Rousseau’s Concepts of Inequality - UK Essays.
With all this being said, Rousseau and Hobbes have different views on the state of nature but both see the state of Nature of a man as a phase before the formation of a political society. Hobbes sees the natural state of a man as miserable, and brutal because everyone is able to act the freely with the risk of others around them.
The state of nature, Rousseau argued, could only mean a primitive state preceding socialization; it is thus devoid of social traits such as pride, envy, or even fear of others. The state of nature, for Rousseau, is a morally neutral and peaceful condition in which (mainly) solitary individuals act according to their basic urges (for instance, hunger) as well as their natural desire for self.
To begin, the state of nature is a hypothetical state whereby individuals are in contact with one another where there is no authority present to enforce rules, laws or regulations. In regards to the state of nature, both Hobbes and Rousseau are in agreement: the state of nature existed prior to the creation of a state.
In this regard, Rousseau’s view of the state of nature was completely different from Thomas Hobbes’s conception. While Rousseau regards it as an essentially positive force, Hobbes viewed it as a state of war and slavery. This reflects the two philosopher’s views on human nature, which Rousseau viewed it as good and Hobbes as cruel and brutal.
Essay John Locke And Rousseau 's Views On Human Nature The opinions of philosophers with respect to human nature have evolved for centuries. Their studies on the subject have helped establish conventional standards believed to help citizens create a balanced social and personal lifestyle.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is the philosopher of the French revolution; he criticizes Hobbes for assuming that the human in the “state of nature. .. has no idea of goodness; he must be naturally wicked; that he is vicious because he does not know virtue.”Rousseau assumes the opposite: in the natural state, humans have “uncorrupted morals“; not in the sense of a developed.
Published in 1836, Nature is an essay written by American lecturer and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson that lays down the foundation for transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a now popular belief system that supports a non-traditional appreciation of the importance of nature, suggesting that God can be found in nature as well as a true understanding of life and reality.