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TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NOVELISTIC DIMENSION OF JEAN- JACQUES ROUSSEAU’S EMILE by Stephanie Miranda Murphy A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Stephanie Miranda Murphy 2020 Toward an Understanding of the Novelistic Dimension of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile Stephanie Miranda Murphy Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science ABSTRACT The multi-genre combination of philosophic and literary expression in Rousseau’s Emile provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between the novelistic structure of this work and the substance of its philosophical teachings. This dissertation explores this matter through a textual analysis of the role of the novelistic dimension of the Emile. Despite the vast literature on Rousseau’s manner of writing, critical aspects of the novelistic form of the Emile remain either misunderstood or overlooked. This study challenges the prevailing image in the existing scholarship by arguing that Rousseau’s Emile is a prime example of how form and content can fortify each other. The novelistic structure of the Emile is inseparable from Rousseau’s conception and communication of his philosophy. That is, the novelistic form of the Emile is not simply harmonious with the substance of its philosophical content, but its form and content also merge to reinforce Rousseau’s capacity to express his teachings. This dissertation thus proposes to demonstrate how and why the novelistic dimension of the Emile belongs to it not mechanistically, but integrally. To illustrate this central idea, this dissertation is divided into three sub-themes, each of which is motivated by a corresponding major research question: (1) Rousseau as a writer of a novel: What is the function of the novelistic structure of the Emile? (2) Rousseau as an appropriator of a novel: To what end does Rousseau use (and abuse) novels in the Emile as part of Emile’s and Sophie’s pedagogical programs? (3) Rousseau as a fictional character in a novel: What is the function of Rousseau’s fictionalized self-representation in the Emile as Jean-Jacques the tutor? The findings of each chapter prompt a re-thinking of Rousseau’s novelistic technique in the Emile as it relates to the substance of his broader philosophical teachings. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Rousseau stated that philosophers do not require an education; only individuals with ordinary minds need to be educated. Seeing as how I undeniably fall into the latter category, I would like to take a moment here to acknowledge those who have made significant contributions to my much-needed education. These individuals have helped me tremendously by supporting and inspiring me throughout the long process of researching and writing this dissertation. For opening my eyes to the brave new world of political philosophy and introducing me to the splendid writings of history’s giants, I want to thank my professors in the department of political science at the University of North Texas: namely, Drs. Steven Forde and Richard Ruderman. Through these teachers I found my way to the University of Toronto where I have had the extraordinarily good fortune of working with Dr. Clifford Orwin, a student of political philosophy of the highest order. Thank you, Professor Orwin, for teaching me so much about Rousseau and about the qualities of good writing and serious scholarship. I am a stronger reader and scholar in particular and a more resilient person in general due, in large part, to your never- ending willingness to push me toward excellence. There’s a part of the human spirit that would prefer to play it safe and retain the status quo. But there’s also that indomitable part of the soul that longs for adventure and exploration – to seek what lies around the next turn or discover what awaits us over the next rise. Writing this dissertation has not always been fun. It has never been easy. But studying with you has helped me satisfy my adventurous, curious side and learn to soldier on with a never-say-die attitude. And, in the end, I’m better for having done so. Perhaps, as Socrates suggests in Xenophon’s Apology, that is the true reward for the hard work of thinking: the great pleasure of looking back and recognizing the distance you have covered and iii the new heights you have reached. I will be forever grateful that I got the chance to be an explorer with you on this most formidable of Oregon Trails: “The Cowards Never Started | The Weak Died on the Way | Only the Strong Arrived | They Were the Pioneers.” I would also like to express my special appreciation to the other members of my thesis committee: Drs. Ronald Beiner and Rebecca Kingston. Your advice on my research has been invaluable. I could not have formulated the overall argument of my thesis without your thoughtful insight and thorough feedback. I cannot thank you enough for joining my committee at such a late, hurried