Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men E-Book

Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 168

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men - Jean-Jacques Rousseau - A provocative essay that challenged the superiority of civilized society and modern government, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality made him an outcast among fellow Enlightenment thinkers but stands today as one of the most important political texts in Western history. Helena Rosenblatt's new translation, introduction, and selection of related documents help students comprehend why Rousseau's criticisms of human nature, political hierarchy, and private property were so controversial in his time yet later were hailed as a foundation of democracy. The introduction explores life experiences that shaped Rousseau's philosophy, explains contemporary ideas about political authority and social order, and guides students through Rousseau's thought, including explanations of how his work anticipated theories about evolution and inspired leaders of the French Revolution. Related primary documents -- including a selection from Rousseau's Social Contract -- situate Rousseau's ideas in contemporary political and social thought. Questions for consideration, a chronology of Rousseau's life and work, and a selected bibliography enrich students' understanding of the man and his times.

Leseprobe

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men

Introductory Note

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born at Geneva, June 28, 1712, the son of a watchmaker of French origin. His education was irregular, and though he tried many professions—including engraving, music, and teaching—he found it difficult to support himself in any of them. The discovery of his talent as a writer came with the winning of a prize offered by the Academy of Dijon for a discourse on the question, "Whether the progress of the sciences and of letters has tended to corrupt or to elevate morals." He argued so brilliantly that the tendency of civilization was degrading that he became at once famous. The discourse here printed on the causes of inequality among men was written in a similar competition.

He now concentrated his powers upon literature, producing two novels, "La Nouvelle Heloise," the forerunner and parent of endless sentimental and picturesque fictions; and "Emile, ou l'Education," a work which has had enormous influence on the theory and practise of pedagogy down to our own time and in which the Savoyard Vicar appears, who is used as the mouthpiece for Rousseau's own religious ideas. "Le Contrat Social" (1762) elaborated the doctrine of the discourse on inequality. Both historically and philosophically it is unsound; but it was the chief literary source of the enthusiasm for liberty, fraternity, and equality, which inspired the leaders of the French Revolution, and its effects passed far beyond France.

His most famous work, the "Confessions," was published after his death. This book is a mine of information as to his life, but it is far from trustworthy; and the picture it gives of the author's personality and conduct, though painted in such a way as to make it absorbingly interesting, is often unpleasing in the highest degree. But it is one of the great autobiographies of the world.

During Rousseau's later years he was the victim of the delusion of persecution; and although he was protected by a succession of good friends, he came to distrust and quarrel with each in turn. He died at Ermenonville, near Paris, July 2, 1778, the most widely influential French writer of his age.

The Savoyard Vicar and his "Profession of Faith" are introduced into "Emile" not, according to the author, because he wishes to exhibit his principles as those which should be taught, but to give an example of the way in which religious matters should be discussed with the young. Nevertheless, it is universally recognized that these opinions are Rousseau's own, and represent in short form his characteristic attitude toward religious belief. The Vicar himself is believed to combine the traits of two Savoyard priests whom Rousseau knew in his youth. The more important was the Abbe Gaime, whom he had known at Turin; the other, the Abbe Gatier, who had taught him at Annecy.

Dedication

TO THE

Republic of GENEVA.

MAGNIFICENT, MOST HONOURED, AND SOVEREIGN LORDS,

FROM a full Conviction, that a virtuous Man alone can offer to his Country Honours she need not blush to receive, I have laboured these thirty Years past to render myself worthy of doing you homage in a public Manner; and the present happy Opportunity making up, in some measure, for what my Efforts have not been able to attain, I imagined I might consult on the Occasion the Zeal that animates me, more than the Title that should authorize me, to approach you for this Purpose. Having had the Happiness of drawing my first Breath among you, how was it possible I should meditate on the Equality Nature has established among Men, and on the Inequality they themselves have introduced, without thinking the profound Wisdom, with which both one and the other, happily combined together in this State, have been made to concur, in a Manner that deviates least from the Laws of Nature and yet answers best the Ends of Society, to the Maintenance of public Order and the Security of private Happiness? In examining what were the best Maxims good Sense might prescribe for the Constitution of a perfect Government, I was so struck to find them all complied with in yours, that, tho' I had not been born within your Walls, I should have thought myself indispensably obliged to offer this picture of human Society to that People, which of all others, in my Opinion, enjoys the greatest Advantages of it, and has best guarded against its smallest Abuses.

