"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they are. How did this change happen? I cannot answer"
Why exactly couldn't he answer it? He's a god damn philosopher, it's his job to do it
>>1242486
I prefer Voltaire over Rousseau desu famme
>philosophers
>answering questions rather than piling up more questions
Also:
>Rousseau
>>1242486
No, that would be the job of a historian or anthropologist.
>>1242734
Voltaire is literally the French version of Pepe to Rousseau Wojak.
Because Rousseau was a shit philosopher who deserved everything le smug >holy man threw at him
>>1242821
>Because Rousseau was a shit philosopher
I disagree
>>1242486
>Why exactly couldn't he answer it? He's a god damn philosopher, it's his job to do it
The thing about philosophy is that questions are asked. The answer doesn't matter as much as the fact that questions are asked and others encouraged to think.
>>1242486
The answer is obvious. People can achieve material gain by dominating others, they simply don't care, they may even be motivated to do it for the excitement or some other psychological reason.
What Rousseau really meant was how can he make sense of this state of things because he was among the first liberals and as we know they have to view everything in terms of feelings and anally masturbate to calm themselves down when they have to confront potentially "triggering" concepts.
He was basically afraid to reach the conclusion that the material world offers no respite for morality and thus he needs to accept god into his life.
>>1245633
You're so American I can taste your mayonaise-like sweat all the way over here.
>The answer is obvious. People can achieve material gain by dominating others
And that's where Rousseau's question start. In his natural state man lived animalistically, in hedonistic pleasure and ignorant of morality and law. Where did this sudden desire to gain property and dominate come from? What caused this detrimental switch from freedom to civilization?
You need to realize Rousseau in context. He grew up in the so-called Age of Reason, where human intellect was celebrated and Whigsian history was commonplace (ie. the idea that as history went on, we all became more free and everything got better and better). Rousseau was the first (major) voice against this thought, the first one to express the idea that this progress everyone celebrated was an illusion and degeneracy of the natural state.
Don't try to shoehorn this typically American """""liberal"""""-"""""conservative""""" dichotomy into this.
