem and perfect confidence are
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    banished from among men jealousy
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    suspicion fear coldness reserved hate
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    and fraud like constantly concealed
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    Russo's influence and reputation is
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    totemic
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    he was a leading contributor to the
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    philosophy of the Enlightenment and had
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    a major effect on the causes in the
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    course of the French Revolution which is
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    arguably the defining moment in the
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    creation of modern Europe and in some
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    way he's influenced almost every
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    philosopher who came after him
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    ultimately the question in judging
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    Rousseau is whether you buy into these
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    fundamental observations about human
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    nature about pity if you don't then the
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    rest of the social contract is unlikely
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    to be convincing if you like these
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标签
  • Rousseau
  • The Social Contract
  • philosophy
  • general will
  • amour propre
  • amour de soi
  • political theory
  • direct democracy
  • equality
  • French Revolution