Rousseau’s penultimate chapter On Civil Religion may have been an addendum, yet it is clear that a wealth of his arguments in his Social Contract bolsters this conclusion. Throughout the first two books, he fleshes out the general will. It is the foundation of all legitimate authority · Jean Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract How can man surrender his natural liberties to the body politic (or community) and yet still have a level of primitive or natural right where he may preserve himself? Rousseau attempts to answer this question in his essay. An assault on one is viewed as an assault on all Rousseau's career as an essayist began in when, on the way to visit Diderot in prison, he saw an announcement for an essay contest sponsored by the Dijon Academy. In his winning essay, the
"The Social Contract" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Words | Essay Example
Yet from antiquity to the Middle Ages, political theology ruled mankind; God could legitimately govern by way of divine sanction. As Rousseau wrote The Social Contract, the remnants of a not-so-distant past remained.
Write my paper. Throughout the first two books, he fleshes out the general will. It jean jacques rousseau essay the foundation of all legitimate authority. The existence of civil society is thus contingent upon the existence of laws that citizens collectively agree upon. Such laws must be universal and shape mores; no individual or subgroup takes precedence over the other.
This is telling: he starts building his case for civil religion from the outset by rooting justice in divine authority. Rousseau seems to advocate, if not a foreign entity then, one who has a germ of divine power. These tablets of stone form the bedrock of Judeo-Christian tradition. If Moses was able to transmit the Decalogue not only to Israelites but to generations jean jacques rousseau essay as well, what does that speak of man and the appeal of the supernatural on him?
Rousseau hints at this as a means of ensuring laws are followed. On Civil Religion marries politics and religion once again, albeit, jean jacques rousseau essay, in a different light. Rousseau first outlines the problems inherent in the Christian dogma — the City of God takes precedence over that of materialistic man. Rousseau fails to realize, however, jean jacques rousseau essay, that the two are not diametrically-opposed; in fact Christianity can coexist with many of the principles he upholds, jean jacques rousseau essay.
Rousseau uses this as a basis for his civil religion; he proposes that the two can be reconciled through a newfound profession of faith and sociability that is rooted in our earthly existence and thus our general will. If Rousseau understands natural man to the marrow, he may have been well-versed in the role of psychology in the human condition as well. We can see why he particularly chose religion as his means: despite growing secularism, the role of religion has its roots in moral psychology.
Again, we hark back to Moses. Men followed him and lionized the Ten Commandments because of their association with the divine. The same can be said with other Abrahamic prophets.
Rousseau knows how religion influences the passions and its position vis-à-vis law. In his Discourse on Inequality, he posits that man is full of passions. More notably, however, man did not dare jean jacques rousseau essay question divine authority because of his underlying fear.
Is this fear embedded in our nature? Rousseau seems to have played with this innate fear, which he knew was alive and well during the Enlightenment. If this fear was powerful enough to make man submit to political theology for a large bulk of history, it must be a potent emotion, is it not?
It seems that Rousseau only resuscitates religion back into jean jacques rousseau essay political picture as a means to make his social contract come to fruition. Therein lies the problem. These dogmas are not to be taken lightly; not everyone can embrace these as well. Rousseau should simply use religion or appeals to divine authority to cement his politics or legislative affairs, no more and no less.
By extension, Rousseau underestimates both the power and destruction that the unification of religion and politics brings to civil society. Religion should be a private practice. Their respective identities were still developed and strengthened in pluralist conditions and acculturation to their surroundings.
When politico-religious reaction infused with polemical language came into the forefront, as with the advent of the Crusades, they devolved into warring groups. The current quest to resuscitate Islamic law in all spheres of religious and political life similarly strikes a deep terror, jean jacques rousseau essay. Unlike the medieval era, the undertones of post-colonialism make the desire for political ascendancy and even hegemony under their religious doctrine more pronounced, jean jacques rousseau essay.
It will take a miracle to disentangle religion and politics just as it is impossible to disregard the spiritual element of religion and make it purely practical. So if Rousseau proposes that one does not have to fully adhere to the dogmas outlined, how will civil religion prove efficient?
It is in this light that Rousseau fails to realize that religion, given its effects on human moral psychology, cannot be taken lightly — especially when it converges with a force so seminal as politics, jean jacques rousseau essay. Yes, he acknowledges its utility: tapping into fear can be strategic in ensuring laws are followed. However, this jean jacques rousseau essay can prove equally destructive. It cannot be denied that there remains a powerful nexus between religion and politics by way of moral ideology.
Even democratic states that crow about their separation from the church have domestic moral and seemingly irreconcilable divergences that are rooted in both religious and political affiliations. A wedge may have been driven jean jacques rousseau essay church and state but where this wedge lies remains arbitrary in a host of societies. It does not reflect the quality of papers completed by our expert essay writers.
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Social Contract - Political Philosophy
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau Essay Words | 4 Pages. Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a theory of human nature that differed from all others. The way we started, grew as a society, and live now, are totally different than what we have already learned this semester. He thought of what is called a Social Contract Theory Rousseau's career as an essayist began in when, on the way to visit Diderot in prison, he saw an announcement for an essay contest sponsored by the Dijon Academy. In his winning essay, the Rousseau’s penultimate chapter On Civil Religion may have been an addendum, yet it is clear that a wealth of his arguments in his Social Contract bolsters this conclusion. Throughout the first two books, he fleshes out the general will. It is the foundation of all legitimate authority
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