Jean-Jacques Rousseau (장 자크 루소)- the Origins of Inequality (인간 불평등 기원론)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (장 자크 루소)- the Origins of Inequality (인간 불평등 기원론)

-To understand Rousseau's account of the origin of inequality, property and the modern state, paying particular attention to the concepts of amour propre and freedom as independence. 

-Talking Points: Human Nature; Amour Propre; Origins of Political Society; Freedom

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"Man is naturally good and that it is through social institutions alone that man became bad."

-인간은 본래 착하고 사회적 기관 자체가 인간을 나쁘게 만들었다. 루소는 인간의 본성이 본디 착하다고 믿고 있음. 

루소는 1712년 제네바에서 태어났음. 그리고 1778년에 돌아가셨음.  계몽사상이 꽃핀 18세기 인물임.

The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Q. What is the Origin of Inequality Among Men, and Whether it is Authorised by the Natural Law

A. JJR (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) answers by offering an account of our history and the changes in culture and society we've experienced.

Types of Inequality

1. Natural  (자연적 불평등)

-"established by nature and consists in the difference in ages, bodily strengths, and the qualities of mind or soul."

2. Political (정치적 불평등) - artificial

-"established, or at least authorised by consent".

-Different privileges people have in society: money, honour, power etc.

-Political inequality is artificial and sustained by society. 

Conjectural History (추측된 역사)

-JJR offers an account of the state of nature.

-Not a true history but a philosophical reconstruction of history. (실재 역사라기 보다는 역사의 철학적 재구성)

-Man in his natural condition could not have been subject to the inequality we witness in society. 

-Other philosophers import societal characteristics into the state of nature. 

-For JJR natural man is animalistic. 

Natural Man- Physical 

- Men only have natural needs (e.g. food, water, shelter) and only desires what he needs. 

- All of which can be easily satisfied because: 

-Each individual has the natural abilities to obtain them.

-Resources are plentiful

-Natural man lived a solitary life.

-Men are self-sufficient: they can ensure preservation by their own efforts.

-Individuals are free in that they do not need to depend on anyone else to satisfy their needs. (independent)

-They are equal in that they are all free. (independent)

자급자족형 인간/ 내 욕구 충족을 위해서 다른 사람의 도움 필요없다. 따라서 모든 인간은 평등하고 자유로움.

What distinguishes man? 인간과 동물을 구분짓는 것은?

1. Free-will: animals operate via instinct. Man has free choice.  (뭐긴 뭐야, 자유의지)

2. We can shape our future. (우리 스스로 미래를 건설할 수 있는것.)

3. We have the "faculty of perfectibility": the capacity to adopt to changing circumstances. (어디서나 적응할 수 있는 능력이 있다.)

The state of nature (자연상태)

1. At this stage there is an absence of conflict.  (이 단계에서는 분쟁이 일어날 일이 없다.)

2. No settled relations with others so no social emotions: vanity, pride, contempt. (사람들과의 고착된 관계가 존재하지 않기에 그와 관련된 감정도 존재할리가 없음)

3. Man's "desires never go beyond his physical wants. The only goods he recognises in the universe are food, a female, and sleep: the only evils he fears are pain and hunger." (욕망이 육체적 욕망에서 벗어나지 않는다. 음식, 여자, 잠 이 좋은 것, 인간이 오직 두려움을 느끼는 것은 고통과 배고픔)

4. Not a state of war: warlike passions only exist after socialisation (자연상태에서 전쟁이란 없다. 다들 자급자족하기 때문에 싸울 일 없음.)

Natural Man: Moral 

1. Amour de soi (self-love) 아무르 드 쑤아! 나는 나를 사랑한닷.

- an instinctual drive towards self-preservation. (자기를 보호하기 위한 본능적인 욕구)

-Natural sentiment: it makes us attend our most basic biological needs. (살기 위해서는 생물학적 욕구에 충실해야 한다...)

2. Pity (compassion) 동정/연민의 감정은 어째서 생긴건가.

-Natural disposition (기질): it makes us reluctant to witness suffering. (남이 고통받는 모습을 보는게 꺼려지는것)

- Don't want to harm others. 

Why do we change? 아니, 그럼 왜 왜 왜 인간은 영원히 선하지 못한걸까?