Had I been the Master to chuse a Birth-place for myself, I should have chosen a Society of an Extent proportioned to that of the human Faculties, that is, to the Possibility of being well governed, and in which every Member was so sufficient for his Employments, as to be under no Necessity of devolving upon others the Trust reposed in him: a State, where all the Subjects could be so well known to each other, that neither the dark Machinations of Vice, nor the humble Modesty of Virtue, should be able to escape the Eyes and Judgment of the Public; and where, on Account of the sweet habit of seeing and knowing each other, every Citizen's Love of his Country should be a Love for its Inhabitants rather than for its Soil. I should have desired to be born in a Country, where the Sovereign and the Subjects could have but one and the same Interest, that all the Motions of the Machine might necessarily tend to the Welfare of the whole; and, as this cannot happen unless where the Sovereign and the Subjects are but one and the same Person, I must of course have desired to be born under a democratical Government, wisely tempered.

I should have chose to live and die free, that is to say, subject to the Laws in such a Manner, that neither I, nor any other Member of the same Society, should be able to shake off their honourable Yoke; this wholesome and pleasant Yoke, which the proudest Necks carry with so much the greater Docility, as they are not made for carrying any other.

I should therefore have desired, that no Member of the State should be able to boast of his being superior to its Laws, nor the State have any Reason to fear its being obliged to receive Laws from any other. For, let the Constitution of a Government be what it will, if there is but one Man in it exempt from the Laws, all the other Members must necessarily be at his Discretion (1); And where there are two Heads, one National, and the other Foreign, let them divide the sovereign Authority in the best manner it can be divided, it is impossible that both should be well obeyed and the Government properly administered.

I should not have liked to belong to a Republic lately formed, whatever good Laws it might be blessed with; for, as the Government of it might possibly be otherwise framed than present Exigences required, I could not promise myself that it would not be shaken and destroyed, almost at its Birth, either because the new Administration did not suit the Subjects, or the Subjects the new Administration. It is with Liberty as with those solid and succulent Aliments or generous Wines, which, tho' fit to nourish and strengthen the robust Constitutions that have been accustomed to them, can only serve to oppress, to disorder and destroy such weak and delicate Frames as had never before made use of them. Men, once accustomed to Masters, can never afterwards do without them. The more they bestir themselves to get rid of their fetters, the farther they stray from the Paths of Liberty, in as much as, by mistaking for it an unbounded Licence which is the very reverse of Liberty, they almost always become, in the end, the Slaves of Impostors, who, instead of lightening their Chains, make them a great deal heavier than they before ever were. The Romans themselves, tho' afterwards the Model of all free States, were not capable of governing themselves, when they first shook off the Yoke of the Tarquins. Debased by Slavery and the ignominious Tasks these Tyrants had imposed upon them, they were, in the beginning, no better than a stupid Populace, which it was requisite to indulge and govern with the greatest Wisdom, that, accustoming themselves little by little to breathe the salutary Air of Liberty, these Souls, enervated, or rather degraded to the Rank of Beasts, by the Rod of Oppression, might gradually acquire that Severity of Manners, and that Nobleness of Courage, which at last rendered them the most respectable People on the Face of the Earth. I should therefore have sought out for my Country some happy and peaceable Republic, whose Origin was in some measure lost in the Night of Time; which had experienced no Shocks, but such as were fit to manifest and strengthen in its Members their Patriotism and Courage; and where the Citizens, long accustomed to a prudent Independency, were not only free, but worthy of being so. I should have chosen for my Country one secured against the brutal Rage of Conquest by a happy Impossibility of making any, and, by a still more happy Situation, free from the Apprehensions of becoming itself the Conquest of any other State: A free City, situated among Nations, none of whom should find it their Interest to attack her Liberties, but all, on the contrary, think a Duty to themselves to defend them, when attacked by others. A Republic, in a word, which not only had nothing to tempt the Ambition of its Neighbours, but might reasonably depend upon their Assistance in case of Necessity. Such a Republic as this, a Republic so happily situated, could have nothing to fear but from itself; and therefore, if its Members made Arms their Study, it must be rather with a view of keeping alive that martial Ardour, and that generous Spirit, which become Liberty so well, and serve to maintain a due Relish for it, than thro' any Necessity of providing for their Defence.

