The Ambiguities of Rousseau's Conception of Happiness

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Ambiguities of Rousseau's Conception of Happiness The Ambiguities of Rousseau’s Conception of Happiness Author: Alexandre Provencher-Gravel Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1355 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2008 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Political Science THE AMBIGUITIES OF ROUSSEAU’S CONCEPTION OF HAPPINESS a dissertation by Alexandre Provencher-Gravel submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2008 © copyright by ALEXANDRE PROVENCHER-GRAVEL 2008 Dissertation abstract The Ambiguities of Rousseau’s Conception of Happiness by Alexandre Provencher-Gravel Supervised by Christopher Kelly This dissertation is a discussion of the many ambiguities surrounding Rousseau’s conception of happiness. In the first chapter, I expose Rousseau’s various conceptions of happiness in Émile. His main conception is offered at the beginning of Book II. Rousseau defines happiness as the equilibrium between desires and faculties. I show how this definition fits with his conception of human nature as it is developed in the Second Discours. Then I turn to a brief exposition of the alternative ideas of happiness that are exposed in the remaining of Émile. I also discuss various recent interpretations of Rousseau’s understanding of happiness. I turn to Rousseau’s autobiographical writings for the remaining chapters. The second chapter discusses Rousseau’s self-understanding of what made him miserable during his life. I focus on two episodes of his life: his break with the Parisian life and his crisis during the publication of Émile. I show how Rousseau often blames the circumstances or others for his unhappiness rather than his opinions or his heart. The last two chapters attempt to define what the happiness was that Rousseau experienced. The third chapter tries to understand what sort of solitude makes Rousseau happy, and if indeed he is happy in this situation. I explore why society is unsatisfying for him and whether his desire to be alone is coherent. The final chapter discusses the nature of Rousseau’s blissful rêveries. I show how melancholia appears to be at the center of his ecstasies in the second letter to Malesherbes. In the Fifth Walk of the Rêveries, however, Rousseau seems to settle for a quasi-lethargic experience. The minimal sentiment of his own existence he defines as happiness is compared to other blissful experiences described in the book. Finally, I discuss whether Rousseau needed to know the truth or to philosophize in order to be happy. In particular, I discuss his claim in the Third Walk to be in need of the doctrine of the Profession de foi du Vicaire savoyard to be happy. Rousseau’s sincerity is ambiguous. Its analysis unveils a few problems about his claims to be selfless and to have dedicated his life to the truth. Le sort de ce mortel heureux etmalheureux à la fois, eut été ce me semble un étrangeproblême. Rousseau, Émile Le tems qu’on employe à savoir ce que d’autres ont pensé étant perdu pour apprendre à penser soi- même, on a plus de lumières acquises et moins de vigueur d’esprit. Rousseau, Émile Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv Abbreviations of text cited v Introduction 1 Chapter One : Happiness as Equilibrium 16 1 – The Theory of Equilibrium 1.1 – A Summary of the Theory 1.2 – Equilibrium and System 2 – Is Equilibrium a Sufficient Condition of Happiness? 2.1 – Equilibrium as a Sufficient Condition of Happiness 2.2 – Equilibrium as an Unsufficient Condition of Happiness 3 – Is Equilibrium the Necessary Condition of Happiness? 