Is Vice Alien to Humanity? - Rousseau on Good, Evil and Weakness

Rousseau in 1753 by Maurice Quentin de La Tour

We are born weak and stupid and we have need of help and understanding. But - is wo/man intrinsically good in her/his nature.

("man" will be used to denote both genders for ease of quoting Rousseau.)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) held the view that man is naturally good and that vice and error are alien to him and this creates a conflict between "nature" and "artifice" in his attitude to society, education and religion. According to Rousseau, nature is man's state before being influenced by outside forces. Yet, at the same time, he acknowledges: "If man is left... to his own notions and conduct, he would certainly turn out the most preposterous of human beings. The influence of prejudice, authority... would stifle nature in him and substitute nothing."  Rousseau, clearly, accepts the needs of human beings for outside intervention in order to develop their natural propensity for good. "We are born weak, we have need of help, we are born destitute... we have need of assistance; we are born stupid, we have need of understanding."

How Humans Deface and Confound 

Man needs to work with nature, not against it. Rousseau points out at the start of his treatise that man is discontented with anything in its natural state and further claims that everything degenerates in his hand... "he mutilates his dogs, his horses and his slaves; he defaces, he confounds."

These are the three categories within human beings, the correct balance enables them to develop naturally.

• Education from nature itself, the limitations of which are outside of man's control.
• Education of man, for example, what we are taught,
• Experience of things, for example, the objects around us.

These three elements, according to Rousseau, should be consistent. Consciousness of sensation enables us to pursue or avoid them according to whether they are pleasing or disagreeable. This may result in enlightenment, but... "subject to the restraint of custom, judgements concerning pain or pleasure are more or less distorted by our opinions." So, again, Rousseau is pressing the point that outside influences, for example, society and custom, are responsible for deviations from natural, healthy development in humans and that this creates an appalling dilemma. Education should respect individuality rather than bow to social conventions.

Citizen or Man?

"Instead of educating a man for himself, he must be educated for others... we must chuse (sic) either to form the man or the citizen; for to do both at once is impossible."  Here Rousseau reinforces the value of reason, abhorring distortion and prejudice, asserting how difficult it is for man to be true to his inner nature and accommodate the demands of society, "...held in suspense... without being able to render ourselves consistent, and without ever being good for anything to ourselves or others."

Unnatural Nature and the Woman of Sparta

Yet, Rousseau has a strong belief that feeling is a component of faith, sometimes presenting "nature" in a way that is positively unnatural, yet calling it "noble". The woman of Sparta, having lost her five sons in a battle, cries, "...who asked you of my sons? - But we have gained the victory." In this way, Rousseau attempts to present an individual as part of a whole, therefore, as a true citizen, and an heroic mother, thus stretching credibility to its limits, since this is a most unlikely account of a natural, maternal reaction. This is a position that Rousseau accepts - that she has repressed her natural behaviour - and this is a real problem for his attempt to reconcile citizen and man. In other words, you either form the "citizen" or the "wo/man".  Further, a child must first be a man, before choosing a profession: "Nature has destined us to the offices of human life, antecedent to the destination of our parents."

Rouseau's thinking and his preoccupation with reason and human enlightenment led him to some similar conclusions to those of the French philosophes. He argues for what he sees as rational liberation, making objections to the ways in which babies are unnaturally swaddled so that they cannot move, or wet-nursed instead of being nursed by their natural mothers. On the other hand, he is not averse to encouraging stoical endurance and abhorring indulgence: "...when she makes an idol of the child... prevents every approach of pain or distress... This is the rule of nature."

Later, he becomes even more extreme in his claims: "Man is born to suffer in every stage of his existence... Happy are we, who in our infancy, know only physical evils... We lament the state of infants, whereas it is our own that is most to be lamented."  This seems to contradict earlier assertions about not swaddling children, and not keeping them from their natural mother's breast, but the point he makes is that the swaddling and wet-nursing are man-made evils, due to the caprices of women. "...such is the man made by our own caprices; that of nature is differently constituted."  So, it seems Rousseau believes that apparent evils of nature are for the best.

Evils that Spring from Weakness

Rousseau uses various examples to demonstrate the evils that spring from weakness, for instance, the quality of a mother's milk adjusts according to the age of the child, and it is only: "...as soon as ever we depart from the natural order of things, we find inconvenience in every attempt to do right."  He  believes that the education of man commences at birth and that experience is the forerunner of the precept. The child must be guided in order to facilitate its natural, good tendencies: "Prepare early for his enjoyment of liberty and the exercise of his natural abilities... unrestrained by artificial habits." Thus the child is left free to develop, but examples must be set. When children begin to observe objects: "... proper choices should be made in those which are presented to it." In this way, a good influence is exerted which does not interfere with the natural propensity of the child to strive for good. Sometimes, the influence is exerted passively, as in avoiding allowing the weakness of a child, in making demands, learning to practice tyranny, not giving in to their commands..."

Design versus Disorder

These ideas are compatible with the issues of religion and the argument from design, which Rousseau endorses. He has no time for the idea that matter organises itself by chance, and that disorder is the work of man.  "I believe, therefore, that the world is governed by a wise and powerful Will." By Rousseau's reasoning, the word "powerful" inspires good, since evil springs from weakness. Yet, "Many evils, such as the "apprehensions" and "miseries" engendered by medicine, are man-made and constitute an "outrage" to the laws of nature. Natural evils, like physical pain, have a useful function: pain alerts us to the need for a remedy."  So - nature may be harsh but it is ultimately beneficial."

Rousseau makes plain that man-made evil is separate from divine providence. "Enquire no longer, man is the author of evil; behold him in yourself. There exists no other evil in nature than what you either do or suffer... in the system of nature I see an established order which is never disturbed." There is a free choice to be made here and man may do good or evil.

Distrust of Revealed Religion

Natural religion, Rousseau, felt, had been tampered with and worship made too ceremonial. "Religion should be studied in the lives of men and in the book of nature." He made it clear, through his priestly voice, that he disapproved of, and found suspect, revealed religion.

In conclusion, Rousseau's concept of the word "nature" is that man is naturally good if exposed only to good influence and that his goodness is adversely affected only by external forces. There are contradictions in his attempts to reconcile nature with society because, while many of his arguments are sound, where he is guided by compassion, this compassion actually fails him where strong traditions influence him. "Man by nature is formed to suffer with patience." This is the traditional, stoical fortitude of Rousseau's era. There are other instances where he appears particularly cold-hearted, for example, in analysing his ideal student: "...he must have no disabilities" suggesting an elitism which is lacking in compassion in a piece of writing where compassion is held in most high regard. A further example is his argument that men and women are unequal in many respects.

Sources:

• Rousseau, Jean-Jacques,  Émile: or, On Education Books I, II and IV. Originally Published in French in 1762. English Translation Nu Vision Publications, 2007.