Comparison Of Jean Jacque Rousseau Theory Of Human Nature

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Jean Jacque Rousseau theory of human nature argues that life in modern civilizations compared to the life prior to society is horrible and blames the creation of private property for creating the feelings of animosity for not having what others have. His view of the state in turn is the same as the views of human nature of previous theorists, disastrously low. Rousseau believed the state instilled competition in humans and brought out the savages in them to be equal or even surpass them. Unlike many other theorists Jean-Jacques Rousseau saw the flaws in the state that create chaos and havoc among the people claiming the state of nature was brutish and brought out the bad in people.

Of the many well-known theorists of modern political time Adam Smiths writings in The Wealth of Nations had contributed to the Scottish Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. This phase of European history was the rise of science, orientation of problem solving and the concept of the invisible hand and notion of the pin factor by Adam Smith. Adam Smith (1723-1790) had a similar view of human nature as others did, self-interested beings, but that was not his only view. He believed humans became extensions of machines in his most well known theory of Division of labor. In this work, Smith’s view of the state and economic life shapes his ideas of man.

The ideas of the enlightenment helped to shape the ideas of Adam Smith. Like Rousseau, Adam Smith based his idea of human nature around our sympathetic feelings for others. We base our moral ideas around the thought of what if everyone acted in the same manner we act, good or bad. Smith believed humans are by nature sympathetic but with the establishment of a system of exchange an invisible hand pushi...

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... The social contract of life is where freedom is sometimes met with coercion and man is forced into freedom, the essence of being free is the act of having freedom. In the state of individual will the state of affairs objectifies the general will and proves theories of man being selfish by nature to be true.

The ideas of human nature by political theorists of modern times have been shaped by their theory of the state and how they viewed the states relevance and role in society. From the theory of man being selfish and self interested with the use of force from the state to prevent man from his own self, to the idea that the state can bring out the savage in man is how many theorists expressed their thoughts to the public. These theorists spoke about different topics through experience and often were considered the enemy of the state for opposing man and the state.

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