I’ve read Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” itself in the original French. Thus, you might expect me to be something of a “fan” of this work. But on the contrary, I am a great detractor of it. To me, it is one of the most overrated books ever written, as this audiobook about it makes clear. But this audiobook is of extremely high quality, as it helps to show why the book is so problematic. It is better than just a “regurgitation” of the work itself – it is an evaluation of its ideas, and how well they actually stand up against logical scrutiny (they don’t).
This audiobook starts out by giving biographical information about Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Among other things, they discuss his tempestuous personal life, and his many passionate relationships with women. Rousseau fathered five illegitimate children, and gave all of them up for adoption. It was Voltaire who let the secret out. They also show how Rousseau got into political writing as a career, and came to have some of his radical views. He would have a great influence on the French Revolution, especially on the radical phase of it (as I describe in a blog post about that subject).
Statue of Rousseau on the Île Rousseau, Geneva
They discuss all of his major political works to at least some degree, including his “Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men.” Of his political works, this is second in importance only to “The Social Contract” itself. These two works are considered cornerstones of modern political theory, whether they deserve to be such or not. This audiobook points out some of the logical fallacies in each work, as I have done in my blog posts about them respectively. But they spend the greatest part of their time on “The Social Contract,” as one might expect from the title of this audiobook.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
They also discuss a number of related topics, such as how Rousseau praised the Ancient Spartans. I have trouble understanding how any thinking person could hold up Sparta as a model of good laws or good government. But then, Rousseau never was much of a thinking person. He had an artistic personality that prized “deep feeling” above all else. Where René Descartes said that “I think, therefore I am,” Rousseau might have said that “I feel, therefore I am.” Rousseau tried to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Descartes, by attempting to “reason” his way to philosophical truth. But it is hard to even dignify Rousseau’s arguments with the word “reasoning” at all, much less credit him with any success in this worthy endeavor. Rampant speculation seems to be a better description of certain parts of his “Discourse on the Origin of Inequality” (as I describe in my blog post on that subject).
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, later in life
I don’t pretend to be debunking “The Social Contract” in this particular blog post, since I have done so elsewhere in a blog post about the work itself. But this audiobook does a fine job of debunking it, perhaps even better than I have done in my blog post about it. Some might still be Rousseauians after listening to this work, particularly if they are as tone-deaf to logic as he was. But I imagine that many would come away from this audiobook with the same reaction that I had – namely, that Rousseau was a nutball who does not deserve the prestige that his works have since enjoyed.
Karl Marx
Incidentally, this audiobook is coupled with another fine audiobook about Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto” (a similarly nutty work). Like this audiobook, it does a good job of debunking the work that it covers. I review this other audiobook here, for any who are interested.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of the audiobook series
The Giants of Political Thought
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract
Others to be covered later
See also the audiobook series
The United States Constitution
Posts
I love your blogs brother. I wish I had the intellect you do lol. If you are open to ideas, I myself ponder how the declaration is not a ideology as compared to everything else. I would love to hear another persons ideas on that. I have worked out a basis that I present to other folks generally who fall into the socialist views, but very rarely get to talk about it to folks who share my values of freedom. Another topic right now I struggle with is the end of the word capitalism, I feel it has been coined into a dirty word. We should shift narrative to free market. Thanks for the great content, I will try to keep up lol
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your input and encouragement. I tend to agree with your assessment of socialism. It’s interesting that Rousseau was writing some decades before Karl Marx, but his views are essentially socialist in nature. Some might even describe them as communist. Rousseau’s “Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men” probably influenced Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who influenced Karl Marx. Thus, Rousseau may have had some indirect influence on Karl Marx and his socialist/communist worldview.
DeleteI totally agree that the word “capitalism” has been corrupted, and I think “free market” better captures what people like Adam Smith meant by the term. Whatever one calls the system, it certainly has a better track record than socialism or communism.
Anyway, thanks for the comments, and glad you’re enjoying the posts.