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Crosslistings: FRST 228 |
The most famous figure of the French Enlightenment was also its most famous critic. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's paradoxical relationship to the Enlightenment, which championed reason and progress, is characteristic of this "lover of paradox". He wrote books condemning the writing of books. (His books were burned all across Europe; after his death, his books became the bible of the French revolutionaries). He condemned "progress" and "reason". He was equality's greatest champion, but he also barred women from legislation. (He claimed to hold women in greater respect than any other). He began as a friend of the Enlightenment's greatest champions; by the end of his life he had quarreled with Diderot, Voltaire, d'Alembert, and even Hume across the Channel. We will read Rousseau's works and those of his contemporaries in order to better understand both his thought and the nature of the French Enlightenment as a whole. Rousseau's relation to the Enlightenment helps us to think about, among other things, whether democracy is at all possible; what the relation between reason, the passions, music, and love might be to politics; whether democracy requires economic equality; and why 18th century egalitarians excluded half of humanity from equality.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-18-2003
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459