3.1 – Equilibrium or Effervescence? 3.2 – Two Alternatives to Equilibrium 3.2.1 – Happiness as Excess of Force 3.2.2 – Happiness as Excess of Desire 4 – Conclusion Chapter Two : Unhappiness and Opinion 82 1 – Two Unhappy Episodes of Rousseau’s Life 1.1 – Becoming Independent of Opinion: Rousseau’s Reform in the Confessions 1.1.1 – One of the Few Privileged Souls? 1.1.2 – The Motivations of the Reform 1.1.3 – Other Accounts of Rousseau’s Reform 1.1.4 – Rousseau’s Responsibility in Failing to Become Independent 1.1.5 – Alternative Explanations 1.1.6 – Conclusion: Does Rousseau Think He Is Sensitive to Opinion? 2 – The 1761 Crisis 2.1 – The 1761 Crisis in the Letter to Moultou 2.2 – The 1761 Crisis in the Confessions 2.3 – The 1761 Crisis in the Four Letters to Malesherbes 2.3.1 – Unruly Imagination 2.3.2 – Love of Glory 3 – Conclusion: What Is the Source of Rousseau’s Misery? ii Chapter Three : Happiness and Solitude 140 1 – Solitude in the Letters to Malesherbes 1.1 – Rousseau’s Natural Love of Solitude 1.2 – Rousseau’s Vindication of Solitude 1.2.1 – The Only and Most Independent State? 1.2.2 – The Nature of Rousseau’s Laziness 1.2.3 – Does the Love of Chimerical Beings Make Rousseau Independent and Happy? 1.3 – Conclusion: Critical Reflections on the Goodness of Solitude in Rousseau’s System and in his Life 2 – Solitude in the Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire 2.1 – What Does Rousseau Mean by “Me voici donc seul sur la terre”? 2.2 – What Are We to Make of Rousseau’s Belief in a Plot? 2.3 – Bending to Necessity 2.3.1 – The Return of the Theory of Equilibrium 2.3.1.1 – Discussion: Why Would Rousseau Resist to a Return to the Theory of Equilibrium? 2.3.2 – Bending to Necessity in the First Walk 2.3.3 – Bending to Necessity in the Second Walk 2.3.4 – Bending to Necessity in the Eighth Walk 2.3.4.1 – Materialism and the Disappearance of Intention 2.3.4.2 – Bending to the Senses 2.3.4.3 – Discussion: What Is the Status of Rousseau’s Claim to Have Learned How to Bend to Necessity? 2.3.5 – Conclusion 2.4 – Doing Good to Others 2.4.1 – Why Does Doing Good Make Rousseau Happy? 2.4.2 – Why is Rousseau Unable to Do Good to Others (and therefore to Be Happy)? 2.4.2.1 – The Natural Obstacle 2.4.2.2 – The Vindication of the Natural Obstacle 2.4.2.3 – The Accidental Obstacle 2.4.3 – Is Rousseau’s Selfishness Legitimate? 2.4.4 – Conclusion: Can a Spontaneous Heart Bend to Necessity? Chapter Four : Happiness and Rêveries 283 1 – Nostalgia, Ecstasy and Melancholia: The Third Letter to Malesherbes 1.1 – Independence and Goodwill 1.2 – The Rêveries 1.2.1 – The Definite Rêverie or Nostalgia 1.2.2 – The Indefinite Rêverie or Confusion 1.2.3 – Melancholia as the Core of Rousseau’s Happiness 1.2.4 – The Nostalgia of Happiness 2 – The Bare Sentiment of One’s Own Existence: The Fifth Walk 2.1 – A Simple and Permanent State iii 2.2 – What Is Happiness for Rousseau? 2.3 – Conclusion: Equilibrium or Disequilibrium? 3 – Happiness and Truth 3.1 – Truth, Sincerity and Utility 3.1.1 – The Philosophers’ Amour-propre 3.1.2 – Rousseau’s Sincerity 3.2 – Is Rousseau’s Philosophy for Others? 3.3 – Or Is it for Himself...? 