1. Many have said Rousseau idealized the ‘Noble Savage’
(although he doesn’t use the term). In what sense is Rousseau’s ideal for man
the ‘natural man’? Would he criticize
the ‘mountain men’ or the ascetics and hermits who go off on their own?
2. Man’s difference from animals leads to man’s glory, but
also his suffering. Compare Rousseau on this with the religious traditions.
3. Going back to Thrasymachus in the Republic and going
forward as we shall see, many philosophers have thought that what is just or
moral is simply what people say it is, and that is influenced heavily by power
relations in society. How does Rousseau fit into this line of argument?
4. Locke thought the protection of private property was
equal to life and liberty as the goals of a just society. What is Rousseau’s
position?
5. Does Rousseau’s view of the relation between ‘natural
inequalities’ and those found in society fit with his view of women?
Application: Can
Rousseau’s analysis of the generation of inequality be applied to the recent
dramatic rise of inequality in the United States?
Application: It is said that Trump succeeded in the past
election because many felt left out in the new globalized, multi-national,
integrated world. Does Rousseau give you a way of analyzing the creation of
that sense of ‘outsider-ness’?
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