PHL244H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thought Experiment, Tyrant
Document Summary
Each of us has a natural, individualistic self/part of us. But as a result of being in society, we acquire an artificial sense of self: rousseau"s conception of the natural self. This is the conception of the self that humans would have had before they entered society. He thinks it"s very hard to answer because human self is not in its pure, unadulterated state. It"s like the statue of braucus, which time had so disfigured that it was no longer recognizable. Our ability to see the true nature of the soul is hindered because the soul is obscured. It will take some sort of excavation to dig up the true nature of the soul. Rousseau are similar in this respect, but they differ in that they have different reasons for believing that the true nature of the soul is obscured.
