Jean-Jacques Rousseau's View Of The State Of Nature

The state of nature can be looked at from several positions. For one, a famous view on the state of nature is Thomas Hobbes. First, Hobbes makes the distinction that all men are equal in both mind and body, so everyone has an equal chance in attaining their desires. In such a case, conflict occurs; there will be quarrels due to competition, diffidence, and glory (Leviathan, 13, 320). In other words, there is competition for power and resources, lack of trust in one another, for everyone is equal – where they lack in body they acquire through the mind, and where they lack in mind they acquire through the body, and the desire to be valued. In the state of nature, a basic premise is that all men are constantly seeking for power and self-preservation

To start, the basic premise for Rousseau is the movement from the state of nature to civil society is a movement ultimately to a significantly worse situation. Furthermore, the current state in the state of nature leaves us well provided without the help of each other, “it is in fact impossible to conceive why, in a state of nature, one man should stand more in need of the assistance of another” (Discourse, 1, 423). We could also say, humans in the state of nature are self-sufficient. Also, there is no moral relations nor is there obligation between one another, yet there is a desire for self-preservation as well as a motivation for morality in the state of nature. There is no such thing as vanity, esteem, contempt, or private property. In other words, because there are no relations between people, we have not developed self-love or esteem as no interaction has occurred. But, our natural compassion enables us to feel pain when we see others in distress – this is seen quite frequently in parents and in animals (Discourse, 1, 424). From this, we can conclude that compassion in the state of nature is more effective than laws and moral principles that we would see in a civil society. Though there is no reason for anyone to leave the state of nature, the role of private property plays a huge part in moving us away from the state of nature and into civil society, “the first man who say,

Contrasting to Hobbes’ view of the state of nature being a state of war, Rousseau argues that upon leaving the state of nature we are entering a state of war. First, the moment in which everyone notices similarities of other human beings, people began to make comparisons with each other. Beauty, merit, and esteem became a huge value to people, leading to feelings of preference (Discourse, 2, 431). With such feelings as love, followed jealousy, causing discord all around. Consequently, as values became attached to public esteem, this is the first step towards inequality (Discourse, 2, 431). Adding on, a huge push towards this revolution to civil society and inequality was the development of metallurgy and agriculture (Discourse, 2, 432). Essentially, one group of people were specialized in metallurgy and the other in agriculture, in which one would depend on the other for survival. However, specialization in either metallurgy or agriculture meant that one could bargain for better trades if they were more specialized than the rest, inevitably leading to inequality. Not only that, Rousseau also believed that people have not developed rationality or morality and so they may become enslaved by their own needs thus making society ill (Discourse, 2, 436). Then, a social contract whereby all people agree upon something as a group is