Tentative Answer: Rousseau

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?

Rousseau's depiction of the natural man reminds me of the peaceful barbarians described by de Las Casas from first semester. He says that natural man is self-sufficient in nature, because he has to rely on his own body to survive, even with exposure to elements. This strengthens his body, since he must withstand natural hardships, and he would not need the same strength if he had instruments such as a sling or axe to supplement or compensate his weaknesses. The savage man only needs to satisfy his basic needs to be happy; otherwise he spends a lot of time sleeping and little time thinking. Rousseau suggests that it is the human thought and desire to become perfect that cripples him, because if he acquires skills that can be lost with old age, then in the future he will be even weaker than animals. 

Rousseau also says that natural man is peaceful because there is no concept of property, since he believes that the fruits of the earth belong to everyone. Without a sense of possession, there is no envy or jealousy, and no need to protect his property from other people (since losing your own goods is a personal loss). Because of their self-preservation and pity, the savage man is able to adapt and survive in nature among other people and have a strong sense of empathy toward other beings.

The issues with civil man are dependence on tools and the obsession with self-esteem. Since they started depending on tools, they cannot do without it, since the deprivation of these tools is more cruel than the initial joy of possessing it. Tools (and collaborating with other people) are therefore a double-edged sword, because we begin to compare ourselves with others, thereby making public esteem valuable, leading toward inequality. When others' opinions of yourself matters, we also start judging other people which leads to contempt, shame, envy, jealousy, and other vices. Even the seemingly innocent arts that we enjoy as part of leisure and traditions, such s song and dance, have a part to play in inequality - since people started to look at each other and desire being looked at. 

Therefore, Rousseau's ideal of the natural man is someone in the past who primarily depended on himself to survive against nature, and is therefore peaceful toward others, since his self-preservation does not conflict with other people's same interest of self-preservation.