1. No inconveniences in the original state of nature. (본래 자연상태에서는 불편함이 없다)

2. So only a change in our circumstances would force us to change and adapt (환경에서의 변화가 우리가 바뀌고 적응하게끔 만들것)

3. Human population grew such that resources became scarce (인구가 증가하면서 자원이 희귀해짐)

4. Men needed to co-operate in order to fulfil their natural needs and desires (어라? 그러면 이런 상황에서 우리가 우리의 자연적 필요와 욕구를 총죽시키려면 서로 도와야겠군!)

5. Men become dependent on others (따라서, 자연상태에서 독립적이던 사람들이 의존적이게 됨)

6. Recognised other members of the species were relevantly like themselves. (어라? 나말고 같은 사람들이 존재하네. 다른 사람들도 자기들과 비슷하다고 인식)

7. Developed social units and language (사회적 단위와 언어를 개발)

Psychological Transformations (심리적 변화)

1. Living together we begin to see ourselves through others' eyes. (내가 그의 이름을 불러주었을 때, 그는 나에게로 와서 꽃이 되었다. 이런건가. 상대의 존재를 인정!)

2. We think about how we appear to them. (우리가 다른사람에게 어떻게 보여질까에 대한 것.)

3. "Each one began to consider the rest and to wish to be considered in turn, and public esteem came to acquire a value. Whoever sang or danced the best, whoever was the most handsome, the strongest, the most skilful, or the most eloquent (유창한), came to be of most consideration; and this was the first step to inequality and vice at the same time. From these first distinctions arose on the one side vanity and contempt, on the other shame and envy." (따라서 대중에게 어떻게 보여지는지가 중요하게 됨. 잘난맛을 보여주고 싶어함.)

Amour-propre  (자부심)

1. This desire for esteem in the eyes of others. (다른 사람의 관점으로 존경을 얻으려는 욕구)

2. A desire to be evaluated by others as having a certain value in comparison to others.  (다른 사람과 비교함으로써 특정한 가치를 얻는 것을 통해 다른사람들로부터 평가받고 싶은 욕구.)

3. We begin to derive our sense of self worth from others' opinions. (우리의 자부심을 다른 사람의 의견으로부터 발견)

4. This is a new psychological need: to achieve some kind of respect or standing in the eyes of others. (정신적 욕구다. 다른사람의 눈으로부터 존겨을 얻고싶어하는것.)

Amour-propre cont.

1. This can be a good thing:  (좋은 것일 수 있다. )

2. It makes moral life possible by expressing the idea that we want others to acknowledge and respect us.( 다른사람들이 우리를 인정하고 존중하길 바라는 점을 표현함으로써 도덕적 삶을 가능하게 만든다.)

3. The foundation of principles like justice and equality. (정의와 평등과 관련된 법칙들의 기초다 사실.)

4. There can be healthy amour-propre (이 경우 건강한 amour-propre)

5. When this demand is not met we feel resentment - ex) English riots of 2011. 하지만 이런 욕구가 충족되지 않으면 분노로 변한다는게 함정. 2011년 영국 폭동을 생각하면 됨.

6. However, amour-propre can be perverted or inflamed. 이게 왜곡될 수도 있다는 점.

7. Can become the desire to have greater superiority than others. (다른 누구보다 제일 높은 자리에 오르고 싶은 욕망으로 변환될 수 있다)

8. Expresses itself in competition for social advantage. (사회적 이점을 위해서 경쟁에 자신을 던짐 휘리릭. 내가 더 우월하다!)

9. Expressed in the desire for social goods like money, fame etc. (돈과 명예와같은 것들에 대한 욕망 표현.)

10. "Man's being and man's appearance, now become two completely different matters." (인간의 존재와 인간의 외양이 전부 다른 존재)

11. We become vain, two-faced and inauthentic. (두면을 가진 가짜의 상태가 되는 것....왜냐하면 자기자신의 모습을 그대로 보이려기 보다 다른사람들이 보고싶은 면을 표현하려고 하기 때문이다.)

12. People start to show-off and flaunt their superiority. (자신들이 우수하다는 것을 보이기 위해 허풍떨고 과시함)

ex) The Rich Kids of Instagram & the "humblebrag" 

13. We all have a psychological need for others to recognise our worth in comparison to others. (다른사람들과 비교했을때 우리가 더 가치있다는 것을 다른사람이 인지하길 바라는 정신적 욕구를 갖고있다. 우리 모두! )

14. This is not natural for us- it's a result of a process of socialisation and it has bad effects. (자연스러운 것은 아니다. 사회화의 결과이며 쁜점도 존재한다.)