3.3.1 – The Absence of a Direct Defense of the Noble Lie in the Fourth Walk 3.3.2 – Rousseau’s Capacity for Disinterestedness 3.3.3 – Love of Oneself and Love of the Truth 3.3.4 – Happiness and Illusions 3.4 – Conclusion Conclusion 400 Bibliography 415 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Susan Shell and Laurence Cooper for having accepted to read this dissertation and for their useful comments. A special thanks to Christopher Kelly, who supervised this dissertation, and with whom I have had many stimulating discussions about Rousseau. His mastery of Rousseau’s corpus, as well as his intellectual rigor, will remain a model for me. Ma dette envers Rosemarie est inestimable. Je la remercie pour sa patience, son dévouement et son amour. Je remercie finalement mes parents, Roger et Diane, pour leur soutien durant l’écriture de cette thèse, mais aussi pour tout le temps durant lequel je fus un étudiant. Cette thèse leur est dédiée. Abbreviations of texts cited E = Émile C = Les Confessions D = Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques (Dialogues) R = Les Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire Beaumont = Lettre à Christophe de Beaumont PD = Discours sur les sciences et les arts (Premier Discours) SD = Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes (Second Discours) LAD = Lettre à d’Alembert sur les spectacles LAM = Quatre lettres à M. le Président de Malesherbes LM = Lettres morales J = Julie ou la Nouvelle-Héloïse Introduction Writing a dissertation on Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s conception of happiness can only be a mistake. True happiness cannot be described: “Le vrai bonheur ne se décrit pas, il se sent” (C, OC I, p. 236). It cannot be described because it is a sentiment that has no object but itself: “Si [le bonheur] consistoit en faits, en actions, en paroles, je pourrois le décrire et le rendre, en quelque façon: mais comment dire ce qui n’étoit ni dit, ni fait ni pensé même, mais goûté, mais senti, sans que je puisse énoncer d’autre objet de mon bonheur que ce sentiment même” (C, OC I, p. 225). Happiness is the sentiment of happiness. What more is there to say? Yet in the same passage of the Confessions from which the quotations above are drawn, Rousseau goes on at length to depict the happiness he experienced during his time at the Charmettes. Obviously, Rousseau did not think he could not say anything about happiness.
Recommended publications
  • Rousseau and the Roots of Modernity
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Repozytorium Instytucjonalne Krakowskiej Akademii X: 2013 nr 1 Christopher Lazarski ROUSSEAU AND THE ROOTS OF MODERNITY The general will is always right, but the judgment that guides it is not always enlightened.1 Since Machiavelli, man and woman have become the center of political theory as the sole source and the ultimate sanction of political order. The theoretical order – contemplated by classical Greek philosophy and the Judeo-Christian tradition as the origin, the measure and the limit of political order – was rejected, at first as irre- levant and later on as non-existent. During the Enlightenment, theories of progress, the state of nature, and the social contract replaced the transcendent order. Man and woman were to lift themselves by their own bootstraps from misery and despotism, and usher humanity into a secularized paradise. One summer day in 1749, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, just starting out as a phi- losopher and contributor to the French Encyclopedia, experienced a sudden illumi- nation while walking to Vincennes to visit his incarcerated friend, Denis Diderot (1713–1784). In the Mercure de France, he had found an announcement about an essay contest organized by the Academy of Dijon. “Has the restoration of the sciences and the arts helped to purify morals?” ran the prize question. The powerful inspiration prompted by this question became the starting point for the political theory that Jean-Jacques perfected throughout his life. He challenged the idea of progress, so central to the Enlightenment, and succeeded in placing his concept of omnipotent general will among the canons of enlightened teaching.
