Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau  looked at humans natural impulses.  He believed that humans were born good and were only then made bad by societies rules.  He believed that if they were given the option of living freely then they would develop good and would be happy. Because of this he proposed a government that would give humans as much freedom as possible. He suggested the notion of general will.  This is that one must inhibit their personal will for the good of others and act in ways that are beneficial to the community.  I think he believed this because of his childhood.  He grew up acting on his personal impulses and it was not beneficial to the community.  I think that when he grew up he realized that this is not how a civilized society should act.

I find the notion that we are born good interesting.  I believe that in general humans are born good and we can choose to stay that way or become bad, but I also believe that we are born with some bad, such as selfishness.  I think that no matter the society we live in, we will still remain somewhat selfish at heart.  Although I think it is very possible to overcome selfishness if you strive for it.

It is also interesting that Rousseau wrote a book on how a child should be educated.  He discussed the best relationship for a child and tutor.  He believed that education should be particular to each individual child’s talents and interests.  Rousseau discusses that a tutor should let his student learn some on his own. I really like this idea of education because so many times students just learn things in different ways.  We all have different strengths and different talents and if you do fit into the standard way of learning then you are left behind.  I think that if more educational institutions would pick up on Rousseau’s theory of education many more people would have a better educational experience.

I believe that much of what Rousseau believed in his later life stemmed from his experiences in childhood.  He was abandoned by his father, suffered from poor health, moved all the time and changed jobs frequently, and was poor much of his life.  He did not have an easy childhood and I believe he took those experiences and used them to create theories of a better life than what he was given.