I should have sought out for a Country, where the Legislative Power was common to all its Inhabitants; for who can be supposed to know better than the Members of a Society, upon what Terms it is properest for them to live together? But then I should not approve Plebiscita like those of Rome, where the Heads of the Commonwealth, and those most concerned in its Preservation and Welfare, were excluded from Deliberations upon which its Safety often depended; and where, by the most absurd in consequence, the Magistrates were deprived of Privileges which the meanest Citizen enjoyed.

On the contrary, I should have desired, that, in order to put a stop to interested and ill-digested Projects, and dangerous Innovations, which proved in the end the Ruin of the Athenians, no private Citizen had a Right to propose any Laws that came into his Head, but that this Privilege belonged solely to the Magistrates; and that they too made use of it with so much Circumspection, and the People approved the Laws proposed by their Magistrates with so much Reserve, and the Promulgation of these Laws was afterwards attended with so much Solemnity, that, before the Constitution could be any way endangered by them, every Member of the Community might have sufficient Time to be convinced, that nothing contributes so much to render Laws holy and respectable, as their great Antiquity; that the Bulk of the People soon despise those they see altered from Day to Day, and that Governments, by accustoming themselves to neglect ancient Customs under pretence of imaginary Improvements, often introduce Evils greater than those they intended to correct or guard against.

I should, above all things, have avoided, as one that could not but be ill governed, a Republic, where the People pretending to be able to do without Magistrates, or at least without allowing them any more than a precarious Authority, should imprudently reserve themselves the Administration of civil Affairs, and the Execution of their own Laws; such must have been the rude Constitution of the first Governments at their issuing from a State of Nature, and this was another of the Vices that contributed to the Downfall of the Republic of Athens.

But I should have chosen a Society, whose private Members, content with the Privilege of confirming their Laws, and of deciding, in a Body and on the Report of their Magistrates, the most important Affairs of a public Nature, established respectable Tribunals; distinguished with Care their different Departments, elected annually the most knowing, sensible, and honest Men among themselves to administer Justice, and govern the State; a Society, in fine, where the Integrity of the Magistrates doing Justice, in this manner, to the Wisdom of the People, both Magistrates and People mutually honoured each other, so that, in case any dangerous Misunderstandings should at any time happen to disturb the public Peace and Harmony, these Intervals of Blindness and Error should wear visible Marks of reciprocal Moderation and Esteem, and of general Respect for the Laws; sure Omens and Pledges of a sincere and eternal Reconciliation. Such are, Magnificent, most Honoured, and Sovereign Lords, the Advantages I should have sought for in the Country I would choose to be the place of my Birth. But if Providence added to these Favours a charming Situation, a temperate Climate, a fruitful Soil, and the most delightful Prospect under the Canopy of Heaven, then, to be perfectly happy, I should only desire to enjoy all these Blessings in the Bosom of this happy Country, living peaceably in a sweet Society with my Fellow Citizens, and exercising towards them, and after their Example, the Duties of Humanity, Friendship, and every other Virtue, so as to leave behind me the Character of an honest Man and a worthy Patriot.

If, less favoured by Providence, or too late wise through my own Reflections, I had seen myself reduced to linger out, under some other Climate, a weak and languishing Career, in useless Sighs after that Peace and Repose which, through want of Thought, I had renounced in my youthful Days; I would at least have cherished in my Soul those very Sentiments I have now been avowing, tho' I could not make use of them in my own Country; and penetrated with a most tender and disinterested Affection for my distant Fellow Citizens, I should have addressed them from the bottom of my Heart, and, as near as possible, in the following Expressions.

My dear Fellow Citizens, or, to speak more properly, my dear Brethren, since the Ties of Blood unite us no less than a common Subjection to the same Laws, I find infinite Pleasure in not being able to think of you, without thinking at the same time of all the Blessings you enjoy, and of whose Value there is not one among you, perhaps, more sensible, than I to whom they are lost. The more I reflect on your political and civil Situation, the harder I find it to conceive that the Nature of Things can admit of a better. Other Governments, even when they deliberate on their Existence, are obliged to trust to imaginary Projects, or, at best, mere Possibilities. As to you, your Happiness is ready made to your Hands; you have nothing to do but enjoy it; to be perfectly happy, you need only be satisfied with being so. Your Sovereignty, acquired or recovered by you at the point of your Swords, and maintained for two Ages by dint of Valour and Wisdom, is at last fully and universally acknowledged. The most honourable Treaties have fixed your Limits, confirmed your Rights, and insured your Repose. Your Constitution is excellent and happy, being not only dictated by the profoundest Wisdom, but guaranteed by the most respectable Powers. Your State enjoys the greatest Tranquillity, you have nothing to fear from Wars or Conquerors; you have no Masters but the wise Laws you yourselves have made, administered by upright Magistrates of your own chusing; you are neither rich enough to be enervated by Luxury, and lose in the pursuit of empty Pleasures the taste of genuine Happiness and solid Virtue, nor yet poor enough to require from Strangers any Supplement to the Fruits of your own Industry. In fine, it scarce costs you any thing to maintain that precious Liberty, which great Nations cannot preserve but by submitting to the most exorbitant Taxes.

