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THE HISTORICAL OUTLOOK OF JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU PDF

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INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 13-21Ills £D3907 • G7 Howell, Wilson McDaniel, 1923- 1952 The historicaVoutlook of Jean- •H7 Jacques Rousseau. iii;i82p. . . t Thesis (Ph.D.) - N.Y.U., Graduate School, 1952. Bibliography: p.175-1821 D2l* Shelf List Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. m, 10RE OMTHBIT1 mjIVERSITT KEIWTS* THE HISTORICAL OUTLOOK OF JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU By ^ Wilson Mr Howell A dissertation in the department of history submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at New York University April, 1952 i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Professor Leo Gershoy has been of invaluable assis­ tance in the clarification of my ideas concerning the histor­ ical outlook of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Professor Gershoy's helpful advice and friendly criticisms provided the proper stimulus in periods when the abundance of material on Rousseau and the complicated and involved character of his thought / threatened to prolong indefinitely the time required for the completion of this thesis. 1 would also like to thank my wife, whose encouragement and support it is impossible to overestimate. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I. INTRODUCTION. A. Rousseau and his century..................... 1 B. The central problem of the thesis and its ramifications.............................. 3 C. Other works concerning Rousseau and history 8 D. The distinction between this thesis and other works concerning Rousseau and history......... 10 II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROUSSEAU'S HISTORICAL OUTLOOK. A. The period prior to 1750................... 12 B. The Discourse on the Arts apd Sciences of 1750.. 19 C. The controversies concerning this Discourse 26 D. The Discourse on Inequality of 175^........... 31 III. A PERIOD OF INDECISION. A. The article on Political Economy of 1755....... 50 B. Rousseau the critic of the Abb6 de Saint- Pierre .................................... 59 C. The Letter to d'Alembert of 1758.............. 67 D. A study of national characteristics~the Nouvelle Heloise and Bnlle.................. 79 E. Rousseau and skepticism...................... 93 IV. AN ATTEMPT AT RECONCILIATION. A. The Social Contract of 1762— Rousseau's most serious effort to reconcile the divergent elements of his historical outlook.............102 ill CONTENTS (continued) B. The state as an organism.................... 105 C. The role of the lawgiver................ 115 D. The model states of Rome and Sparta.......... 120 E. Rousseau the prophet....................... 12*t V. THE FINAL PHASE. A. Christianity and the state.................. 128 B. The Letters Written from the Mountain of 176^. • • l*+0 C. Rousseau's counsel concerning the constitution of Corsica................................. l*+6 D. Considerations upon the Government of Poland of 1772................................... 156 VI. CONCLUSION. A. Rousseau's dilemma......................... 166 B. Possible ways of escape from this dilemma..... 173 C. Rousseau's unwillingness to construct his historical outlook on a geometric pattern..... 17^ BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................... 175 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A recurrent problem in the history of historiography is the one concerned with the tantalizing question of the utility of history. Whatever answer the historian gives, he is subject to a certain amount of adverse criticism. If he considers his duty to be limited to the reconstruction of the past, then he is likely to be catalogued with the antiquarians or storytellers, depending on whether he intends to present the past in its minutiae or to entertain his readers with tales of bygone days. If the historian assumes a skeptical attitude, affirming the incomprehensibility of historical phenomena, the impossibility of the formulation of historical laws, and the futility of an attempt to go beyond a very frag­ mentary and biased interpretation of events in the past, then he probably will be confronted with the embarrassing question of justifying his position in the practical world of affairs. Finally, if he looks at the past only in the light of the pres­ ent and attempts to use his historical knowledge to predict the future or to offer suggestions pertaining to a partial control over the future, he runs the risk of classification on the same level as a prophet. The men of eighteenth century Europe during the era of the Enlightenment, it has been observed, were essentially pragmatic in their attitude regarding the utility of history. The past was regarded as a great storehouse of human experi­ ence, furnishing lessons applicable to the present. Since human nature, according to the philosophes, remained a con­ stant factor throughout the centuries, man would always react in the same manner to similar political and social conditions. History, therefore, was useful for the prediction of the future and as a guide for control over the future.^ As Leo Gershoy notes in his description of the dominant trends in the historical philosophy of the Enlighten­ ment, The philosophes were least of all interested in what dif­ ferentiated man from man, and most of all interested in what linked mankind together. Their concern was to ex­ tract from historical experience confirmation of the great truth proclaimed by reasons that under the distract ing play of surface differences human nature everywhere remained constant in all recorded eternity. For them all Hume's "constant and invariant principles of human nature" meant constantly and invariably good— humane and generous, tolerant and just, capable in brief of assuming a rational responsibility for man's fate In an always insecure world. If such was the function of historical investigation, it was clearly not necessary to strain for pedantic fullness of factual information, or even to have the facts speak for themselves in a conventionally correct chronological order. What mattered was to have the examples of history demonstrate that wherever the fundamental attributes of human nature were repressed and denied, as for instance under the rule of tyrants and priests, then humanity itself was deprived of its birthright. What mattered ^Tor a general picture of the historical thought of the Enlightenment, sees Carl Becker, The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Century Philosophers (New Haven, 1932); J. B. Black The Art"of History (New York, 1926): Nelly M. Schargo, History in the Bacvclopfedie (New York, 19^7); and J. W. Thompson, A History of Historical Writing. 2 vols. (New York, 19^-2). 3 even more was to have history demonstrate that where this constant and invariant human nature was allowed expres­ sion, as during those four happy ages of Pericles, the Antonines, the Renaissance, and the enlightenment, the arts and sciences flourished and man lived happily, free from strife and oppression.2 Though not a historian in the traditional sense of the term, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his political writings reflects this view of history as "philosophy teaching by exam­ ples" which was so widespread in eighteenth century Europe. He too faced the problem of the utility of history, and his answer in some respects differed sharply from the viewpoints of his contemporaries. Rousseau's thought along these lines was centered primarily on the utility of history for the state. This thesis deals with the story of Rousseau's quest for a solution to this problem. And his solution is not a simple one. The difficulty lay in the duality in Rousseau's historical outlook which he was never able to reconcile. Rousseau's dilemma arose from his inability to reconcile two divergent theories concerning the evolution of the state. The question which Rousseau vainly tried to solve was whether the course of the state was dependent upon human endeavor or whether the development of the state was determined by a multiplicity of diverse factors defying human endeavor. Acceptance of either position carried serious implications for Rousseau's ideas concerning the utility of history for the state. One led 2 Leo Gershoy, From Despotism to Revolution 176^-1789 (William L. Langer, ed., The Rise of Modern Europe. X, New York, 19Mf), pp. 203-H-.

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