In this blog post, we’ll explore Rousseau’s philosophy to see how his ideas can restore human nature and apply to modern society.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas start with the following premise “Man was good, free, and happy in his natural state, but with the advent of society and civilization, man became evil, lost his freedom, and became unhappy.” These ideas were revolutionary in the society of his time and required a deep reflection on human nature. Rousseau believed that humans were born free and equal, and in this state, they were able to live according to the laws of nature without external oppression or conflict. However, over time, with the development of civilization, humans began to drift away from this state of nature, resulting in misery and corruption.
Rousseau articulates this view in one of his most famous works, Emile, Or Treatise on Education. At the beginning of the book, he declares “All things in this world are good when they come out of the hands of the Creator, but they are corrupted when they come into the hands of man. Man endeavors to cultivate in one land the produce of another, and to make one tree bear the fruit of another. Man mixes up climates, environments, and seasons. We do not leave anything in its natural state.” Sentences like this symbolize how humans have become corrupted by defying the laws of nature and attempting to change the world through artificial means.
According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in the state of nature, humans took as much as they needed, nothing more, and did not harm others. We even had an instinctive desire to help others, but with the dawn of cognition, our desires expanded beyond our needs. This selfish desire led to the formation of the private property system, which in turn led to the emergence of an unequal society. In other words, selfish desire led to the corruption of man, and society was filled with confrontation and conflict between people.
Rousseau criticized this degradation of man and society and argued for the restoration of man’s original goodness and innocence. He saw the return to man’s natural state as an active alternative to overcome the absurdities of modern society, not simply a retrospective call to return to the past. It was from this perspective that Emile, Or Treatise on Education was written, in which Rousseau believed that through education, human nature could be restored and a more just and egalitarian society could be built.
Emile, Or Treatise on Education was written to provide a prescription for the ills of man and society. The prescription, in a nutshell, was to restore man to his lost nature: to return man to his natural state, to his primal infinity, and to create a society in which he could live in goodness, freedom, and happiness. Rousseau saw this transformation as possible through education, which he saw as a way of preserving and expressing human nature in its fullness, not simply as a means of transmitting knowledge.
This is illustrated in the story of Emile, a child who is transformed into an ideal human being by following an educational program designed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The principle of this education is to follow the process of human beings in their natural state as they help themselves mentally and physically while maintaining their original innocence. Therefore, knowledge is taught only to the extent necessary for practical life, and children are encouraged to observe or freely engage in active experiences according to the development of their minds and bodies. In this way, the child can grow into a moral human being with honesty and virtue while remaining free. This reflects his view of humanity, which emphasizes man in his natural state.
Rousseau also emphasizes the role of parents and educators in this process. He argues that parents and educators should respect the autonomy of children and allow them to observe their natural development without interfering with it. This is because he believed that the purpose of education is not simply to create functional human beings who can fit into society, but to help individuals realize the full potential of their nature.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s call for a return to nature may sound like a hollow cry. We’ve already gone too far in human history to return to what Jean-Jacques Rousseau called nature. However, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s view of human beings as inherently infinite makes sense. His ideal of a humanity that fosters bonds between humans and allows them to practice equality is even more relevant today, when we are often driven by greed.
In the modern world, Rousseau’s ideas still offer important lessons. His ideas can be interpreted not only as a longing for a state of nature that we have lost, but also as an effort to recapture the essence of what it means to be human. Today’s social inequality and environmental problems may be solved, as Rousseau suggests, through harmony with nature and the recovery of human nature. In this sense, Rousseau’s ideas are not just a philosophy of the past, but have a message for the present and the future.
