Rousseau, nature, and the problem of the good life / Laurence D. Cooper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cooper, Laurence D., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778.

Philosophical anthropology--History--18th century.

Philosophical anthropology.

History.

Philosophy of nature--History--18th century.

Political science--History--18th century.

Political science.

Philosophy of nature.

Physical Description:

xiv, 223 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, [1999]

Summary:

The rise of modern science created a crisis for Western moral and political philosophy, which had theretofore relied either on Christian theology or Aristotelian natural teleology as guarantors of an objective standard for "the good life." This book examines Rousseau's effort to show how and why, despite this challenge from science (which he himself intensified by equating our subhuman origins with our natural state), nature can remain a standard for human behavior.

While recognizing an original goodness in human being in the state of nature, Rousseau knew this to be too low a standard and promoted the idea of "the natural man living in the state of society, " notably in Emile. Laurence Cooper shows how for Rousseau, conscience -- understood as the "love of order" -- functions as the agent whereby simple savage sentiment is sublimated into a more refined "civilized naturalness" to which all people can aspire.

Contents:

Introduction: Rousseau and the Question of the Good Life 1

Roussau, Nature, and History 4

1 The Goodness of All Good Lives 17

Beyond Happiness, or What Makes the Good Life Good 19

The Two Components of the Good Life 30

2 Nature and Human Nature, Part I: What Is Natural? 37

The Fixedness of Man's "Present Nature" 41

Charting the Human Landscape: Two Chasms

One Bridgeable, the Other Not 47

Charting the Human Landscape: Five Human Types, Three Natural Men, One Civilized Savage 51

"What Is Natural in the Savage State" and "What Is Natural in the Civil State" 59

3 Nature and Human Nature, Part II: Emile, or the Naturalization of Second Nature 67

Between Aristotle and Hobbes, Between Plato and Freud: A Word on Rousseau's Distinctiveness 69

Sublimation in Rousseau: Conscience as Alchemist 80

What Else Is Natural, and Why 105

4 The Problem of Self-Love 115

The Stakes 119

Amour-Propre's Inevitability 120

Amour-Propre's Ambiguity 122

Amour-Propre's Influence on Character and Behavior 130

What Amour-Propre Is and How It Arises 136

Answers and Rebuttals: An Attempt at Dialectic 137

The Birth of Amour-Propre 150

How Much Amour-Propre, and What Kind? Gentleness Versus Cruelty, Pride Versus Vanity 160

Beyond Amour-Propre? Prospects and Possibilities 172

5 Critical Reflections on Rousseau's Naturalism 183

A Return to Wholeness 186

The Perils of Rousseau's Naturalism: Some Concluding Reflections 190

Rousseau's Subjectivism and Its Consequences 191

The Denial of Amour-Propre's Naturalness and the Consequences for Our Moral Lives 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-214) and index.

ISBN:

0271019220

0271019239

OCLC:

40408704