    [Show full text]
  • Rousseau and the Social Contract
    In Dialogue with Humanity Rousseau and The Social Contract by Leung Mei Yee Ho Wai Ming Yeung Yang Part I Rousseau‟s life and works Part II The Discourses – Critique of society and civilization Part III The Social Contract Part 1 Rousseau‟s life and works… and the people who influenced him 3 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) One of the most influential yet controversial figures of the Enlightenment 4 He was the most portrayed character of the 18th century apart from Napoleon. (Jean-Jacques Monney) 5 Best known to the world by his political theory, he was also a well admired composer, and author of important works in very different fields. 6 Major works Novels Julie: or the New Héloïse (1761) Emile: or, on Education (1762) Autobiographical works The Reveries of the Solitary Walker (1782) The Confessions (1782-89) Essays Discourse on the Sciences and Arts (1750) Discourse on Inequality (1755) Discourse on Political Economy (1755-56) The Social Contract (1762) 7 Major Works Letters Letters on French Music (1753) Letters on the Elements of Botany (1780) Letter to M. d’Alembert on the Theatre (1758) Letters written from the Mountain (1764) Music Opera: Le devin du village (1752) Dictionary of Music (1767) 8 Born in 1712 in Geneva Small Calvinist city-state surrounded by large, predominately Catholic nations; Republic in the midst of duchies and monarchies Was brought up by his father The house where Rousseau since his mother died in was born at number 40, place du Bourg-de-Four childbirth 9 Left Geneva at the
    [Show full text]
  • Moral Education and Authority: a Model for Education That Understands Moral Growth As a Consequence of the Teacher-Learner Relationship
    Moral Education and Authority: A Model for Education that Understands Moral Growth as a Consequence of the Teacher-Learner Relationship By Lisa MacDonald Supervisor: Dr. Andrea English Committee Members: Dr. Donovan Plumb, Dr. Mary Jane Harkins Thesis for Masters of Arts in Educational Foundations Copyright 2014 Lisa MacDonald To my mother and Mary, Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Part I: Forgotten Aspects of Moral Education -- A Theoretical Analysis Chapter 1: The Cultivation of the Good Will J.-J. Rousseau and J.F. Herbart on Education and Morality ..............................................................................................................9 1.1 Rousseau’s Emile and the Development of Amour de Soi-même and Amour-Propre ......10 1.2 Amour de Soi-même Complemented by Amour-Propre Founded on Self-Love, Pity, and Compassion ..............................................................................................................................19 1.3 Johann F. Herbart on Morality as the Whole Purpose of Education .................................24 1.3.1 The Inner Censor as a Key Concept in Moral Education
    [Show full text]
  • ROUSSEAU's ENGAGEMENT with AMOUR-PROPRE Peter Fuss
    Canadian Journal of Political and Social TheorylReuue canadienne de theorie politique et sociale. Volume X. Number 3 (Fall/Automne) 1986 . ROUSSEAU'S ENGAGEMENT WITH AMOUR-PROPRE Peter Fuss A number of years ago, while reflecting on the notion of self, I had occasion to wonder to what extent the French expression amour-propre had found its way into North American usage . Several standard American dictionaries had it, though flagged as being a foreign term . The translation given was self- esteem . I tried Larousse's small French-English, which offered two defini- tions : self-pride and self-respect . A considerably larger Cassell's gave four translations : self-love, self-respect, conceit, and vanity . Even this brief immer- sion in the ways of ordinary language was enough to bring out in me the frustrated philosopher, with his passion for making distinctions : Are self- esteem, self-love, and self-respect fundamentally the same things? And do any or all of these compounds amount or reduce to uncompounded conceit or vanity? Or is it that amour-propre is complicated, ambiguous, perhaps even in some sense "dialectical," so that self-respect and vanity mark out, respectively, its polar extremes? Lacking sufficient self-esteem (or is it conceit?) simply to retire to my study and think this through on my own, I cast about for inspiration . It took a while to find some . The passions and affections in general are not traditionally among the preferred subjects of the philosophical mainliners, who seem to have a distinctive passion of their own for quarreling about the so-called higher, more noetic human faculties .