Long therefore may flourish, for the Happiness of its Citizens, and the Example of Mankind, a Republic so wisely and so happily constituted! This is the only Wish left you to make, the only thing left you to think of. On you alone it for the future depends, (not to make yourselves happy, your Ancestors have saved you that trouble) but, by using it wisely, to make your Happiness lasting. 'Tis on your uninterrupted Union, your Submission to the Laws, your Respect for the Ministers of them, that your Preservation depends. If there remain among you the smallest Seeds of Bitterness or Distrust, make haste to root them up as an accursed Leaven, which sooner or later would infallibly prove the Misfortune and Ruin of the Commonwealth. I conjure you all to retire to the bottom of your own Hearts, and there consult the secret Voice of your own Consciences. Is there a single Man among you, who can point out, in the whole Universe, a more upright, a more wise and knowing, a more respectable Body of Men, than that of your own Magistrates. Do not all its Members give you the most perfect Example of Moderation, of Simplicity of Manners, of Respect for the Laws, and of the sincerest Reconciliation? Why therefore will you not place, for your own sakes, in such wise Superiors that unreserved Confidence, which Virtue has a Right to expect from Reason? Consider that they are of your own chusing, and that they do justice to your choice; consider that the Honours due to those, whom you have constituted in Authority, necessarily reflect upon yourselves. Is there any one among you so inattentive as not to see, that, when Laws once lose their Vigour, and the Defenders of them their Authority, there can be neither Safety nor Liberty for any Man? What therefore is required of you but to do chearfully and without Dissidence, what your Interest, your Duty, and sound Reason should oblige you to do? Let not a blameable and dangerous Indifference for the Support of the Constitution ever make you neglect, at any time you may stand in need of it, the prudent Advice of your most knowing and zealous Fellow Citizens; but let Equity, Moderation, the most respectful Firmness continue to regulate all your Proceedings, and give the whole Universe the Example of a bold and modest People, equally jealous of its Glory and of its Freedom. Above all things, beware (it is the last Advice I shall give you) of sinister Interpretations, and envenomed Speeches, whose secret Motives are often more dangerous than the Actions they are levelled against. A whole House will start from its Sleep, and catch the Alarm given by a trusty and watchful Dog that never barks but at the Approach of Thieves; whereas we hate the Importunity of those noisy and troublesome Curs, who are perpetually disturbing the public Repose, and whose incessant and ill-timed Informations hinder us from listening to those they may sometimes happen to give at a proper Season. And you, Magnificent and most Honoured Lords; you, the worthy and respectable Magistrates of a free People, permit me to approach you in particular with my Duty and Homage. If there is among Men a Rank qualified to give a Lustre to those who fill it, it is no doubt that which both Talents and Virtue combine to bestow; that, of which you have rendered yourselves worthy, and to which your Fellow Citizens have promoted you. Their Merit adds considerably to the Splendor of your's; and considering that Men capable of governing other Men have chosen you to govern themselves, I deem you as much above other Magistrates, as a free People, that especially over which you have the Honour of presiding, is by its Knowledge and its Wisdom above the Populace of other States.

Permit me to cite an Example of which there should remain some better Traces, an Example my Heart will never cease to think of. I cannot call to mind, without the most agreeable Emotion, the Memory of that virtuous Citizen to whom I owe my Being, and who often entertained my Infancy with the Respect that is due to you. Methinks I still behold him, earning his Bread by the Work of his Hands, and at the same time feeding his Mind with the most sublime Truths, I see before him Tacitus, Plutarch, and Grotius, intermixed with the Tools proper to his Trade. I see by his side a darling Son, receiving, with too little Fruit alas! the tender Instructions of the best of Fathers. But tho' the Sallies of a thoughtless Youth made me forget for a Time such wise Lessons, I have at last the Happiness of experiencing, that, let a Pupil be ever so much inclined to Vice, it is almost impossible he should not one Day or another be the better for the Education given him by a truly affectionate Master.