Discourse on the Arts and Sciences by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Reading by Chris Krause.

Original text: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/rousseau/firstdiscourse.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Jean-Jacques
• Rousseau
• First
• Discourse
• on
• the
• Arts
• and
• Sciences
• Virtue
• Education
• Sparta
• Athens

[demonpeak]

im his direct descendent, christopher james rousseau.

[tanit]

Does your family have any artifacts or manuscripts from the philosopher's time?

[VGRousseau]

Mr. Rousseau is a relative of my husband. Cool!!

[tanit]

It wouldn't have been cool in the time of Rousseau - he was universally banned by the church and was under threat of execution at several times in his life.

[carsanookdotcom]

Merci Tanit ~ Bon travail!

Rousseau Rocks ~ C'est Le Baba cool, Super cool

Bangkok Johnny

Royaume de Thailande

[CyeOutsider]

@CentristRevolution - Yes, Rousseau was a complex character. He's so easy to dislike because of his hypocrisy: He was a moralist, but never married his woman; he wrote a book on raising a child, but sent his 5 children to the orphanage at birth; he failed to climb the social ladder, so condemned the rich and titled in all his works; he saw himself as a good man, but quarreled with and ill-treated every one of his friends. For this, people more often attack him than engage with his ideas.

[CentristRevolution]

I've seen that a few people are comparing Hobbes' Leviathan and Rousseau. I don't see much difference. Rousseau said that gov should use its coercive power to force people to do good.

[CentristRevolution]

Lastly, he decries philosophers while he himself found fame and fortune as a philosopher. My girlfriend told me he liked to get spanked. So he goes on and on about virtue... while he's getting his ass spanked.

Class is on Monday. Any comments before then would be appreciated.

[CentristRevolution]

If sciences and the arts corrupt, and they are to be exclusively centered around the ruling elite, the ruling elite will naturally become corrupt and immoral. So it's ok for the ruling elite to be snorting coke off a stripper's ass while the rest of us poor virtuous schmucks work and go to church?

[CentristRevolution]

My first reading of anything by Rousseau. I know nothing. Having said that, here's what I get from this discourse.

He seems to be arguing for a form of theocracy.

Education makes you gay, sounds like FoxNews.

Public education teaches the young useless things but not their obligations to God and the state, sounds like FoxNews.

Decries the fact that uneducated farmers who feed the nation are not held in high regard due to their lack of education. Sarah Palin’s “real Americans”.