Jean-Jacques Rousseau

On the Social Contract & Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

"Why, and Whom, Should I Obey?"

Reading/Discussion Schedule

September 21 - On the Social Contract, Books I-II

September 24 - On the Social Contract, Books III-IV

September 28- Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part I (and Rousseau's Endnotes)

October 1 - Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part II (and Rousseau's Endnotes)

September 21

1. Why is man in chains?
2. Where do you see Plato's fingerprints in Rousseau's writing?
3. Construct an example of a law and one of a decree. Similarly, construct a good law and a bad one.
4. Explicate the notion of "Sovereign".
5. Where does liberty reside and what does it look like?

September 24

1. Where does Rousseau's statement:  "It is better to have liberty fraught with danger than servitude in peace." apply? 
2. Is Rousseau in favor of the U.S. Congress?
3. What is Rousseau's view of each of the following: censorship, abortion, capital punishment, same sex marriage?
4. In what way does the internet form a body politic?
5. How does Rousseau reconcile separation of church and state?

1. According to Rousseau, what has the greatest value in human existence?

2.  Create a rank-ordered^* list of human inequalities and bring it to class. Be prepared to defend your list with Rousseau's own words.
(* i.e. a list with the greatest inequality listed first, the next greatest second, etc.)

3.  What aspect of human civilization is the greatest corruptor of the natural human condition?

October 1

1.  Create a rank-ordered^* list of human inequalities and bring it to class. Be prepared to defend your list with Rousseau's own words.
(* i.e. a list with the greatest inequality listed first, the next greatest second, etc.)

2.  Bring your own questions.

Classic Rousseau:

"Man's first language, the most universal, the most energetic and the only language he needed before it was necessary to persuade men assembled together, is the cry of nature." (I)

"Such, in fact, is the true cause of all these differences; the savage lives in himself; the man accustomed to the ways of society is always outside himself and knows how to live only in the opinion of others." (II)