15. Our individual happiness becomes dependent on the relative standing that we have in the opinion of other people.  (개개인의 행복이 상대적인 기준에서 초점이 맞춰짐.)

16. We live in and through the opinions of others. (다른사람의 의견 속에서 산다.우린 결국.)

 What caused amour-proper to become inflamed ? 

1. Material Inequality (물질적 불평등)

2. Made possible by technological developments. (기술의 발전에 의해 가능해진 것)

3. Private Property(사!유!재!산!): "the first person who having enclosed a piece of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple enough to believe him was the true founder of civil society... What crimes, wars, murders, what miseries and horrors would the human race have been spared had someone pulled up the stakes or filled in the ditch and cried out to his fellow men do not listen to this impostor(사기꾼). You are lost if you forget that the fruits of the earth belong to all and the earth to no one. "

Things get worse.

1. In equalities are exacerbated by people pursuing social standing. (불평등은 사람들의 지위에 따라 악화됨)

2. Poor become dependent on the rich for goods/ Rich are dependent on the poor for (comparative) esteem. 가난한 사람은 재화를 위해 부자에 의존하고, 부자는 상대적 존경을 위해 가난한 사람이 필요하다.

3. EVERYONE IS MISERABLE:

-The struggle for status hierarchy makes us value money, fame and status which are of no real worth.  지위 위계질서에서에서 싸움은 우리가 실제로는 가치없는 돈, 명예, 지위에 목메게 만든다.

4. EVERYONE IS UNFREE:

-Man becomes dependent on others. Tailor our wills to secure approval and esteem.  결국 우리가 우리 의지의 주체가 될 수 없다. 남의 의견 의식하기 때문에

The 'Evil Contract'

1. The property and pride of the rich is always at risk from: 

-Other rich men

-A group of poor men

-Perpetual risk of conflict between the strongest v. the first occupier. 

2. Rich persuade the poor that it is their best interests to create a political society which:

-Secure the weak from oppression

-Restrains the ambitious

-Assures to each man the possession of what belongs to him.

-Basically a trick the rich pull on the poor. 

3. "The rich man, thus urged by necessity, conceived at length the profoundest plan that ever entered the mind of man... "Let us join, said he, "to guard the weak from oppression, to restrain the ambitious, and secure to every man the possession of what belongs to him: let us institute rules of justice and peace, to which all without exception may be obliged to conform; ... by subjecting equally the powerful and the weak to the observance of reciprocal obligations. Let us, in a word, instead of turning our forces  against ourselves, collect them in a supreme power...." 더 큰 힘에 맡기자!

4. And the poor go along with it:

"All ran headlong to their chains, in hopes of securing their liberty; for they had just wit enough to perceive the advantages of political institutions, without experience enough to enable them to foresee the dangers."

Conclusion

1. Our current state was not inevitable but it's undesirable. 불가피한게 아니라 바람직하지 않은 상태임.

2. We cannot go back to the state of nature- we've changed for good: We are now thoroughly dependent on each other. 

이미 요르단강 건넜음. 돌이킬 수 없어. 왜냐하면 우리가 더 좋은 선을 위해 바뀌었으니가. 우리는 다른 사람의 존재 없이 살 수 없다. 의존적.

3. We need to create good social institutions  which can restructure our dependence. 

우리의 의존을 다시건설할 좋은 기관을 만들 필요가 있다.

4. Inequality makes it difficult for all to satisfy their desires for respect.

불평등은 우리가 존경을 얻는 욕망을 충족시키는 것을 어렵게 만든다. 

5. Public cultures like ours which celebrate wealth and inequality make life for the worst-off humiliating.  (부와 불평등을 찬양하는 대중문화는 우리의 삶을 비참하게 만든다)

6. This breeds instability, envy and malice. (불안정과, 부러움, 악의를 만든다)

7. We need a new basis for freedom in society. 이 사회에서는 자유에 대한 새로운 기초가 필요함.

8. Hence, the argument of the Social Contract.

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1. Why isn't scarcity a problem in Rousseau's account?

2. How then do humans differ from beasts?

3. How according to Rousseau, would 'civilised' man act if placed in the state of nature tomorrow? Why?

4. What amour propre and how is it connected with private property? What examples can you think of?

5. How does political society arise out of the State of Nature?

6. Define the term 'natural'.

7. Can you think of examples of the claim: X is natural, therefore X is good? What sorts of problems can you see with theses sorts of claim?