Jean-Jacques Rousseau
From RationalWiki
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 -1778) was a French Enlightenment philosopher and writer born in Geneva, Switzerland. He believed that the natural goodness of man was warped by society, and his ideas warped the French Revolution.[1]
[edit] Philosophy
The core principle of Rousseau's philosophy was the idea that humans are inherently inclined towards goodness, but their good nature is corrupted by the evils in society. Rousseau had also believed that personal freedom and authortative power would need to be in balance in an effective society, this balance would be kept by the concept of a general will, the collective will of the citizen body, as the source of law in a state.[2]
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ "Rousseau and Revolution", University of Notre Dame.
- ↑ "Jean Jacques Rousseau", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy