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madeleinegeorge's review against another edition
3.0
I love my boi Jean-Jacques but I stg I'm just about finished with him for this semester.
Anyway. Updated essentials from today (live from Butler):
"Give the name of natural law to a collection of these rules, without any other proof than the good that would result from them being universally practiced."
"The mind is shocked at the cruelty of [the violence of the powerful], or is induced to lament the blindness of [the oppression of the weak]; and as nothing is less permanent in life than those external relations, which are more frequently produced by accident than wisdom, and which are called weakness or power, riches or poverty, all human institutions seem at first glance to be founded merely on banks of shifting sand."
"You will soon see the advantage of having all our forces constantly at our disposal, of being always prepared for every event, and of carrying one's self, as it were, perpetually whole and entire about one."
"Man has enemies more formidable, against which is not provided such means of defense: these are the natural infirmities of infancy, old age, and illness of every kind, melancholy proofs of our weakness."
"Nature lays her commands on every animal, and the brute obeys her voice."
"Let us reflect on the inconceivable pains and the infinite space of time that the first invention of languages must have cost."
"In consequence of seeing each other often, they could not do without seeing each other constantly. A tender and pleasant feeling insinuated itself into their souls, and the least opposition turned it into an impetuous fury: with love arose jealousy; discord triumphed, and human blood was sacrificed to the gentlest of all passions."
"In the relations between person and person, the worst that can happen is for one to find himself at the mercy of another."
"Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but not a right to be exacted."
Anyway. Updated essentials from today (live from Butler):
"Give the name of natural law to a collection of these rules, without any other proof than the good that would result from them being universally practiced."
"The mind is shocked at the cruelty of [the violence of the powerful], or is induced to lament the blindness of [the oppression of the weak]; and as nothing is less permanent in life than those external relations, which are more frequently produced by accident than wisdom, and which are called weakness or power, riches or poverty, all human institutions seem at first glance to be founded merely on banks of shifting sand."
"You will soon see the advantage of having all our forces constantly at our disposal, of being always prepared for every event, and of carrying one's self, as it were, perpetually whole and entire about one."
"Man has enemies more formidable, against which is not provided such means of defense: these are the natural infirmities of infancy, old age, and illness of every kind, melancholy proofs of our weakness."
"Nature lays her commands on every animal, and the brute obeys her voice."
"Let us reflect on the inconceivable pains and the infinite space of time that the first invention of languages must have cost."
"In consequence of seeing each other often, they could not do without seeing each other constantly. A tender and pleasant feeling insinuated itself into their souls, and the least opposition turned it into an impetuous fury: with love arose jealousy; discord triumphed, and human blood was sacrificed to the gentlest of all passions."
"In the relations between person and person, the worst that can happen is for one to find himself at the mercy of another."
"Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but not a right to be exacted."
bluethor's review against another edition
1.0
He's basically an anarchist with this discourse having a lot in common with the Unabomber's manifesto but with all the racist and sexist prejudices of an 18th Century twat. All pure conjecture which he even admits at one point but actually waves it off saying there's obviously no other explanations for what he observes: because this one time therefore I'm right.
Rousseau believes rape is caused by society's laws influenced by women causing men to lust after certain traits of beauty. Something "savage man" doesn't comprehend therefore "savage man" never rapes. Apparently just like the Caribbeans who are all lacking civility but fired by passions. Yet due to their simple/savage nature don't rape.
It gets slightly better in part II but not by much and it's still filled with conjecture and unfounded crap. This book made me angry.
I can't believe this is considered a classic. I swear people just nod their head and agree it's a classic to seem intellectual.
Utter, utter tripe.
Rousseau believes rape is caused by society's laws influenced by women causing men to lust after certain traits of beauty. Something "savage man" doesn't comprehend therefore "savage man" never rapes. Apparently just like the Caribbeans who are all lacking civility but fired by passions. Yet due to their simple/savage nature don't rape.
It gets slightly better in part II but not by much and it's still filled with conjecture and unfounded crap. This book made me angry.
I can't believe this is considered a classic. I swear people just nod their head and agree it's a classic to seem intellectual.
Utter, utter tripe.
foxowl2005's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Slavery and Violence
loyaultemelie's review against another edition
Rousseau is the actual worst (this is about his views on women; also Locke did it better)
ad7leb36's review against another edition
5.0
BIG TIME SLAY
jean jacques (jj) a tout dit tout vu tout fait et tout compris. if you want to educate yourself on politics, this is where you should definitely start. it's quite an easy read for a philosophical essay (well, seemingly at least), and it gives you an idea of the broad state of society. it is accurate, worryingly so, and insightful, worryingly so.
invented karl marx. would have stolen your girlfriend.
jean jacques (jj) a tout dit tout vu tout fait et tout compris. if you want to educate yourself on politics, this is where you should definitely start. it's quite an easy read for a philosophical essay (well, seemingly at least), and it gives you an idea of the broad state of society. it is accurate, worryingly so, and insightful, worryingly so.
invented karl marx. would have stolen your girlfriend.
goosemixtapes's review against another edition
JJ rousseau my bestie worstie. mary wollstonecraft was right to dunk him like a basketball for the general misogyny, but after reading the second discourse for class, i have grudgingly recovered some respect for him. the man can write & he makes a lot of good points. even if, to a teenage dyke living in the 21st century, it sometimes reads like [joker voice] we live in a society
tristanpej's review against another edition
4.0
It's hard to make a review of a book centuries old. What you will find from this is an 18th century person investigating the inequalities in his society. Read it as a spring board to bigger discussions, but it offers little applicable today.
icecubecat's review against another edition
4.0
This infamous book is as good as its reputation, Rousseau bombastically deconstructs ideas of natural hierarchy and points us to the social origin of many deemed 'natural facets' of life.
The relevance of this is perhaps understated as we return to a society where the powerful and rich are re-given their pre-Enlightenment dignitas of having earned their position through the "nobility" of their supposed "hard-work", a viewpoint which has striking similarities to the way old aristocracies justified their immense power imbalance with everyday man.
Rousseau's writing is captivating and thoroughly exegetic as he takes time to open his concepts up as he proceeds through the text.
The book's content does not need selling as Rousseau's ideas stand in pre-eminence among thinkers of his time, a necessary read for anyone remotely interested in the origin of many common ideas about the human and social condition and for those interested by writers inspired by Rousseau such as Marx
The relevance of this is perhaps understated as we return to a society where the powerful and rich are re-given their pre-Enlightenment dignitas of having earned their position through the "nobility" of their supposed "hard-work", a viewpoint which has striking similarities to the way old aristocracies justified their immense power imbalance with everyday man.
Rousseau's writing is captivating and thoroughly exegetic as he takes time to open his concepts up as he proceeds through the text.
The book's content does not need selling as Rousseau's ideas stand in pre-eminence among thinkers of his time, a necessary read for anyone remotely interested in the origin of many common ideas about the human and social condition and for those interested by writers inspired by Rousseau such as Marx