Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a social philosopher who was born in 1712 and died in 1778. He is most well known for his political theories and writings on human nature. His writings were influential to the French Revolution.
Most of Rousseau's writing was focused on the values of equality and liberty. He believed that when left to their own devices, most groups of humans opted for an egalitarian society. He believed that in the earliest days...
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a social philosopher who was born in 1712 and died in 1778. He is most well known for his political theories and writings on human nature. His writings were influential to the French Revolution.
Most of Rousseau's writing was focused on the values of equality and liberty. He believed that when left to their own devices, most groups of humans opted for an egalitarian society. He believed that in the earliest days of man, all societies were egalitarian and free of values which serve to discriminate against or stratify the people. He was very interested in what he called Primitive societies (as in hunter-gatherer societies) and felt that their lifestyles were the best representations of the origins of human society. Rousseau felt that the root of stratification of people began with the notion of property or ownership.
You may be familiar with a quote of Rousseau's- "Man is born free but everywhere is in chains." This means that Rousseau felt that at birth, humans are free beings, but as we grow up we learn the restrictions of society. This is a good example of the kind of philosophy Rousseau wrote on and pushed for in religious, social, and political reform.
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