GOV 493J ROUSSEAU

Rousseau's thought is critical of the "bourgeois" whom he sees as torn between private interests and political duties. Rousseau proposes an alternative to approximate in political life the unity of nature which existed before it. His proposal involves the education of a "new man" who will overcome the psychological divisions of the "bourgeois," and an account of political principles to receive him, as well as an account of the "new woman" who will receive him. This course will involve a detailed reading and examination of this new education in order to determine to what degree the whole project is coherent. We will start with the Discourses; then turn to Emile; and finish with the Social Contract and the Reveries.