    [Show full text]
  • THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY of JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU the Impossibilityof Reason
    qvortrup.cov 2/9/03 12:29 pm Page 1 Was Rousseau – the great theorist of the French Revolution – really a Conservative? THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU This original study argues that the author of The Social Contract was a constitutionalist much closer to Madison, Montesquieu and Locke than to revolutionaries. Outlining his profound opposition to Godless materialism and revolutionary change, this book finds parallels between Rousseau and Burke, as well as showing that Rousseau developed the first modern theory of nationalism. The book presents an inte- grated political analysis of Rousseau’s educational, ethical, religious and political writings. The book will be essential readings for students of politics, philosophy and the history of ideas. ‘No society can survive without mutuality. Dr Qvortrup’s book shows that rights and responsibilities go hand in hand. It is an excellent primer for any- one wishing to understand how renewal of democracy hinges on a strong civil society’ The Rt. Hon. David Blunkett, MP ‘Rousseau has often been singled out as a precursor of totalitarian thought. Dr Qvortrup argues persuasively that Rousseau was nothing of the sort. Through an array of chapters the book gives an insightful account of Rousseau’s contribution to modern philosophy, and how he inspired individuals as diverse as Mozart, Tolstoi, Goethe, and Kant’ John Grey, Professor of European Political Thought,LSE ‘Qvortrup has written a highly readable and original book on Rousseau. He approaches the subject of Rousseau’s social and political philosophy with an attractively broad vision of Rousseau’s thought in the context of the development of modernity, including our contemporary concerns.
    [Show full text]
  • Rousseau and the Ancients Rousseau Et Les Anciens
    , ". Rousseau and the Ancients Rousseau et les Anciens edited by SODS la direction de Ruth Grant & Philip Stewart Pen see Libre N° 8 CANADIAN CATALOGING DONNEESDECATALOGAGE IN PUBLICATION DATA AVANT LA PUBLICATION Main entry under title: Vedette principale au titre: Rousseau and the Ancients Rousseau et les Anciens (Pensee Libre: no. 8) (Pensee Libre: no. 8) Text in French and English Texte en fram;:ais et en anglais. Includes bibliographical references Comprend des references bibliographiques ISBN 0-9693132-7-6 ISBN 0-9693132-7-6 1. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712- 1. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712- 1778. 1. Grant, Ruth. II. Stewart, 1778. J. Grant, Ruth. II. Stewart, Philip. III. North American Asso­ Philip. III. Association nord­ ciation for the Study of Jean­ americaine des etudes Jean­ Jacques Rousseau IV. Title: Jacques Rousseau. IV. Titre: Rousseau and the Ancients. Rousseau et les Anciens. V. Series V. Collection The publication of this volume was made possible by cooperation of the North American Association for the Study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Duke University and Wabash College. Ouvrage publie grace au concours d l'Association nord-americaine des etudes Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Duke University et Wabash College. ISBN 0-9693132-7-6 © North American Association for the Study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau! Association nord-americaine des etudes Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 200 I. Collection Pensee Libre dirigee par Melissa Butler Pensee Libre series editor: Melissa Butler Imprime aux Btats Un is Printed in the United States Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Bernard Lamy: the Platonic education of amour-propre In the Confessions, Rousseau acknowledged his debt to the Oratorian father, Bernard Lamy.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Jacques Rousseau 1
    From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/#Lan Jean Jacques Rousseau 1. Life Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in the independent Calvinist city-state of Geneva in 1712, the son of Isaac Rousseau, a watchmaker, and Suzanne Bernard. Rousseau's mother died nine days after his birth, with the consequence that Rousseau was raised and educated by his father until the age of ten. Isaac Rousseau was one of the small minority of Geneva's residents who enjoyed the rank of citizen of Geneva, a status which Jean-Jacques was to inherit from him. According to Rousseau's own subsequent accounts, the haphazard education that he received from his father included both the inculcation of republican patriotism and the reading of classical authors such as Plutarch who dealt with the Roman republic. On his father's exile from the city to avoid arrest, Jean-Jacques was put in the care of a pastor at nearby Bossey and subsequently apprenticed to an engraver. Rousseau left the city the age of sixteen and came under the influence of a Roman Catholic convert noblewoman, Francoise-Louise de la Tour, Baronne de Warens. Mme de Warens arranged for Rousseau to travel to Turin, where he converted to Roman Catholicism in April 1728. Rousseau spent some time working as a domestic servant in a noble household in Turin, and during this time a shameful episode occurred in which he falsely accused a fellow servant of the theft of a ribbon. This act marked him deeply and he returns to it in his autobiographical works.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Writings on Music As an Aspect of Preromanticism
