INTRODUCTION 763
that liberate the individual. Moreover, the arts and sciences neither rise from nor
lead to morality. As Rousseau put it,
Astronomy was born of superstition, eloquence of ambition, hatred, falsehood, and
flattery; geometry of avarice; physics of an idle curiosity; and moral philosophy,
like all the rest, of human pride. Thus the arts and sciences owe their birth to our
vices.*Rousseau not only won the prize, but the publication of his essay,Discourse
on the Sciences and Arts(1750), brought him instant fame. Applying his genius
next to music, Rousseau wrote the opera Le Devin de Village(1752), a work that
glorified the Italian themes of melody and simplicity in its stories of ordinary
people (in contrast to the French operatic tradition of sophisticated and complex
music with stories of kings and gods). Returning to Geneva, Rousseau worked out
the implications of his prize essay in his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
(1755), which explained the loss of the “state of nature.” Contrary to Thomas
Hobbes, Rousseau claimed that virtually all unpleasantries in life are the result of
society and that in a true state of nature humans are, as Hobbes claimed, solitary,
but they are also happy, free, and good. In his novel The New Heloise(1761),
Rousseau fictionalized the value of simple life. In Emile(1762), he applied his
insights to education, appealing for the protection of the unspoiled child from the
grind of traditional education. The Social Contract(1762) most clearly and force-
fully laid out Rousseau’s political ideals and became one of the most influential
books of all time.
Rousseau’s advocacy of the simple, natural life and the importance of emotion
over reason was an important contribution to the early Romantic movement. But
it also led to a break with his Enlightenment friends. (For example, after receiving
a copy of Discourse on the Origin of Inequality,Voltaire wrote Rousseau to thank
him for “your new book against the human race.”) Furthermore, Rousseau’s often
implicit—and occasionally explicit—condemnation of government authorities
eventually led to a warrant for his arrest. Unwelcome in France and Geneva,
Rousseau took refuge in England with David Hume. However, by now Rousseau
was becoming paranoid. He began to accuse Hume of conspiring with his
enemies. The quarrel was publicized and Rousseau’s reputation suffered. He
eventually returned to France, but the authorities—as well as the public—were no
longer very interested in him. He spent his last years wandering France before
dying obscure and penniless in 1778. His Confessionsbegan to be published
posthumously in 1782.
Whereas Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequalitygives a description of
how the freedom and happiness of the state of nature were lost, his magnum opus,
The Social Contract,offers a prescription for human reclamation. Rousseau
begins The Social Contractwith the bold assertion, “Man was born free, and
everywhere he is in chains.” But Rousseau does not think the answer lies in a kind
*Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Discourse on the Sciences and the Artsin Rousseau: Selections,edited by
Maurice Cranston (New York: Macmillan, 1988), p. 52.