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Rousseau and the Domestication of Virtue
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2009
Abstract
Rousseau had usually been interpreted as desiring the re-emergence of pre-modern virtue. His writings contain many appeals to this supreme virtue of courage and honour. At the same time, however, Rousseau embraces many of the principles of modern philosophical thought, thus rendering a return to classical virtue problematic. The author proposes that his commitment to modern principles entails a substantial reformulation of virtue such that it becomes expressed as those qualities displayed in the social world of labour and love. This new account alters the character of human association by fundamentally altering the ancient distinction between public and private. The new social sphere which develops through this alteration is, however, subject to some difficulties.
Résumé
Rousseau, selon l'interprétation usuelle, aurait souhaité la réémergence de la vertu pré-moderne. Ses écrits font appel aux vertus suprêmes du courage et de 1'honneur. Au même moment, cependant, Rousseau adopte plusieurs des principes de la pensée philosophique moderne, rendant ainsi problématique le retour à la vertu classique. L'auteur propose ici que l'attachement de Rousseau aux principes modernes entraine une reformulation substantielle de la vertu qui s'exprime alors comme attribut du monde du travail et de lamour. Cette nouvelle interprétation 'change le caractère de I'association des personnes en altérant fondamentalement I'ancienne distinction entre le public et le privé. Le résultat de cette altération, un nouveau milieu social, est toutefois sujet à quelques problèmes.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 1984 , pp. 731 - 754
- Copyright
- Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association Canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1984
References
1 Oeuvres Complètes de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, III, 961. All references are to the four volumes of the Pleiade Edition.
2 Letter to d'Alembert, in Politics and the Arts, trans, by Bloom, Allan (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1960). 39.Google Scholar
3 Ibid.
4 II, 1262–74.
5 Letter to d'Alembert. 57.
6 IV, 470.
7 Quoted by Bacon, Francis, The Advancement of Learning (London: Wiley, 1944), 1, 2, 5.Google Scholar
8 IV, 470.
9 IV, 357.
10 IV, 359.
11 IV, 329.
12 IV, 532.
13 IV, 535.
14 IV, 481
15 Letter to Beaumont, , in The Social Compact and the Mandate of the Archbishop of Paris (London, 1764), 6.Google Scholar
16 With, however, the exception of ‘ The Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, ’ Nonetheless, there is some doubt about whether this was really intended for Emile's enlightenment. The principal objection is that the problems and struggles the vicar's profession is meant to assuage are not applicable to Emile's condition. Nor does the rest of the education rely upon the counsels offered by the vicar.
17 IV, 504.
18 IV, 503.
19 IV, 456.
20 IV, 670.
21 III, 156.
22 IV, 340.
23 Ibid.
24 IV, 526.
25 IV, 667.
26 IV, 833.
27 IV, 831.
28 IV, 856.
29 IV, 277.
30 IV, 746.
31 IV, 481.
32 IV, 654.
33 IV, 531.
34 The character of this partnership is too complex to detail in this article. I have done so elsewhere; see ‘Rousseau and the Baroque: Love and Virtue,’ in the Proceedings of the American Political Science Association. September 3. 1983.
35 IV, 657.
36 IV, 834.
37 My understanding of the erosion of the public realm is informed by Arendt's, HannahThe Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1958). 22–73Google Scholar; Sennett's, RichardThe Fall of Public Man (New York: Knopf. 1976)Google Scholar: and Schur's, WilliamThe Awareness Trap (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976).Google Scholar
38 Sennett (The Fall of Public Man) deals with this erosion of public life in a comprehensive and provocative manner. I am indebted to certain features of his analysis.