    The University of North Carolina at Greensboro JACKSON LIBRARY GQ no. 986 Gift of Oesmdr* Pritchett M»be COLLEGE COLLECTION MABE, CASSANDRA PRITCHETT. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Writings on Music as an Aspect of Preromanticism. (1972) Directed by: Dr. Elizabeth Barineau. pp. 120 Rousseau's works concerning music reveal various recurrent themes which are now considered preromantic. While the writings on theory may be viewed as a treatise on Rousseau's preromantic philosophy, the characters and themes of his operas seem to foretell his most outstanding sentimental work, La nouvelle Heloi'se. Rousseau wrote the "Lettre a M. Grimm," "Lettre sur la musique francaise," and the "Lettre d'un symphoniste," in which he revealed his preferences for the simple Italian melodic music over the more complex French harmonic music, at the time of the "Guerre des bouffons" in France. During the "Guerre des Gluckistes et des Piccinistes" Rousseau wrote "Fragments d'observations sur l'Alceste" and the "Extrait d'une re'ponse du petit faiseur a son prete-nom sur un morceau de l'Orphe'e" in support of Christoph Willibald Gluck's emotive French reform operas. The theme of melody versus harmony as a conveyor of passion also appears in Rousseau's other works on music theory which do not pertain to one of the eighteenth century polemical musical battles: the Dictionnaire de musique, the articles which he contributed to the Encyclope'die, the "Projet concernant de nouveaux signes pour la musique," "Dissertation sur la musique moderne," "Lettre a M. Burney," "Examen de deux principes avance's par M.
    [Show full text]
  • Values of Happiness: Toward an Anthropology of Purpose in Life
    Values of Happiness Toward an Anthropology of Purpose in Life Edited by Iza Kavedžija and Harry Walker Afterword by Joel Robbins VALUES OF HAP P INESS Hau BOOKS Executive Editor Giovanni da Col Managing Editor Sean M. Dowdy Editorial Board Anne-Christine Taylor Carlos Fausto Danilyn Rutherford Ilana Gershon Jason Troop Joel Robbins Jonathan Parry Michael Lempert Stephan Palmié www.haubooks.com VALUES OF HAP P INESS TOWARD AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF PURPOSE IN LIFE Special Issues in Ethnographic Teory Series Edited by Iza Kavedžija and Harry Walker Hau Books Chicago © 2016 Hau Books Hau Books Special Issues in Ethnographic Teory Series (Volume 2) Te HAU Books Special Issues in Ethnographic Teory Series prints paperback versions of pathbreaking collections, previously published in HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Teory. Cover and layout design: Sheehan Moore Cover Photo © Skye Hohmann Typesetting: Prepress Plus (www.prepressplus.in) ISBN: 978-0-9861325-7-5 LCCN: 2016959208 Hau Books Chicago Distribution Center 11030 S. Langley Chicago, IL 60628 www.haubooks.com Hau Books is marketed and distributed by Te University of Chicago Press. www.press.uchicago.edu Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. Table of Contents List of Contributors vii introduction Values of happiness Harry Walker and Iza Kavedžija 1 chapter one Ambivalent happiness and virtuous sufering C. Jason Troop 29 chapter two Being careful what you wish for: Te case of happiness in China Charles Staford 59 chapter three Te good life in balance: Insights from aging Japan
    [Show full text]
  • Classic Terms
    Classic Terms Alberti Bass: "Broken" arpeggiated triads in a bass line, common in many types of Classic keyboard music; named after Domenico Alberti (1710-1740) who used it extensively but did not invent it. Aria: A lyrical type of singing with a steady beat, accompanied by orchestra; a songful monologue or duet in an opera or other dramatic vocal work. Bel Canto: (Italian for "beautiful singing") An Italian singing tradition primarily in opera seria and opera buffa in the late17th- to early-19th century. Characterized by seamless phrasing (legato), great breath control, flexibility, tone, and agility. Most often associated with singing done in the early-Romantic operas of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Cadenza: An improvised or written-out ornamental virtuosic passage played by a soloist in a concerto. In Classic concertos, a cadenza occurs at a dramatic moment before the end of a movement, when the orchestra stops so the soloist can play in free time, and then after the cadenza is finished the orchestra reenters to bring the movement to its conclusion. Castrato The term for a male singer who was castrated before puberty to preserve his high soprano range (this practice in Italy lasted until the late 1800s). Today, the rendering of castrato roles is problematic because it requires either a male singing falsetto (weak) or a mezzo-soprano (strong, but woman must impersonate a man). Counterpoint: Combining two or more independent melodies to make an intricate polyphonic texture. Empindsam: (German for "sensitive") The term used to describe a highly-expressive style of German pre- Classic/early Classic instrumental music, that was intended to intensely express true and natural feelings, featuring sudden contrasts of mood.