stage in the proposal-writing process. Completing this work would have been all the more difficult were it not for your support. Professor Beiner, thank you for holding my feet to the fire to make me produce work in a timely manner. Professor Kingston, thank you for your penetrating feedback on my writing. You have a way of helping me see Rousseau from new angles that I never could have seen on my own. For this I am grateful beyond measure. Sincere thanks, as well, to Dr. John T. Scott for accepting the invitation to serve as my external examiner and Dr. Emily Nacol for serving as my internal departmental reader. Also deserving of recognition are the many friends I have made along the way, with whom I’ve shared many ideas, stories, and laughs over beers: Sara Schiveley, Seth Bracken, Dr. Benjamin Gross, Evan Lowe, and Johann Kwan. And I am particularly indebted to my great friends, Drs. Lindsay and Lincoln Rathnam. I am deeply grateful for our once-in-a-lifetime, for a lifetime friendship: the brutally honest feedback on my writing, the Sunday “bro downs,” the many enriching high-brow conversations and the many equally enlightening low-brow ones, the marathon grading sessions, the Waskesiu PAMPin’, the dancing, the laughing, the crying, and the chance to fulfill my childhood dream of being a Spice Girl for a day. Thank you, as well, for iv trusting me enough to be the godmother of your son Peter. And, most importantly, I will be forever grateful to you both for introducing me to my husband. This brings me to my final acknowledgment. My deepest gratitude belongs to my loving husband, Conor McGrath, who has been inhumanely patient, loving, and supportive throughout every stage of this dissertation’s composition. Conor, I look forward with great anticipation to no longer needing to kick you out of the house every time I try to concentrate on writing this wretched thesis. I can’t wait to spend more time with you and to start our family together. But before we begin our much-awaited “life after Rousseau,” I dedicate this thesis to you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents and Primary Source Abbreviations vi Chapter One: Introduction 1 1.1: Rousseau’s Novels: How the Emile Differs from His Other Novelistic Works 7 1.2: The Generic Novel Form and Rousseau’s Particular Engagement With it in the Emile 13 1.3: Overview and Organization of the Analysis 32 1.4: A Note on Sources and Translations 35 Chapter Two: The Emile as Anti-Utopia 36 2.1: Rousseau’s Novel Philosophy of Nature 43 2.2: The Emile: Rousseau’s Anti-Utopia 61 2.3: Not the Man of Man, But the Man of Nature: The Role of Emile’s Fictionality 75 Chapter Three: The Shared Literary Education of Sophie and Emile: Rousseau’s Appropriation of Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Télémaque 92 3.1: “La Télémacomanie” and Rousseau’s Debt to Fénelon 99 3.2: Sex, Love, and Cosmopolitanism: Emile’s Télémaque and the Political Education of Men 112 3.3: Sex, Love, and Family: Sophie’s Télémaque and the Sexual Education of Women 127 Chapter Four: A governor! O what a sublime soul: On the Nature and Purpose of Rousseau’s Fictional Self-Presentation as Jean-Jacques the Tutor 154 4.1: Disentangling the Narrative Knottiness of the Emile 164 4.2: Ensuring the Perfect Circumstances: Jean-Jacques, Nature’s Regulator 173 4.3: Jean-Jacques’ Role in Emile’s Socialization 190 4.4: The First Desire Which Nature Has Impressed Upon Man: The Question of Happiness 204 Chapter Five: Conclusion 233 Bibliography 239 vi PRIMARY SOURCE ABBREVIATIONS Beaumont Lettre à Christophe de Beaumont (Masters and Kelly, CW IX) Bordes Preface of a Second Letter to Bordes (OC III) CC Correspondance complète de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Vols. 1-53 (Leigh) CG Correspondance générale de J.-J. Rousseau, Tomes I-XXIV (Dufour) Conf Les Confessions de Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Masters and Kelly, CW V) d’Alembert Letter to M. d’Alembert on the Theatre (Bloom) Dialogues Rousseau Juge de Jean-Jacques: Dialogues (Masters and Kelly, CW I) Emile Emile, or On Education (Bloom) Émile et Sophie Émile et Sophie; ou Les Solitaires Favre Le Manuscrit Favre edition of Emile, or On Education (Kelly) FD Discourse on the Arts and Sciences [First Discourse] (Gourevitch) Grimm Letter from J.J. Rousseau of Geneva to Mr. Grimm on the Refutation of His Discourse by Mr. Gautier Julie Julie, or the New Heloise (Stewart and Vaché, CW VI) Levite The Levite of Ephraim (Kelly) Malesherbes Lettres à Malesherbes (Masters and Kelly) Mably Memorandum Presented to Monsieur de Mably on the Education of Monsieur His Son (Kelly) Method Idea of the Method in the Composition of a Book (OC II) Moral Letters Lettres Morales (Kelly, CW XII) Mountain Lettres Écrites de la Montagne (Kelly, CW IX) Observations Observations on the Reply Made to His Discourse (Kelly, CW II) OC Œvres Complètes, NRF-Editions de la Pléiade (Gagnebin and Raymond) Philopolis Letter by J.J.
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