Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• The ethics of virtue

Beau Baxter Rosser
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A Brief History

• Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1712
• Considered an Enlightenment thinker
• Most of his writings were banned before or right
  as they were coming out
• Possibly invented the autobiography with his book
  Reveries of a Solitary Walker, which he started
  in 1776 and was unfinished by the time of his
  death in 1778
• His works inevitably influenced many people,
  including Immanuel Kant

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The Natural Man

• Man was/is born free and everywhere he is in
  chains.

1766 portrait by Allan Ramsay
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The Virtuous Man

• What is virtue?
• The virtuous person is not disturbed by the
  superficial opinions of others and conducts
  himself with rugged, almost brutal, honesty.

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The Virtuous Man

• In regards to people
• People are good in nature, but forever
  corrupted once they have left that state and live
  in a community with others.

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The Virtuous Man

• Universal ethical egoism
• each person ought to act in his or her own
  self-interest
• Psychologism egoism
• - all human motivation is ultimately selfish or
  egoistic

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Savage Man Vs. Civilized Man

• Savage Man
• Lives a life being virtuous to himself
• Civilized Man
• - A civilized person goes against the savage
  instinct, and therefore not virtuous

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The Virtuous Man

• In regards to his Discourse on Political
  Economy
• Make sure that all private wills are related to
  the general will virtue is only the conformity
  of the private will to the general will
• This idea of virtue goes hand and hand with
  Kants view.

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So what is Rousseaus stance on Virtue Ethics?