This book is an essay "On the Origin and Basis of Human Inequality" written by the French thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau in response to a call for papers from the Dijon Academy of Sciences in France. It is also accompanied by "A Letter from Rousseau to Philopli", "On whether the revival of science and art can help make social customs more simple", "A Study of Rousseau" and "Chronology of Rousseau's Life". This book is called the introduction and introduction to "The Social Contract" and is considered the core of Rousseau's ideological world. By reading this book, we can understand the duality and internal contradictions inherent in the development of human history.
Reader comments
2024.12.20.15.30
It tells about the primitive instinct of human beings. The essence of human beings is animals. If you understand the essence, you can evolve a lot of business knowledge and technical means, as well as the source of various interest disputes.
From the above situation, each of us can clearly see that it is the interdependence and mutual needs between humans that bind humans together and lead to the creation of slavery relationships. If a person is independent enough to be independent of others, he will not be enslaved. Moreover, servile relationships do not exist in the state of nature. Because, in that state, there is no oppression between people, and even the law of the weak and the strong cannot play any role.
Once a man's sexual desire is satisfied, he no longer needs a partner, and the same is true for women.
The first thing a savage living in a state of nature can perceive is his own existence, and his only concern is his own survival. The land provides them with food to satisfy their needs, and they are driven by instinct to eat this food. One after another, different ways of life emerged under the influence of their hunger and other desires. Among them was a way of life that maintained the perpetuity of human life. Since savages have no emotions in their hearts, blind breeding among them is a purely animal behavior born of natural necessity. Once these needs are met, they no longer have anything to do with each other. This is true even for children. Once they grow up, they leave their mother and never have contact with her again.
Finally, I would like to reveal the reason why a few powerful and wealthy people enjoy supreme power and great wealth, while the majority of ordinary citizens suffer from darkness and suffering. Because what these few powerful and wealthy people enjoy is taken from the hands of most ordinary citizens. If these poor people are no longer exploited and oppressed, then the happiness of these powerful and wealthy people will also disappear.
We will also find that civil rights and popular freedoms are gradually outlawed, and the cries of the weak are regarded as reactionary speech.
We can find that the rulers of the country will fabricate all kinds of lies to provoke those who are united together, so that they collapse or fight with each other; they also hype that the society is peaceful and use false words to make people more dispersed; they plan how to make people fight with each other, stir up trouble among people, and collapse the centripetal force between them; they use various methods to curb people's power, thereby strengthening their control over people's hearts.
In sharp contrast to the savages who yearn for a leisurely life, people living in civilized societies are busy looking for harder jobs all day long. They are busy all their lives until they die. They look for jobs so that they can live a normal life, even if they give up their lives, they have no regrets. On the one hand, they despise and hate the strong and rich, on the other hand, they cater to these strong and rich, eager to get the opportunity to serve them. They are proud of being humble to their masters and their masters protecting them. They show off all day long that they are the slaves of the strong and wealthy, and despise those who do not enjoy these "privileges".
If you want barbarians to understand why people in civilized societies work so willingly, you must first let them understand the meaning of the words "power" and "honor", and secondly, let them understand that there is a kind of people whose evaluation index of themselves does not come from their own recognition of themselves, but from others' approval of them. In other words, they care too much about the opinions of others, and everything is based on the opinions of others.
At this time, a phenomenon will appear - using the method of estimating the value of livestock to judge the value of people.
There is nothing new under the sun, it's just that I don't know enough and haven't learned enough to see it. He is worthy of being a philosopher. He is very powerful and a book worth reading and learning.
When I was exposed to education at a young age, I thought philosophy was just empty talk about great principles. In fact, it is a group of people who have almost the same perspective as God, interpreting the essence of human social system for you. If you don't get confused by these tricks and start getting exposed to this kind of books as a teenager, your life shouldn't be so confusing.
"What experiments do we need to conduct in order to understand humans in a natural state?" To this question, I would say behavioral psychology has already given the answer.
When reading this book, it is recommended to first read the appendix written by Mr. Liang Qichao: Cases of Rousseau Studies. It will be better to read or experience his articles after having a general understanding of his political views and life. It is helpful to open the book and encourage you to share it.
He deeply analyzed the root causes of social inequality, but did not agree with some of his theories.
A glimpse into Europe three hundred years ago!
Rousseau's idea is different!
If human beings do not develop, they will survive like animals. It is not easy for human beings to survive in the natural state of the wild. Choosing to live in groups will inevitably lead to hierarchy and inequality. Not just humans, some animals living in groups are also hierarchical. For example, wolf groups, monkey groups, wild dog groups, etc. Are all unequal within themselves.