    [Show full text]
  • Taming Amour-‐‑Propre
    Taming Amour-Propre: A Study of Book IV of Rousseau's Emile by Antong Liu Department of Political Science Duke University Date: _________________ Approved: ___________________________ Ruth W. Grant, Supervisor ___________________________ Michael A. Gillespie ___________________________ Thomas A. Spragens, Jr. Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2014 ABSTRACT Taming Amour-Propre: A Study of Book IV of Rousseau's Emile by Antong Liu Department of Political Science Duke University Date: _________________ Approved: ___________________________ Ruth W. Grant, Supervisor ___________________________ Michael A. Gillespie ___________________________ Thomas A. Spragens, Jr. An abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2014 Copyright by Antong Liu 2014 Abstract Amour-propre is a crucial concept of Rousseau's philosophy. Although recent studies have confirmed its moral ambiguity, they paid insufficient attention to Rousseau's account of amour-propre in his Emile and thus failed to appreciate the method Rousseau proposes therein to tame Emile's amour-propre. By close textual examinations of Emile, especially of the first part of its Book IV, this paper analyzes the moral ambiguity of amour-propre and Rousseau's remedy for its almost inevitable inflammation. Rather than eliminating amour-propre, the education of Emile aims at preventing his innocuous amour-propre from being inflamed. This at first requires that a cosmopolitan type of friendship be cultivated in Emile's heart so as to further cultivate his pity.
    [Show full text]
  • No Pain Like My Own Chakravarti
    Law, Culture and the Humanities http://lch.sagepub.com/ No Pain like My Own: Guilt in the Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Antjie Krog Sonali Chakravarti Law, Culture and the Humanities published online 21 August 2013 DOI: 10.1177/1743872113498469 The online version of this article can be found at: http://lch.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/08/19/1743872113498469 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities Additional services and information for Law, Culture and the Humanities can be found at: Email Alerts: http://lch.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://lch.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav >> OnlineFirst Version of Record - Aug 21, 2013 What is This? Downloaded from lch.sagepub.com at WESLEYAN UNIV on November 6, 2013 LCH0010.1177/1743872113498469Law, Culture and the HumanitiesChakravarti 4984692013 LAW, CULTURE AND THE HUMANITIES Article Law, Culture and the Humanities 0(0) 1 –17 No Pain like My Own: Guilt © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: in the Works of Jean-Jacques sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1743872113498469 Rousseau and Antjie Krog lch.sagepub.com Sonali Chakravarti Wesleyan University, USA Abstract Within political theory, it is Jean-Jacques Rousseau who is often associated with the idea that humans have an intrinsic response to the pain of others. Yet, this article argues that he should also be understood as a theorist of the paralyzing effects of guilt and that it was his guilt, not sympathy, which marked the most intense interpersonal moments in his life.
    [Show full text]