Great Books III Fall 2015

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

On the Social Contract & Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

"Why, and Whom, Should I Obey?"

Reading/Discussion Schedule

October 13 - On the Social Contract, Books I-II

October 16 - On the Social Contract, Books III-IV

October 20 - Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part I (and Rousseau's Endnotes)

October 23 - Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Part II (and Rousseau's Endnotes)

Sources of Inequality - October 23, 2015:

Fear, Comparison, Dependence

Reading/Discussion Prompts

October 13

  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?

October 16

Bring Locke's Second Treatise of Government to class.

  1. Where does Rousseau's statement:  "It is better to have liberty fraught with danger than servitude in peace." apply? 
  2. Where do Locke & Rousseau fundamentally disagree?
  3. Is Rousseau in favor of the U.S. Congress?
  4. What is Rousseau's view of each of the following: censorship, abortion, capital punishment, same sex marriage?
  5. In what way does the internet form a body politic?
  6. How does Rousseau reconcile separation of church and state?
 October 20


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 23

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.

Nature

Civility

Language

 

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)