The development of human beings has given our own species a better living space and made them more prosperous!
The main thrust of this book lies in the second part
Why is there inequality? Because this is how civilized and savage people appear.
2024.12.20.15.30 It tells about the primitive instinct of human beings. The essence of human beings is animals. If you understand the essence, you can evolve a lot of business knowledge and technical means, as well as the source of various interest disputes. From the above situation, each of us can clearly see that it is the interdependence and mutual needs between humans that bind humans together and lead to the creation of slavery relationships. If a person is independent enough to be independent of others, he will not be enslaved. Moreover, servile relationships do not exist in the state of nature. Because, in that state, there is no oppression between people, and even the law of the weak and the strong cannot play any role. Once a man's sexual desire is satisfied, he no longer needs a partner, and the same is true for women. The first thing a savage living in a state of nature can perceive is his own existence, and his only concern is his own survival. The land provides them with food to satisfy their needs, and they are driven by instinct to eat this food. One after another, different ways of life emerged under the influence of their hunger and other desires. Among them was a way of life that maintained the perpetuity of human life. Since savages have no emotions in their hearts, blind breeding among them is a purely animal behavior born of natural necessity. Once these needs are met, they no longer have anything to do with each other. This is true even for children. Once they grow up, they leave their mother and never have contact with her again. Finally, I would like to reveal the reason why a few powerful and wealthy people enjoy supreme power and great wealth, while the majority of ordinary citizens suffer from darkness and suffering. Because what these few powerful and wealthy people enjoy is taken from the hands of most ordinary citizens. If these poor people are no longer exploited and oppressed, then the happiness of these powerful and wealthy people will also disappear. We will also find that civil rights and popular freedoms are gradually outlawed, and the cries of the weak are regarded as reactionary speech. We can find that the rulers of the country will fabricate all kinds of lies to provoke those who are united together, so that they collapse or fight with each other; they also hype that the society is peaceful and use false words to make people more dispersed; they plan how to make people fight with each other, stir up trouble among people, and collapse the centripetal force between them; they use various methods to curb people's power, thereby strengthening their control over people's hearts. In sharp contrast to the savages who yearn for a leisurely life, people living in civilized societies are busy looking for harder jobs all day long. They are busy all their lives until they die. They look for jobs so that they can live a normal life, even if they give up their lives, they have no regrets. On the one hand, they despise and hate the strong and rich, on the other hand, they cater to these strong and rich, eager to get the opportunity to serve them. They are proud of being humble to their masters and their masters protecting them. They show off all day long that they are the slaves of the strong and wealthy, and despise those who do not enjoy these "privileges". If you want barbarians to understand why people in civilized societies work so willingly, you must first let them understand the meaning of the words "power" and "honor", and secondly, let them understand that there is a kind of people whose evaluation index of themselves does not come from their own recognition of themselves, but from others' approval of them. In other words, they care too much about the opinions of others, and everything is based on the opinions of others. At this time, a phenomenon will appear - using the method of estimating the value of livestock to judge the value of people. There is nothing new under the sun, it's just that I don't know enough and haven't learned enough to see it. He is worthy of being a philosopher. He is very powerful and a book worth reading and learning.
When I was exposed to education at a young age, I thought philosophy was just empty talk about great principles. In fact, it is a group of people who have almost the same perspective as God, interpreting the essence of human social system for you. If you don't get confused by these tricks and start getting exposed to this kind of books as a teenager, your life shouldn't be so confusing.
"What experiments do we need to conduct in order to understand humans in a natural state?" To this question, I would say behavioral psychology has already given the answer.
When reading this book, it is recommended to first read the appendix written by Mr. Liang Qichao: Cases of Rousseau Studies. It will be better to read or experience his articles after having a general understanding of his political views and life. It is helpful to open the book and encourage you to share it.
He deeply analyzed the root causes of social inequality, but did not agree with some of his theories.
A glimpse into Europe three hundred years ago!
Rousseau's idea is different! If human beings do not develop, they will survive like animals. It is not easy for human beings to survive in the natural state of the wild. Choosing to live in groups will inevitably lead to hierarchy and inequality. Not just humans, some animals living in groups are also hierarchical. For example, wolf groups, monkey groups, wild dog groups, etc. Are all unequal within themselves. The development of human beings has given our own species a better living space and made them more prosperous!
The main thrust of this book lies in the second part
Why is there inequality? Because this is how civilized and savage people appear.